Drew Scott
Profession: Realtor and TV host of Property Brothers and Buying and Selling
Age: 34
Hometown: Vancouver
The car: 2013 BMW 328xi
Notable achievements
- Property Brothers airs in more than 16 countries; it’s on W Network in Canada and HGTV in the United States
- Drew and brother Jonathan have managed real estate investments for nearly 15 years; they bought their first house at 18 and sold it the following year, making a $50,000 profit
- His TV acting appearances include Smallville, Breaker High and Madison
Upcoming
- Buying and Selling debuts on W Network on Tuesday Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
*****
He's a seasoned real estate expert who turned his passion for home investing into a hit TV reality show.
Drew Scott and his twin brother, Jonathan Scott, a licensed contractor, are better known as the Property Brothers. The two are breaking ground again, but this time with an all-new series called Buying and Selling, which debuts on W Network in January.
When he's on the set at the job site, Drew drives a 2013 BMW 328xi, which he just upgraded to from a 2009 BMW 328xi.
Why did you buy another BMW 3-Series?
I've driven BMW for a long time – I absolutely love it. It's my fourth BMW. When I came here to Toronto to film a few years ago, I was trying to find something with all-wheel-drive. I want something that's sporty, a little classy, and luxurious, but I didn't want to get away from an all-wheel drive car, especially if I'm in a Toronto climate.
I live in Vegas, but I didn't want to have that kind of car up here without all-wheel-drive. I ended up buying the exact same vehicle.
I'm picky. I've had a Ford Fusion in the past, which was great, too, but it wasn't a luxury or high-performance vehicle like this is.
Will you drive it home to Vegas when you're done shooting in Toronto?
I don't actually drive down. I ship the car wherever I film. We just finished filming eight months in Austin, Texas, so I shipped it down there. For a lease, they love me because my kilometres are always 30,000 under what the max is when they get it back.
The new one I'll ship back to Vegas after the holidays and then we'll see where we're filming after that.
What don't you like about your Bimmer?
The navigation system. A lot of times I have a street address that I know is in the city and it has been there for many years and it won't have it in the system. That's very frustrating.
There is a search option on the navigation as well for points of interest. But I've used other vehicles that have a Garmin system or something else installed that is much easier to find points of interest like a local restaurant. That's a little frustrating.
You know your way around home renovations. What about cars?
I'm not a big engine guy. All I need to know is that I have a car that looks good, a car that if I have to pass someone that is driving like an idiot on the road, I can pass them. I need to have a bit of muscle in my vehicle.
Growing up, our best friend had a mechanic's shop. He knew everything about cars. If he needed to sell a house, I'd take care of it. If I needed to sell a car, he'd take care of it. When you put a lot of value into a home, you can make a really decent return. Unless you really know what you're doing with a vehicle, a vehicle is a depreciating asset. I don't have the expertise – for me, it wouldn't be a wise investment to dump a lot of money into a vehicle.
What does a BMW say about you?
For me, when I'm taking clients out and looking at property, it says I'm a professional.
Image is very important no matter what you do. The car doesn't speak to my full personality, but it is a classy vehicle in my opinion.
What was your first car?
The very first vehicle we had was an Oldsmobile, a little four-door, back in 1993. We turned 16. At the time Jonathan was in Alberta and I was in B.C. and my parents were building a ranch in Alberta. Jonathan started working on that house – it was the first one he built as a teenager with my dad. We were going to share the vehicle when we eventually would be in the same city.
In the two weeks he had the vehicle, before I even had a chance to see my new car, he ran through a stop sign and crashed it. The first time I saw the car, it was crumpled into a tiny little thing.
Then we replaced that with the Chrysler E-Class – it was a talking car.
It had a voice system, which is not something you get in a lot of cars unless it's a high-end car. It would say, your door is ajar or your washer fluid is low. And my washer fluid was always low even though I topped it up.
We're a little tech savvy and we actually changed the voice at one point to one of our friend's voices, saying different things. That was us being nerds.
Any mishaps with any of your cars?
We had an '88 T-Bird, turbo coupe. We were driving along and I spun out and I bumped into the bumper of this van. It was nothing big – it was a parked vehicle and there was just a little ding in the bumper. I decided to be honest and tell the guy I hit his vehicle and I'm sorry. He's like, no worries.
I said, 'Can we keep this away from insurance?' The guy said, 'No problem.' And the guy sends me a quote for $3,000! He was trying to get me to replace the bumper and all the side panels where he had previous damage and paint the entire vehicle.
That was my first accident. I ended up going through insurance and they told the guy no way you're getting that.
Any pet peeves in your car?
I'm a neat freak. … I don't want scratches in my leather.
Jonathan cannot borrow my car to pick up anything from Home Depot. He borrowed my car the other day when we were on set. He went to Home Depot and got 2x4s and had them in my car.
When we were younger, he borrowed my car once and he cracked my back window with a 2x4 and never told me. I didn't notice until the next time I looked out my rear-view mirror: 'What happened to my window?'
My trunk is pristine, too. If you have anything dusty or dirty, they go in a bag. I have a couple of bags I keep on standby so everything is sealed.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Twitter: @PetrinaGentile
*****
Grocery Getters: Little cars, lot of fun
Fast and Fun Rides: Get your heart racing
Green machines: Emission impossible
Big, beautiful boats: Smooth-sailing luxury machines
Practical People Haulers: Sensible, even when image matters
Practical people haulers: High-end SUVs