Pretty blighted area that's a hotspot for investors willing to take a gamble.

Are you looking for a predominately cashflow driven area or would you want to gamble on appreciation more?  

These could include reports of repeated disturbance of their neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of their homes; reports of gambling, prostitution, drug dealing or drug manufacturing; damage to the property beyond normal wear and tear; reports of violence or threats to landlords or neighbors; allowing people not listed on the lease or rental agreement to live in the property; failure to give proper notice when vacating the property; or a landlord who would not rent to them again.2.

Even got a chance to check out the famous Gamble House (which I highly recommend to take a tour if you're in the area).

Just about any monkey could have thrown a Dart at a property and made money either flipping or Buy and Hold.You just couldn't tell the difference between a Good Investor and a Lucky Investor at the time everything goes up.NOW... when the Great Recession hit starting in 2008..... this is where you will see who will survive.The Lucky Investor normally doubles down on the Gambling Table, continuing to bet until he loses EVERYTHING.

The answer I kept getting was "you don't really know what you got until you buy it" and at the moment, I don't have that million in an account to gamble.

Rather than bringing home all that cash (read: tax money) and creating tons of new jobs here, my strong suspicion is perhaps only 10% of that money will be repatriated (some CEOs taking the gamble that they won't have another opportunity to bring it home at a lower rate in the future) and it will end up costing us jobs due to higher tax payments, not creating tons more as he thinks.

Because so many of them are dishonest and try to get a quick buck, weather that means tying up properties for 30 days, and not having a buyer before signing, or spamming their deals on Craigslist, because they think seasoned investors spend their days looking Craigslist for deals. 

You may be able to get the property for a low price, but it's a steady gamble depending on how far north it is.

Timing any market is a gambling mans game, some will win, but most will lose.