Carleton H. Sheets is the best-selling author of the No Down Payment® home study course as well as other real estate books, and video and audio programs. He has sold more than 3 million copies of his programs in the United States alone. His programs and books emphasize education and training strategies to help people make millions in real estate. As of late, his programs are available online, right here at CarletonSheets.com.

Personal History
Carleton H. Sheets (often misspelled as Carlton Sheets or Carlton Sheet) was born in a small town in Illinois, where he and his younger brother were raised by conservative parents. When Carleton was 10, his father was transferred and the family relocated to Ohio. Near the end of his first summer in Ohio, Carleton decided he wanted to make extra money by mowing lawns. He asked his mother to loan him the money to buy a mower and he repaid her in installments after mowing a few lawns. Purchasing the mower with no money down became his first "no down payment" venture. He did so well mowing lawns that he asked for another loan to buy a bicycle so he could deliver newspapers—his second "no down payment" transaction.

After graduating from college, Carleton made his debut into corporate America when he accepted a job at the Armstrong Cork Company in California. He was later transferred to North Carolina, and then to Georgia with the company. During this period, Carleton married and had two children. After eight years with Armstrong Cork Company, he accepted a position as Director of Marketing for the Lykes Pasco Packing Company in Florida. Two years later, the company—and Carleton—realized that he was too inexperienced for this job and he was fired.

The Early Years of Investing
Carleton then began to investigate self-employment opportunities. A friend urged him to get into real estate and, in a short period of time, he got his real estate license. After investigating several real estate opportunities, his first listing was an apartment building, which he was unable to sell. Recognizing that the building had potential, and realizing that he didn't have any money or any credit, he talked with two friends about purchasing the building. Each friend put up half of the down payment, and Carleton received an ownership interest for putting the deal together. It was a successful first venture. After 18 months, the partners sold the building and split for the profit. Carleton began putting together more partnerships, gradually building a reputation for making money in real estate. His specialty was "rehabbing" the properties. Within five years he owned almost 500 rental units—with and without partners.

In addition to his growing real estate career, Carleton began teaching local real estate courses for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and was the sole author or author-in-partnership for at least three separate courses for NAR and the Real Estate Securities and Syndication Institute. He provided real estate education as an instructor, and after awhile eventually created his own home study programs. These programs were based on his experience in using creative financing techniques to invest in real estate.

No Down Payment and Beyond
In 1984, Carleton partnered with the Professional Education Institute (PEI) to distribute his message nationally. His No Down Payment television infomercial won numerous awards and is now accredited as being the longest running of its kind, spanning 25 years. He has appeared on other television talk and radio shows, and he has personally lectured to over 500,000 people on the subject of creative real estate investing and real estate investing basics.

During his career investing in real estate, Carleton has twice been invited to Washington to meet with key congressional members to discuss creative real estate financing and the rights of property owners. He also has been featured on the covers of Income Plus, Income Opportunities, Opportunity Magazine, Home Business Connection, and Opportunity World.

In 2008, after 30 years of successfully selling his real estate continuing education courses, Carleton's No Down Payment program has been revised and adapted to an online learning environment. His Real Profit$ in Real Estate program—along with his other online real estate courses—provide interactive online education to anyone with Internet access. His legacy is to help as many people as possible achieve their dreams.

Today, Carleton has been a part of buying and selling more than $50 million worth of commercial and residential real estate investment property. And although he is semi-retired, he divides his time between investing and writing, and still continues to educate consumers on real estate investing strategies.