I’m essentially self taught, and will not pay for classes.

Most of our buy and hold investors prefer B and C class neighborhoods.

If you do find something approaching the 1% rule, it very likely could be a D-class neighborhood.

Anything B+ class or higher rarely cash-flowed and fixers were better for flips. 

I have some money saved up, but I am not sure if I should use my cash to buy a house and be in a lower class neighborhood, or if I should look to finance a house and be in a higher priced market?

There is no compelling reason for you to buy now, especially in this economic environment.

I recently took a course in the built environment and the way different countries value mass transit and how they build real estate around it.

Yes, there will be a category difference between properties there... the $100,000 properties being closer to C class properties, but I predict you will find that you will make twice the money going with the cheaper properties, if not more. 

Should I be looking at a different asset class or area?

The gurus that are selling classes, I’ve only found a few that I thought were worth the money paid.