I spent several years working in volunteer work at home and abroad working very little in between.

I did some volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and they taught me how to do it.

My husband is a volunteer firefighter, hoping to get on full time, and we love the idea of having the free time for real estate investing too.

Volunteer up front and ask for their help.  

I've been doing Habitat For Humanity for a while now, and feel long-term involvement has been a great first step in learning how to rehab (It's also a good networking opportunity, some volunteers have decades of experience). 

Open  Houses , net working and volunteering  are fabulous way to promote yourself for the benefit  of orhers.

But as the Tennessee markets have recovered (average home values of $162,000) and rents have increased to an average of $1,039, the Volunteer state is attracting more than just hopeful musicians.

My older brother has volunteered to be my partner.

My advice would be to see if you can start meeting some investors and maybe volunteering to help them out somehow with "intern" level stuff.

While I live in the DC area, I'm interested in investing in less competitive markets (Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee).I'm excited to learn by doing, so I welcome volunteer real estate analysis tasks you need help with.Cheers.