I am open to finding a house that needs a fix up, however I am concerned with my lack of experience in real state.

If you are more concerned with building equity and buying appreciating assets, you can target some of the areas in Philly that are closer to the 1% rule with the thought of building up assets to borrow equity from.

Erase everything in your plan concerning an LLC and proceed.

My concern at this point is the average DOM for rentals.

I'm concerned that this might be what's going on now. 

My concern with Columbus is it reminds me a bit of Memphis TN a few years ago where it was flooded with investors and nearly all homes were out of state investor owned leading to a lot of competition to market rentals to tenants, and lower home appreciation as a result. 

It was clear they were all forging their own path, trying to figure out best practices, and unlike a teenager they were there to express and discuss those concerns and doubts outwardly so we could all benefit from the collective successes and mistakes of the group.

Are you asking for pure opinions or has there been some cause of concern? 

My lender is one the top 10 national banks by assets (can’t reveal who due to privacy concerns).

At this stage of my life (71) years old and more concerned with estate planning than career advancement, my top priority is asset preservation on an INFLATION ADJUSTED basis.