Picking between three different houses on national television can be stressful but you can watch New Mexico State University alumnus Levi Nolasco guide his clients through the process and successfully secure their dream home on the newest episode of “House Hunters” that airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 on HGTV.
Nolasco graduated with a degree in digital film making from NMSU’s Creative Media Institute in 2010, and moved to Los Angeles to begin a career in the entertainment industry.
“I moved out there with like a month's worth of income and no job prospects or anything so I worked every single day, 12 hours a day, trying to find a position,” Nolasco recalled. “I finally got an internship with GSN (Game Show Network) and the game show was “Minute to Win It,” but it was only a five-day internship. I remember with that internship instead of working the four-hour days I stayed all day. I was the first person there and the last person to leave and by day five they gave me a full-time position.”
Nolasco worked on various shows including “Dream Home,” “Project Runway” and “House Hunters.” After that he worked on the team of David Parnes and James Harris of “Million Dollar Listings: Los Angeles.” But “House Hunters” always held a special place in his heart and he even brought the show to New Mexico with an episode filmed in Albuquerque.
“It was my favorite show growing up and I used to watch it with my mom.”
Once he found his calling in real estate, he returned to Las Cruces to join the Agave Group before setting up his own business with Keller Williams Realty.
Nolasco prides himself on being a client-oriented business. His clients gave him the idea to put them on national television.
“I was working with these clients that disagreed on everything and during one of the tours I thought ‘How am I going to get them on common ground? What's the best course of action?’ Then “House Hunters” just popped into my mind,” Nolasco said “So, I brought it up to them, they loved the show and then they started having a lot of fun with it. I reached out to my friend, who's still a producer there. They interviewed the couple and really liked them a lot. Their background story is different than any other “House Hunters” episode.”
His experience as a filmmaker at NMSU and his business as a realtor all came together.
“When I came back to Las Cruces and I started real estate on my own I didn't know what to do, Nolasco said. “So, I just started making YouTube videos because there's not a lot on Las Cruces and my business exploded.
“It grew faster than I could imagine. All I did was merge what I learned at New Mexico State and put it into my new career. It worked perfectly. I think it was always meant to work this way and it's given me a really, really good career in real estate so far.”
Shooting an episode of “House Hunters” with his clients recently reminded him of his days making films as a CMI student.
“It brought back a lot of fun experiences, like I've had NMSU because it's a smaller crew. It was just a blast,” Nolasco said “Any film set I've ever been on is like working in magic. It's very lighthearted, very fun. A lot of people think reality TV isn't real, but it very real.”
Looking back at where he’s been and where his career is going, Nolasco credits his professors
“If it weren't for the Creative Media Institute and NMSU, I wouldn't be experiencing the success that I am in real estate, so I credit my success directly to NMSU and CMI, and Amy Lanasa, Rajeev Nirmalakhandan and of course the late Mark Medoff.”
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