My goals are to learn all aspects of the Real Estate business, but ultimately want to Buy and Hold to live off the passive income.

I live in a very competitive and overpriced market and have spent the last few years focusing on my career as a Structural Engineer educating myself and saving my money for the future. 

If your personal HVAC goes out, you may choose to do without until money is saved.

At such prices, it is possible to find investments with with month rent at 1% of the property price (that's 12% gross yield).Investing for rental income is easier than for gain, as one just needs to find a property with an affordable rent, in an area with a healthy job market to be able rent it, there is no need to find a property below market price as in the capital gain business model.At $900-$1400 per month, most tenants rent by choice as they could save to buy a better house.

Welcome Jeremy Sawatzky my advice is to read the Ultimate beginners guide on this site.

The good news is that the 400$ you spent for the inspection just saved you at least 10k.Good luck!

Rather than use that toward a down payment, I plan to use some cash I have saved to purchase a similarly valued unit (around $100k) in cash, that way I will only have one payment, as opposed to two.

That price included pumping, chemically treating, and ultimately collapsing the septic tank, directional boring 3/4 of the way around the house (.39 acre lot), two cleanouts installed, and he even removed a damaged cast iron stack pipe which had cracked in my foundation and updated it to PVC at no charge.I gave the overpriced $4,000 water equipment to a friend who had suffered from hard water and haven't had an issue with my new city water/sewer setup yet.Contact me if you'd like to chat further.

I suggest reading Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate that is available on this site.

Save up the 3% or whatever you need as a downpayment (or ask for a gift from family members that want to see you get ahead), and make an offer that has the seller cover your closing costs.