I know lot's of investors still actively buying but also sitting on millions or more in cash waiting to deploy.

You could join a REIA in Columbia to get some more knowledge (Midlands REIA seems quite active).

Not having an NMLS or real estate broker license doesn't automatically mean that what they are doing is illegal since there are provisions for one-off mortgage lending by unlicensed individuals (lending your nephew money to finish the garage being a good example), but there's about a 95% certainty that if you're doing it for a living and/or actively putting yourself out there as a mortgage lender of any form (like if they are doing enough volume that they use email templates...), you are supposed to be licensed.Another flag is anyone asking for up-front fees before you're even in escrow, or fees once in escrow that exceed a normal appraisal cost.If BOTH of these tests fail -- no license AND up-front fees -- they're almost certainly a scammer.

I'd love to meet up with Springfield locals, it seems like there are several that are active in the forums!

I'm active duty and I bought a primary residence in Dec 2017.

Invest in yourself early.All of my answers should be vetted by a professional...but I'm trying my best.It is not necessary to form an LLC to do a lot of REI business activities. 

Hello BP,I'm an active Midwest RE investor who purchased 16 units in Indianapolis in the last year and a half but looking to expand into a new market and have selected Cleveland for the long-term potential of the city for buy & holds in certain areas of town.

The level of activity and involvement are very different, especially when getting started...and they meet different goals/objectives. 

You quickly get into this whole discussion of active investing vs passive investing, just like we do with RE investing.  

This may entail investing actively and passively, investing in multiple states, and/or investing in various types of RE assets.