I've seen 1-2 months rent used in the past, so that might be a good starting point. 

Apologies, I'm just starting with real estate, however if they're offering a guarantee, isn't that a good thing?

No current liens but these properties have tax deeds, not warranty deeds if that matters.That as-is value is going to make obtaining financing more difficult for sure.Financing options drop off pretty steeply below a certain dollar amount because foreclosure costs for lenders can be significant.Your best bet may be to connect with some local private lenders (local investor meetups/referrals are a good starting point for this) or local banks.

I’ll start attending our local meetups though just to start building that network.

I had an account on BiggerPockets a decade ago, but starting fresh!

Does anyone have a good source of inventory/ any advice for just getting started?

A good handyman is a good place to start.  

I moved from Florida to start investing in Columbus because of the same reason.https://www.zillow.com/learn/hottest-housing-markets-2024/

Is it worth it and are there any helpful tips you can share for getting started?

If you don't have those two on your team, I'd start meeting with some locals that come highly reccomended and build those relationships.