Hello Cynthia, Welcome to emotional up and down ride of Investing in hot markets like Columbus :) Most of us are on the same boat, or at least I am too.
Depending on your situation and your budget, you could always start in your backyard (Cleveland, which is still a pretty good market) and once you get the first one under your belt move to Columbus. Your market is also pretty hot but at least your have the advantage of being local and being able to do a lot of deal finding activities that us as OOS investors can't do. Like driving for deals.
I think if you keep up with looking for deals and putting offers, 6 months timeline is reasonable in Columbus or Cleveland.
Also, I don't think you need to be in the best area to cash flow. As a starter I would probably avoid D neighborhoods, but C should give you a decent cash flow. Sometime, you can find good cash flowing properties in B areas as well.
Good luck and reach out if you have any other questions.