Should I start out online with Zillow or another site? 

Hey Blake congratulations Have you come across brokerage firms in Springfield or the surrounding areas that allow investor agents access to the MLS??

Some light reading online gave me mixed answers as to if you can legally do it anymore.

Had some trouble finding this information online and I would imagine that people on here have dealt with this issue.

Just like vacuuming your truck your truck is free, contacting the broker online is free.

If you have no idea of where you even want to start, go online to Redfin, search FSBOs in your county or zip code and start there.

There was so much water that it seeped all the way over to our side of the basement (it only houses our oil tank and furnace and is accessed through the outside so we don't go down there much in the summer and didn't know it was wet). 

While these aren't as good as having access to the MLS, they can get you pretty close.

I am currently working in Louisiana as a rope access welder.

Elbert, far and away the lowest title fees I found were with Entitle Direct, order online cuts out middlemen.