Former Philly Weatherman tries Hand at Real Estate
/It looks like former Philly Weatherman John (I Pooped my Pants) Bolaris has finally given up on his TV career and weather forecasting.
The bad boy weatherman is now trying his had at real estate.
"When you're making a new direction in life, the best way to succeed is to go with what you love, and real estate is my other passion," said Bolaris, 58, who lives at 2116 Chestnut Street and has a property in East Hampton, Long Island.
On Wednesday, Bolaris, who is licensed in Pennsylvania and New York, officially joined The Condo Shop, the brokerage that handles sales and rentals of a number of Center City apartment and condominium buildings.
"We are ecstatic," said Benjamin Oller, principal of the firm. Oller's father, Richard, is chairman of Multifamily Management Services, which manages 32,000 properties nationally.
Benjamin Oller said that after Bolaris received his real estate license from Temple University two weeks ago, "he interviewed at a number of other brokerages in the city before he decided to come to work for us."
"They gave me the opportunity to sell in New York and Philadelphia, when a few other companies I interviewed for would not," said Bolaris.
Oller said Bolaris' contacts with entertainment and sports personalities would be a major asset as the Condo Shop continues to expand its operations here and elsewhere.
"Ninety percent of real estate is connections, and I've been laying down a big foundation over the years," said Bolaris, who was the weatherman on WTXF Fox Philly from 2008 to 2011. Bolaris then worked for two years as a weather contributor for Philly.com. In 2014, he founded his own weather wire service, weathersavior.com, which lasted about a year before he pulled the plug this June.
Bolaris has also tried his hand at acting. He'll be featured in a new indie horror flick, American Exorcist, slated to come out Halloween of 2016.
"I'm extremely excited like a racehorse that's been locked up in a stable and kicking to get out to explode on to the fast track of the real estate market," Bolaris emailed.
Right now, Bolaris is listing agent for a property on Long Island's north shore that he said was the estate where F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby.
The original mansion was torn down, and the 14-acre site is listed at $60 million to $75 million. There is also a spec house being completed there for $12.9 million more.
Bolaris landed the deal from long-time friend, Bert Brodsky, who owns the estate.
"Bert gave me a wonderful opportunity and I know I have to perform for him," said Bolaris.
H/T Philly Inquirer