Title insurance is meant to protect you from such issues, and it seems the title company may have failed in their due diligence by not rechecking the tax records closer to the closing date.

A closer analogy would be: renting aisle space from Wal-Mart or Kroger to sell groceries.

That is a distinctly different set of circumstances from Texas tax sales that I'm somewhat familiar with.Which of the two scenarios is closer to the OP case?

At least it was just one parcel and I chalk it up to a lesson learned.Still, some high-profile people were and may still be recommending this investment and with those same people.Anyway, invest in what you know and what's closer by.

Will the added cash flow and equity move you closer to what you want to get from RE investing?

In california, Bay area, investor are looking at cash flow in SFR closer to 3%-4%, it can't even cover the ineterst rate.shervinrealtor.com 

They never have time to hang out in a lawn chair and watch the grass grow.if you sell for a living, it's always going to make sense to look like you have money and the trappings of success.

I think it's likely closer to $80-$100 per month if this is a single family. 

If you want to block it off, I'd do something similar to your diagram on the bottom left where the door to the new bedroom is closer to the bathroom. 

It's closer than fusion and quantum computers but there are still some very difficult technical problems.