Volunteering as a tradesman is the easiest way, but some don't have patience to teach or liability reasons, some look at reliability also.

Normal location issues apply to investment properties also:  busy road, train tracks, next to volunteer fire department, etc.

I have only done that once and all I did was ask what they were asking for rent and the person volunteered the specifics of the rental (ie w/d, sq ft, etc) without me asking any further.I also tap the Property Managers in the area, who better than them to give this information.

In my spare time hehe, I am a volunteer fireman.

First question, who is going to buy a home and is going to volunteer to pay higher interest rate?

I have volunteered at our local Restore before and they sell a ton of appliances (stoves, microwaves, washer/dryers).  

I would also look for a investor that you could possibly volunteer to help or someone in construction, so you can gain that understanding. 

Go to a local RE office and volunteer to answer phones in return for help understanding how to handle potential clients.

Spending time with family and friends, organizing volunteer work at homeless shelters, living an active and healthy life and helping other to do the same, traveling, and playing music with his band are among the many different things Kevin values.

If you volunteer to do the things most investors might hate to do, and do that for free then you can probably find someone.