Or is it better to use a professional texting service to potentially avoid legal responsibilities? 

I've crunched the numbers on numerous properties ranging from $250k to $400k that meet my criteria and are listed on the MLS.

This area is pretty expensive and would like to limit my initial investment under 100k including closing, reno etc.Looking forward to meeting you all!

I would suggest going to meet ups and networking with other investors and meet investors doing what you're interested in doing, like fix & flips.

Always wonderful to grow a community and looking forward to meet local real estate agents, property owners, and STR managers. 

I am not well educated, but aware enough of nuances with deposits and different state legalities it makes me a little uneasy.

This is very high-touch and personal, but also not scalable in a meaningful way, and often times, unless you have something pertinent to discuss with each investor, some may view this as a waste of time (think in corporate speak: "this meeting could have been an email")Newsletters are very scalable, and with scale the personal touches are lost, since you are presumably sending this to thousands of people.  

When someone operates by pitching an investment on here it tells me that they have no compliance department, no legal, no offering documents, no care to evaluate the suitability of potential investors, no disclosures, no financials, are not registered  and so on.

If you're uncertain, consulting with a local real estate professional or attorney can provide valuable insights into the market and legal considerations.

These groups are often in flux about where they meet, when they meet, how often they meet, so this is meant to be a general resource.NTAREI- https://ntarei.com/ Normally meets about 2x a month in North Dallas at the Holiday Inn at Preston and LBJ NE corner.