Find a few of those people and ask intelligent questions that you have wrote yourself down while reading books and BP articles. 

I'm intelligent so I don't need to blindly regurgitate scripts or mail out prewritten documents.

David McCoy - COO of Peak Potentials and Intelligent Wealth won't give any of the students their money back.

Then you wield your IRA (intelligently) without all of the per-transaction fees and slow response times of many providers.There are many providers here on BP and elsewhere.

However use that info to help you talk more intelligently with your legal and tax professional.

Marrying young may not be the most financially intelligent thing to do most of the time; however, I feel like I actually have an advantage due to my wife being intelligent and not consumeristic.

The longer I live the more I realize that the good Lord did not see fit to distribute the gift of intelligence equally.  

Another option is to find a Broker who you can hire as a sort of consultant, who will backstop any lack in experience, business knowledge, and emotional intelligence which the various "local" Agents might lack.

For education, you are in the right place with BP and local REI meetups where you can find local mentors would help too ... for experience, you'll need to get in there and invest, but do so intelligently and deliberately.  

I already know I can continue to be a presence in my local REIA, practice running numbers and learning the market (whatever that means; still haven't gotten a fantastic definition of that) and save capital, but I was wondering what the collective intelligence thinks I should do with the next 6-12 months.- Should I try and find a creative way into the market, like seller carry or a partnership?