This market is tricky, so having an agent that is active and understands this market is super important.  

If you're dialing 100+ people a day and not coming out with 2-3 solid conversations per day after a week, then change the tools, but in my experience its usually the skill of the caller, so get dialing because the only way to get better is through practice.The good news: once you get some traction and close deals, you can hire a VA cold caller to do most of the grunt work and focus on the handraisers and nurturing them.

I'm just trying to understand if there is any situation where a passive loss (from rental property) can be used to offset personal (w2 or other) income.

If you don't understand that last sentence, do not even attempt it.

I would love to understand how to get into the club of these off-market deals.

I understand the title insurance fee itself may be set by the state.

Yep, gurus pretending they understand the statutes of all 50 states is what is causing this nonsense.

I just registered, but want to make sure I understand the consequences of my strategy fully if I am selected.

SCOPE OF WORK: Basically, a lender wants to see that you thought this through and understand the costs involved.

It is clear you bought something not understanding the risk.