On The Waterfront

Nick Waldner’s TV career started three and a half years ago when he appeared on one episode of TLC’s My First Home, a reality show following first-time homebuyers.

The square-jawed former lacrosse player was such a natural on camera that producers remembered him, and pitched him hosting gigs on several new shows, all of which Waldner turned down to focus on growing his Columbia-headquartered real-estate firm.

That is until a producer came up with an offer Waldner couldn’t refuse.

“They wanted to do a show around me selling waterfront homes around the country,” says Waldner, 36.

But there was a twist: Waldner would be participating in the region’s preferred water sport—surfing, wakeboarding, sailing—with the potential homebuyers. “I loved that idea,” says Waldner, a Sykseville native who has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and surfed the Australian coast. “It was a good mix of what I do in my free time and what I do in business.”

The show, Waterfront House Hunting, premiered on the FYI channel in May, and its first season of 14 episodes wraps up this month. Waldner, who resides near the water in Canton himself, says the lure of waterfront property is nearly universal, but also, as his show proves, attainable.

“You don’t need $10 million to have a nice waterfront property,” he says. “You can look at towns in Alabama or Mississippi and find amazing real estate at an affordable price. I like that.”