You don't need to know everything to get started; you need a foundation to build on, and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months.

I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

That’s the best bet.

I understand it become tad difficult to refinance since some lenders wouldn't lend on the home in trust, but is it easy to sell a home in a trust, just like you are buying in a trust?

It might be a better decision to do a 75% Cashout Refinance.

There are quite a number of things that can make utilizing an FHA loan more difficult such as more barriers during appraisal, appearance of low qualification/little cash, typically longer closing period, likely higher interest rate, and PMI cannot be dropped without a refinance if 3.5% down.That said, just chain 5% down conventional loans, and make sure your duplexes pay for themselves.  

Negotiate closer to $170K with creative financing is your best bet.

You can talk to the bank about a loan; however, my bet is they will want some form of contract and scope of work and will only pay him at set milestones.

Focus on wholesaling the leads I get from my campaign (while refining my underwriting and acquisition skills) to stack up cash, then begin acquiring rental property.2.

If you can shorten the window on the cash out refinance to the next purchase/refinance the rate is not really a factor.