No credit, No money... what do I do?

[Pierre Baquero]

Hi there, years ago I invested in real estate before the crash in 2007. I lost so much that I stayed away till now. I want to get started however my credit is not what it once was, but I'm working on it and it's getting better. At this time I have nothing saved to invest and it'll be a year or two before I'll have any kind of real money to invest. Kinda embarrassing but covid-19 did a number on me, however I'm grateful for all that has happened as I've finally realized what I've always known, and that is that Real Estate investing was and still is my passion. I understand credit and finance well, and I was in mortgages for 8 years (before 2007). However, I've read about people using sweat equity to help other investors find properties to build their portfolios, and use this to leverage themselves till they get enough to get started. So I'm leaning on the expertise of the BiggerPockets community to point me in a good direction as to how I can build something from scratch. Thanks in advance...