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Dominic Bianco gets ready for his 'golden years'
By Monica Feid  | | Dominic Bianco | | Home, sweet home...sweet second home...and sweet sailboat. That's basically how Dominic Bianco sums up life after HVA. Thanks to his tenure as an HVA franchisee running Zapata Properties, Phoenix, AZ, Bianco said he was able to cash out much earlier than he expected and enjoy the road to his golden years in style. At 64, Bianco sold his franchise for $340,000, proving that the brand and the franchise system were all they promised to be and more. (His was one of four franchises in the same market to sell for approximately the same money this summer). "I wasn't ready for retirement when I bought the franchise," he said. "But (circumstances) allowed me to retire early." Having operated the business for three years, Bianco was the sixth franchise to open in the Phoenix market, which now supports 12 locations and huge brand awareness. He bought a lot of houses in that time, and considers joining HVA one of the smartest decisions he ever could have made. When he first heard about HVA through a friend, Bianco was living in Reno, NV, and trying to buy distressed houses in an incredibly strong market. Business was tough. But the idea behind HVA attracted him. When he met HomeVestors' founder, the late Ken D'Angelo, it was all the inspiration he needed to become a franchisee. There was just one catch. The franchise network hadn't expanded into Nevada yet. Instead, there was an opportunity in Phoenix, an area where Bianco had lived for 18 years and where his children and grandchildren still resided. The decision to move back was that simple. "When I relocated, it didn't take me long to fit back into the groove of things," Bianco explained. He opened Zapata Properties and "started buying them deep." Things took off so fast that the former Navy sailor bought a brand new sailboat ordered out of Taiwan in 2003, which now calls San Francisco its port. "I was taking up sailing, loved it and wanted to continue it, but I got sidestepped by making money at HVA," Bianco commented. Today that hard work has paid off. Bianco has purchased a residence in Flagstaff, AZ. He is shopping for a second home in Lake Tahoe. And when he's in neither place, he can be found on his sailboat in San Francisco enjoying what he calls semi-retirement. He may be having some second thoughts about selling, but he said, "You can't be semi-retired and own an HVA franchise. You can't maintain the sales quotas and obligations you have to the business. So I've given that opportunity to someone else to go out and make money." As for his newly-acquired free time, he said he has made plans to sail to Mexico and the Caribbean. "My golden years are a direct result of the efforts I put towards HVA," Bianco said. "I took advantage of an opportunity and we made a lot of money at it." . . . Monica Feid of BizCom Associates handles public relations services for HomeVestors and its franchisees.
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