How did many of you get started?

[Lauren Hawk]

My husband and I have always wanted to get into real estate, but never knew where or how to start. Now we're really motivated. We don't have a lot of spare income, so we're just still lost on where to start. I work when I can as a freelance writer and editor/virtual assistant at the moment, but honestly being a SAHM to 5 is really time consuming. Our long term goal is owning - possibly even developing - properties, but we don't know if our focus will be on residential or commercial properties (or if we even need to choose). Should we start by investing in REITs before doing anything bigger? Did many of you get your license first and learn more from there? Would it help if I worked in the real estate sector before going too far? What are some of your experiences from when you were first getting started? Thank you so much in advance!