Getting an offer accepted and then negotiating a reduction based on the findings from the home inspection and/or appraisal.Offering my agent's commissionI would appreciate any guidance or suggestions to make my offer as respectful and professional as possible.

What are they suggesting you off the buyer’s brokers, another 4-6%?  

Or does anyone have any suggestions?

Your construction background and being local to Columbus are huge advantages—they’ll definitely give you an edge in finding properties and keeping rehab costs down compared to others.I’d suggest exploring parts of the city you’re less familiar with.

While I don’t suggest that the smaller type investor purchase and utilize “exotic” vehicles like foreign asset protection trusts, family limited partnerships with outside controls, or Byzantine or convoluted maze of ownership entities, the more simple strategies of using Series LLCs, self directed retirement plans, and paying off their home mortgage to the extent of the Federal BK homestead exemptions can insure that a plaintiff attorney never even considers going after them.  

They'll usually jump on your suggestion because it is so much easier to sell the note than get the process of a short sale through their system.By purchasing the note to the property you basically become the bank.

From there, it was suggested to ask what they would rent the property for so you already know upfront before an offer is made on the property. 

im a high school student and I’m very interested in real estate investment and would love to hear some suggestions on how to get started.

If cash flow is your goal, you might look into areas like Jonesboro, Forest Park, Lithonia, or Stone Mountain, where RTP ratios tend to be higher these are just a few areas I'd suggest.

I'm still running the numbers on properties every day, but I was wondering if anyone had other suggestions, or tips for investing out of state into a better market.