For military spouse and real estate investor Anne Marie Sheldon, change is the name of the game. Together with her husband Jeromie and their six children, Anne Marie has moved 18 times over the past 20 years. The Sheldons have lived everywhere from Washington to Oklahoma to Arizona, and even Belgium.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” Anne Marie reflected. “Setting up in a new town, meeting new people, setting up a new home — all those things have been projects, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s shaped my life. It’s allowed me to become a more flexible, resilient person overall.”
Anne Marie may be used to switching things up, but when Jeromie came to her wanting to break into real estate investing, she was hesitant at first. With their professional backgrounds as a physical therapist and a military officer, what could they possibly know about investing? When her husband suggested attending a real estate investment conference, she reached a critical decision point that ultimately changed their joint perspectives on real estate as a whole.
“I felt like I wasn’t supporting him. I thought, what will happen if he goes and loves it and I know nothing about it, and then we sort of drift apart? That was my concern deep in my heart,” Anne Marie said candidly. “If he pursues this and I’m resistant to it, it could potentially drive a wedge in our marriage.”
Despite her hesitancy, Anne Marie attended the first conference with her husband and found more potential in investing than she ever thought possible.
“I thought I should at least keep my mind open, and if it’s not for me, that’s fine,” Anne Marie said. “I was really nervous because, again, my background isn’t business. In March of 2019, after I attended my first conference, my mindset completely changed. I thought, ‘Where have I been?’ I felt so ignorant and yet so enlightened at the same time. And once I’m on board with something, I’m even more on board than he is.”
Anne Marie was ready to dive right in, but Jeromie encouraged her to slow down and look at the bigger picture. Together, the couple pursued coaching before joining up on the passive side of real estate investing.
“We began passively investing very quickly. We cashed out on a lot of stocks, and over the years, we’ve lived very frugally. Then we continued to invest fairly heavily when we were young. It’s a blessing we had money to move passively. So over time, we invested in six passive investments throughout Arizona, Texas, and Florida.”
Serving as a potential capstone to all of their different residences across the last two decades, Anne Marie and her family plan on moving again later this year, this time to Anchorage, Alaska, for Jeromie’s new job as a USPS pilot following his retirement from 23 years of active duty in the U.S. military. Aside from just living there, the couple plans to extend the scope of their investments in their new location.
“We purchased a townhome in Anchorage. Jeromie will live there, but it will house 12 pilots. It’s a bunk bed situation where there are six bunks and 12 beds total,” Anne Marie explained. “A pilot pays a monthly fee, say $400 a month. They’re typically only there for three or four days a month, probably. So, it’s a better model than a hotel. And it looks like the demand is going up.”
All of the passive investments ultimately led to one joint goal that Anne Marie and her husband established shortly after attending that transformational conference in 2019. Their “why” behind investing is eventually to open up a rehabilitation center for people struggling with PTSD and addiction. She has always felt drawn to serving and helping others, and now with the move to Alaska, her dream feels all the more attainable.
“As a physical therapist, I like to see people healed and restored. I would like to have land with cabins to help people with PTSD or addictions. I envision a place where they could come and stay and work on a farm. Of course, there would also be coaching and healing, both physically and mentally,” Anne Marie said.
On change, the passive real estate investing market, and her upcoming move to Anchorage, Anne Marie feels an overwhelming sense of excitement for what the future holds.
“I think the move to Anchorage is the most exciting because anytime we’ve moved, one chapter closes, and you have to say goodbye,” Anne Marie said.
“But then a new door opens. We let go, and then we embrace the change. And exciting things have always happened when we’ve moved, so I’m excited. The unknown always makes you nervous, but the idea that we could purchase the land out there to help us structure this is, to me, very exciting.”
About the Author:
Leslie Chunta is a marketing consultant with nearly 15 years of experience in creating dynamic marketing programs and building brands for startups to enterprise organizations. She has worked agency- and client-side with high-growth companies that include Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, SailPoint, EMC, Spanning Cloud Apps, Ashcroft Capital, Netspend, and Universal Studios. www.thelabcollective.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action