Carleton Sheets is recognized as the best-selling author of the No Down Payment home study course as well as other successful real estate books, video, and audio programs. He has sold more than 3,000,000 copies of his programs in the United States alone.

After working in the private sector for nearly 10 years, Carleton became a full-time investor in 1970. In addition to a successful real estate career, he also enjoyed teaching local real estate classes for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). As an instructor, he instantly caught the "teaching bug" and expanded his training by creating his own home study programs. These programs were based on his experience using creative financing techniques to invest in real estate. Carleton believed that he had a message that could change people's lives.

In 1984, Carleton partnered with the Professional Education Institute to distribute that message nationally. His No Down Payment television program won numerous awards and is now accredited as being the longest running program of its kind - spanning 25 years.

Carleton has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows, and he has personally lectured to over 500,000 people on the subject of creative real estate investing. He was awarded the S.R.S (Specialist in Real Estate Securities) designation by the Real Estate Securities and Syndication Institute, and was named in Who's Who in Real Estate. In 1992 he was inducted to the Real Estate Hall of Fame.

During his career 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 programs, Carleton began sharing his real estate programs at no charge.