Nick Bastianelli

“SO DANG GRATEFUL”

By Jane K. Asher, Ph.D.

Photos by Sasha Marceta with Skyview Experts

Photos taken at Cranbrook Custom Homes — Montcaret in Northville

Nick Bastianelli commenced his entrepreneurial journey in 2013 at the age of 23 when he and his wife, Nicole, opened their first CrossFit gym in Farmington Hills. By 2018, Nick and Nicole had not only two young daughters but also a second gym in Ferndale, so when Nick’s friend encouraged him to give real estate a try, he was intrigued but also a bit hesitant.

“We had scaled both of our gyms to a place where our staff was running most of the day-to-day operations, which allowed some free time — or as much as you can have with two babies and functioning as CEO of two facilities,” Nick shared. “This led to me being reluctantly open to the idea of trying something new. I gave real estate a go and loved it!”

After getting licensed in June of 2018, Nick didn’t initially devote much time or attention to real estate, but that started to change after he made his first sale and as he began to realize that the gyms did not provide the level of income that he and his wife desired for their family. Inspired by his dad’s career as a builder and his mom’s penchant for art and design, equipped with home renovation knowledge from his previous job at William James Carpentry, and fueled by the confidence of his first sale, Nick discovered his “natural fit” in real estate and decided to sell his gyms.

“Growing up around the building industry and my previous experience in home renovations gave me a huge advantage when I entered the industry,” Nick said. “I helped rebuild a house from the studs up in Northville and, as a result, can walk into a home and feel really comfortable spotting areas of concern and giving ballpark estimates on repair, etc. I also have a solid understanding of real estate investment as a result of reading everything I could get my hands on from BiggerPockets and other real estate investment sources early on in my career.”

In 2019, as Nick brokered a merger of his Farmington Hills location with another local gym and began focusing more on real estate, his initial goal was to sell 10 houses as a part-time agent. Closing out 2019 with 19 sales and one referral, Nick doubled his goal. The following year, Nick completed an outright sale of his Ferndale gym and sold almost $9.5 million, and he is on track to surpass $15 million in 2021.

“My prior mentor and broker, Brian Kirksey, had a very positive impact on me and helped develop my skills during my first couple of years in the business,” Nick said. “My recent move and partnership have aligned me with Anthony Gargaro and Sherry Swift of eXp, and I have learned so much so rapidly since partnering with them — it’s so fun to be putting all the pieces together, and I am so excited for the future.”

Nick says that the most rewarding part of his business is his ability to be “of genuine service” to others. “The process of buying and selling often brings me into close contact with my clients’ personal lives, and I am so grateful I get to know and be of service to them,” he shared. “My goal is to always maintain an extremely high level of customer service and to keep my clients informed and educated. I want to connect my clients with their dream homes and make that purchase a possibility.”

In addition to his affinity for helping and teaching others through real estate, Nick possesses a strong desire to excel, to improve, and to physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially provide for his family. “I consistently work to embrace the present and focus on what is happening here and now — to be with my family, to slow down and participate in my daily life instead of always hunting down the next goal,” he said. “I believe I have a responsibility to live my life to the fullest in order to set an example for those around me. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so I’m trying to squeeze out every ounce of life while I’m here hanging with those I love.”

Nick and Nicole have two daughters — Gracie, 6, and Myla, 4 — as well as several extended family members who live nearby. The Bastianellis all have strong ties to fitness and athletics: Nick does CrossFit and jiu-jitsu, Nicole engages in traditional strength training, and Gracie and Myla practice gymnastics. Describing himself as a “natural introvert,” Nick likes to recharge by reading, watching movies and hanging out at home with his family.

Inspired by his eagerness to “give freely” and abundantly, Nick regularly donates to Volunteers of America and encourages all of his listing clients to do the same. The Bastianellis also adopt at least one family at Christmastime every year, a tradition they started in 2014 and plan to continue so that they can help more families in the future.

Nick’s genuine passion for serving others, the personal fulfillment that it brings him and his commitment to living a purpose-driven life, stem from his teenage struggles with drugs and alcohol, the heartbreak of losing several of his close friends to drug addiction and alcoholism and his journey to sobriety at the age of 20. “Getting sober as well as everything that led up to and followed that transformative experience has completely shaped who I am as a man today,” Nick shared. “As a result of all of that, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot of really hard-won lessons — I am doing my best to learn and live up to my highest potential on a daily basis, and I am just so dang grateful to be alive and spending time with my family and friends.”

Of course, Nick is also “so dang grateful” for his thriving career and for the opportunities and freedoms that it affords him. In real estate, Nick has not only found an industry to nurture and grow his entrepreneurial spirit; he has also built a business founded on personal conviction and fueled by his propensity to serve and share the best of himself with others.

Nick Bastianelli -- Rising Star