How a student selling bibles door-to-door became a real estate titan

It’s not a rags-to-riches story but rather a tale of perseverance.

That’s according to Wade Shealy, the American real estate titan who went from selling bibles door-to-door in his youth to founding luxury home exchange program ThirdHome for millionaires and billionaires.

Shealy, who received an Honors degree at the University of Georgia, paid his way through college via straight commission, selling bibles and educational books door-to-door for the Southwestern Company.

“I had to figure out a way to pay my way through school,” he reveals. “I didn’t know much about bibles and I didn’t think I was much of a salesman, but I learned a lot about people and yourself.”

“It’s hard work making 30 presentations day with lots of rejection. You have to learn how to pick yourself up when you feel like going home and quitting. It was a good lesson for me at an early age, teaching me about perseverance.”

The job turned out to be lucrative for a student, with Shealy making $US150,000 ($AU224,993) in the summer alone.

Perseverance has allowed Shealy to forge a career as a real estate titan, with 40 years experience now under his belt.

Alongside the creation of ThirdHome, Shealy has become a leader in American resort real estate development.

He is behind high-profile real estate development projects, such as Hampton Island in Georgia. The 4,000-acre private community is where Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck purchased a home.

Shealy has also sold more than $US3 billion ($AU4.4 billion) in resort real estate development.

Launched in 2010, ThirdHome allows home owners to trade their unused time in their second home to gain access to other members’ yachts, villas, estates or castles.

The travel and lifestyle club for the wealthy ensures that “feeling of never getting bored”, says Wade. “It’s about creating that feeling in one’s home that you never get tired of.”

Members are able to travel rent-free, with the club using a travel credits system. Members pay a nominal exchange fee, from $US495 ($AU742) to $US1,395 ($AU2,092) a week.

In order for your home to qualify, it has to have an average value of $US2.4 million ($AU3.5 million).

“Every market is slightly different,” Wade says. “We’ve got everything from a one-bedroom in Central Park, New York, to a 20-bedroom castle in Scotland.”

“There’s even a member with a house on 40 acres in Malibu, California, that’s essentially a plane that’s been converted into a house.

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