HGTV star Tarek El Moussa plans to bring his solar company to the Scottsdale area

Real estate investor and HGTV star Tarek El Moussa said he is buying a home near Scottsdale and moving the headquarters of his solar company, SOAR Energy, to the area.

“There's so much opportunity in the area and that's the main reason why we're bringing the company to the Scottsdale area,’’ said El Moussa. “We can find talent, we can find great buildings.” 

When it comes to finding a home in Arizona, El Moussa said he wants a move-in-ready property. Flipping a home that you're living in can be tricky and is often a recipe for disaster, he said.

“You're way too emotionally attached and you spend way too much money on things you shouldn't spend money on,” he said. “The worst remodels I have ever done in my life, like the worst, are my own houses.”

El Moussa said he has flipped nearly 1,000 properties. His HGTV series “Flip or Flop” ran for 10 seasons and now he stars in the network’s shows “Flipping 101 w/ Tarek El Moussa” and “The Flipping El Moussas,” which also features his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, a star of Netflix's "Selling Sunset." The pair got married in October 2021 and had a son, Tristan, earlier this year.

El Moussa broke into the real estate industry during his early 20s and has built a rental portfolio of over 200 properties, including apartment buildings. He credits much of his success to a mentor that he found early in his career and he now wants to provide that same guidance to others in the industry, El Moussa said.

His company HomeSchooled By Tarek El Moussa is hosting a real estate investment seminar later this month in Scottsdale.

The Flipping Summit, which costs about $500 to attend, will cover “everything from how to wholesale to how to fix and flip, to how to build a portfolio,” he said. Heather Rae El Moussa and her “Selling Sunset” co-stars Romain Bonnet and Mary Fitzgerald Bonnet are among the speakers slated for the event.

“The Flipping Summit is for literally anyone that wants more out of life,” said El Moussa. “It's not just going to be real estate. It's going to be about what it takes to be an entrepreneur.”

El Moussa said the goal of the summit is to provide attendees with the blueprint for being a successful investor, but it's up to attendees to determine what they do with that information.

“You know that saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink?” he said. “It's the same thing with real estate investing.”

Real estate investment seminar scams

The Federal Trade Commission urges consumers to be wary of in-person and online real estate investment seminars. Scams often promise to teach people how to make quick money, but most people "never get back the money they invested" in the seminar, according to the FTC.

Last year, a Utah-based company, Zurixx LLC, which relied on endorsements from El Moussa and other real estate celebrities to promote real estate seminars, settled an FTC lawsuit alleging the company "operated a real estate investment coaching scheme that sold live seminars and telephone coaching using false earnings claims that convinced tens of thousands of consumers to pay them thousands or tens of thousands of dollars," according to an FTC statement.

The settlement banned the lawsuit's defendants from "marketing or selling any real estate or business coaching programs," according to the FTC, and required a $12 million payment for consumer redress.

El Moussa said that he advises people to find a seminar where the promoters are actually part of the program.

“At Homeschooled by Tarek, I teach my students every single week," said El Moussa about his real estate investment education company, which runs his investment summits.

Real estate investment seminar scams may make over-the-top claims in their advertising, according to the FTC. The FTC warns people to be cautious of seminars that make certain claims, including:

• Attendees will make a lot of money working part-time or at home.

• Attendees will have access to regular coaching that leads to success.

• Attendees can earn big money quickly, regardless of training or experience.

• Attendees will find financial security for years to come through the seminar.

• Past seminar attendees found success.

"Don’t be convinced by ads with success stories of people saying how much money they made with little time, effort, and risk," the FTC says on its website. "Or ads that feature celebrities praising the program. Those kinds of claims aren’t reliable and don’t mean the program works. Real estate investment scams often use fake testimonials and pay people to endorse their programs."

Investment scams can be reported directly to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or a complaint can be filed with the SEC online at https://www.sec.gov/tcr.   

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: HGTV star Tarek El Moussa plans to bring solar company to Scottsdale