This is a judicial proceeding (see 735 ILCS 5/15-1701) that requires showing the following to the Court: (1) objecting and showing good cause, i.e. filing a motion and detailing that the property is vacant; etc.; (2) explicit authorization under the terms of the mortgage allowing the mortgagee to possess the property; and (3) reasonable probability that the mortgagee will prevail in the foreclosure.

The most common objection I hear to being an investor is plumbing issues. 

There's a 6 week program at Hondros College that gives you the credits needed to take the real estate exam, but if you're in school you can check with your advising office to see if a real estate course that you took can count towards the education requirement (I know real estate principles at Ohio State counts). 

I have the principles and theory of it down in my head.

A local college offers courses such as: Certificate in Real Estate Principles, Sustainable Real Estate Development, Construction Project Management, Real Estate Finance Certificate, Real Estate Management Certificate, Real Estate Marketing and Sales Certificate, Real Estate Appraisals Certificate, and the Certificate in Facilities Management. 

I'm rereading Frank Gallinellis' book on cash flow and 36 other financial measures, and I find myself wanting to practice his analysis principles with real life properties (so much so that I've taken a break form reading it to post this), however I'm not sure if what I typically end up doing can be really called analysis.... as it usually ends up resembling just a very structured form of guessing.

You could stick that $60-80K into stocks/bonds and get a 5% return without losing 50% of your principle up front or just put it in the bank at 0%.

Dear BP members,I am studying for Cal Real Estate Principles course for my salesperson license.

It all depends on what your objective is. 

I would probably do a 30 year fixed, then pre-pay the principle down with your extra cashflow.