Proud Donor to Wigs for Kids
I started growing my hair to donate in 2004. Since then, I have made 5 donations totaling over 6 1/2 FEET of hair.
I was born and raised in Union City, CA. I am married to an amazing woman and have two incredible boys. I was a competitive swimmer in high school and college. Growing up near Silicon Valley, it was inevitable that computers would cross my path.
In 1995, I accepted a sales position with Vanstar, a computer reseller. My employment with Vanstar lead me on a journey to Memphis, TN where I had my first taste of Southern Hospitality.
After 8 years in Memphis, it was time for a change and I decided to come visit a friend in Panama City Beach, Florida. My plan was to vacation in Panama City Beach for a couple of weeks before I moved back home to California.
During those two weeks I was offered a job as a jet ski tour guide. Eventually, I obtained a 100-Ton Master License and ran a dolphin tour boat for a few years. The oil spill in 2010 demonstrated the vulnerability of the tourist industry. At that time I went back to school and pursued a degree in business from Florida State University.
I graduated in 2012 with a 3.98 GPA and opened a surf shop with a friend and colleague from FSU. During this same time period, I also became a father for the first time. With visions of college tuition and cars and all the other expenses involved with being a parent, I decided to get licensed as an insurance agent and went to work for AIG. My employment there was cut short by a massive direction shift within AIG when they terminated 62,000 employees.
It was at this time that I found real estate investing. A dear friend of mine had a course on wholesaling and I dove right in. Instantly, I found that negotiating deals and getting a “good deal” was electrifying to me. There was just one thing I didn’t like about wholesaling. It was not win-win-win. Someone, typically the seller was not very happy in these deals. They were the ones that had to make the biggest concession.
Then I met a gentleman that introduced me to lease-purchase deals. He had a genius and creative way to structure the deals so they were win-win-win. With this strategy it was easy to get properties under contract, it was easy to find buyers interested in the home and it was easy to close the deals. My passion for real estate was rekindled now that I was in a position to help everyone involved and make a great living while doing so.
Recently, I came across eXp Realty. I studied their model and researched their top producers. It seemed like a match made in heaven. The advantages eXp Realty offers are more than enough to convince a smart real estate agent that they are the brokerage of choice. Coupled with the lease-purchase strategy I have been using for the last year, it exponentially makes eXp Realty that much more attractive.
I obtained my real estate license, joined eXp Realty as part of one of the Top Producing teams in the entire company. My strategy is to grow our team, training the agents under me on all aspects of our lease-purchase program so they can add another amazing tool to their tool belt and make a fantastic living no matter what the real estate cycle is doing.
All the best,
Erik Gerace
