This has nothing to do with real estate experience. 

It might be best to hold off until you hear of other BP members who have experience with them. 

With your experience and possible skillset, perhaps finding a company to sponsor you for a green card may be a better option? 

In your experience, do you find that it's possible to cashflow or at least break even with these properties and today's prices/rates?

Should I just jump into it and try to invest in my first property with not much experience besides the many investing books I've read?

I’ve heard conflicting views on this.

Just reaching out to see if anyone on here has done it and their experience with it as I am currently researching and interested in getting it done if it’s worth it or not.

In my experience, 75% of the time, the tax payer doesn't have a large enough liability to justify the accelerated depreciation anyhow- depending on your income and tax bill, it might not matter at all.

What's your experience level at this time? 

I don't know where to invest, really drawn to Columbus for many reasons (some cash flow and stable appreciation)--what's been some people's positive and negative experiences in Columbus?