Not worth saving a few bucks on a gamble. 

If that is too big of a lose to gamble, I would walk away.  

However it could be worth 170k-180 if everything was fixed and I think I could get it going as a functional rental property for the purchase price plus another 20k and some blood sweat and tears and maybe could get it reappraised in a year and do a heloc, but I could end up being 160k in when you factor in lost rent and is 10-20k inequity worth the gamble? 

Buying without title insurance is gambling. 

Good question - Since I have left my W-2 in anticipation of moving, and to facilitate fully immersing myself in real estate, my savings rate has essentially dropped to zero for now, so I know I need to be careful until I start generating more deals. 

Priced too high, rents are too low and investors do not want to gamble loosing a tenant right away, the leases are wonky or maybe there are bigger issues (Estate, Something wrong with the property etc).  

Appreciation is a bit of a gamble, can swing wildly up or down, and doesn't pay off until you sell the property.

Immerse yourself in this stuff - like the others have said, this can be accomplished tons of ways.  

If you use $40k to take a trip to Vegas and gamble your money away, then I would go with $300/mo. 

The key is to make real estate activities a part of your daily life, the more immersed you become the faster you'll succeed.