Former Ford Model Runs Wilton Real Estate Office

Nancy Pantoliano used to spend Sundays looking at the real estate open houses with her husband, actor Joe Pantoliano. “It was one of our favorite pastimes,” she says. “Then one day I said to myself 'I can do this,' and I got my license and interviewed real estate agencies.”

Nancy signed on with Prudential because it also catered to international clients, and between her and Joe they have contacts everywhere. Today she is the office leader of the Wilton office. Nancy explains that a real estate agent is running his or her own business under a company's umbrella. “I make sure everyone has a business plan and sticks to it, and I help coach the agents,” she says.

Hiring a real estate coach is one of the best things a new agent can do to ensure success, according to Nancy. “The coach teaches you the ropes and sets you up to do the right thing from the very beginning,” she says.

Nancy and Joe have lived in Wilton for more than 10 years, moving from California shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. “At the time I was a Ford model. I was always the redhead in product commercials,” she says, shaking out her hair. Most of her work was in New York so the couple, originally from New York and New Jersey, moved back East. Friends suggested New Canaan, and Nancy and Joe went house-hunting. When they didn’t see “anything worth moving for,” they looked in Wilton. “I was very concerned about my oldest daughter, Melody, who was a teenager and didn’t want to leave her friends,” Nancy says. And then they saw a house with a swing hanging from a tree limb in front of the house. Just like in the movies. “Melody sat on the swing and said she would move if we could live in this house,” Nancy says. “It was our dream house.” The Pantolianos bought the home and Joe set up a new swing for Melody. And they all lived happily ever after. 

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