Known for his quirky sense of humour and dapper style, real estate guru and co-host of HGTV Canada's Love It or List It Vancouver Todd Talbot will be hitting the Main Stage at the Calgary Home + Garden Show this weekend to dish out a dollop of valuable real estate know how.

HGTV star Todd Talbot shares advice from 20 years in real estate at the Calgary Home and Garden Show

At the age of 22, Vancouver actor Todd Talbot bought his first home, paying his mortgage with the help of a rent-paying friend.

It was a unique occurrence among his theatre colleagues.

"(As an actor) you don't make a ton of money and you are pretty transient," said Talbot, who, as a teenager, appeared on the Hillside TV series with fellow Vancouverite and current Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Reynolds.

However, it was this initial foray into real estate – $190,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo two blocks from Kitsilano Beach – that sparked Talbot's second career as an entrepreneur, leveraging one piece of property for another, and then another, and eventually leading to ownership of several real estate companies.

Celebrating 30 years this year, the Calgary Home + Design Show continues to inspire and educate visitors on anything and everything to do with the home.

"We add new exhibitors every year and we recently added a cooking stage. The basics of the show are the same, but we're always trying to offer something new and exciting," said Jill Kivett, show manager.