Meet Lyn Carter

I have been a licensed Real Estate Agent in New Mexico, since 1978, and the qualifying broker for my own office since 1982. When I got my salesman's license in 1978 I was a eighteen year old Freshman at the University of New Mexico primarily looking for a way to fund my education. Consequently, most of the people I knew were just like myself young, uneducated, with no money and no credit. However, Real Estate then was like the Stock Market was up until 2000: Anybody who was half awake could see that prices were skyrocketing, and many wanted to get in on the action. Most of my college buddies were itching to get a place of their own, and I had a ready made list of buyers, if only I could get them into a house that didn't require credit, down payment, or much of a monthly payment.

Before long, I had taken quite a few "Nothing Down" Seminars, and had helped a number of my friends purchase homes. I was making a lot more money (part-time) than would have been possible at any full-time job I was qualified for. New opportunities abounded. I could see that Real Estate Sales was just the tip of the iceberg, and the builders and developers who sold their homes through our office were making the "real money".

By the time two years had passed, I had a general Contractor's license, had purchased three lots, and had two houses under construction.

Now I don't know if you remember what interest rates were from 1980 to 1982, but I can guarantee you I do. Those two houses I had under construction, and the third lot I wanted to start on were paid for with construction financing from a bank. The terms were renewable (or not) every six months, with the interest rate to be prime plus two. I mentioned 1982, because that is how long it took to sell those houses. During those two years, the interest on those construction loans exceeded 18% for a significant period of time. I had to drop out of school for a time, just to sell enough real estate to pay the interest on those loans, which was no small task with interest rates as high as they were.

When I graduated with a Business Degree (Marketing concentration) in 1982, I was "fed up" with, and "burned out" on, Real Estate. I decided to get that "Real Job" I was now qualified for. I found a position in the Marketing Department at AT&T. Although I stayed with AT&T for the next six years, I knew before the end of the first year that I was not meant to work thirty of forty years for a large corporation. I spent the next four years looking for the ideal business to run for myself, and the one after that getting it up and running part time.

After four years of careful study, I came to the conclusion that there was no business like the one I already knew, Real Estate. However, after examining my own past experience, I also knew that I did not want to go back to "Real Estate" the way I had known it before.

The business I started in 1988, and still operate today is based on the concepts of both specialization and diversification. My goal was to insulate myself from the cyclical nature of real estate and interest rates by specializing and concentrating my efforts, in areas of real estate that would compliment each other throughout the real estate cycle. That business today consists of Investing in (buying, selling, brokering and holding) paper (Mortgages, Deeds of Trust, and Real Estate Contracts) Investing in single family houses, Real Estate Brokerage and now Education.

It has been my experience that when interest rates are low, as they have been, houses sell quickly, thus Brokerage is good, but significantly less seller carry-back paper is created. When interest rates are high, fewer houses are sold, there is a much greater need for seller financing, and the paper business picks up. With regard to Real Estate Investment, I try to use the cycle to my advantage, selling properties when rates are low, and buying when rates are high.

Over the past fifteen years, my investing in houses has come almost exclusively from property purchased in distress/Foreclosure situations. After discovering the opportunities available in this area, I have not needed to look elsewhere. Of all the things I have done in real estate, none have a greater potential for profit than Foreclosures.

Now that I have started teaching, my goal is to provide "Practical Real Estate Education", teaching only subjects with which I have a lot of personal experience. The courses I have written are all based on things I have personally done and know to work.

My pledge to my students and customers alike is to only provide information I know to be useful. The data I sell is in the same format that I use to work the foreclosure market myself. The courses I teach are filled with the knowledge I found necessary to be successful. The courses I recommend from other instructors are those I have taken and found to be accurate and informative.

My best advice to those who wish to be successful in any business is to study that business at every opportunity. Real Estate is no different. I continue to take courses every year, and I continue to find new and exciting information. There is always more to know; and the more you know, the more opportunity you have to profit when a situation is presented to you.

Numerous people have told me how "Lucky" I have been in real estate investment. I accept this as a compliment, because my definition of "Luck" is: "what happens when preparedness meets opportunity".

Good Luck and best wishes to all.