Early in life, Carleton Sheets began to explore self employment and looked to real estate as a means to accomplish this. He got his license and attempted the sale of an apartment complex. However, he was unsuccessful in selling it and decided he wanted to purchase it himself. The problem with this is did not have the available funds to get the job done. Being ever resourceful, he took on two partners to help invest in the building. After fixing the building up, it was sold at a profit that was split three ways. Thus began his career with no money down business transactions. After a few years he had over 500 rental properties.

Carleton also started teaching at this point, writing courses and offering them to the local community in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Estate Securities and Syndication Institute. Eventually he used his experience and knowledge in the real estate market to create self paced home classes for the general public.