I would strongly recommend waiting to purchase. You can find some decent guitars at that price point if you are willing to spend a couple of hours in a local GC / MGR. Hold them all; after about 4-5 you'll get a baseline for expectations and you'll see if something hops out at you. Do not be picky about color/looks. I've seen a great many <$200 guitars that are utter junk, but here is a (partial?) list of guitars I've obtained for <$200:
* Matsumoku "Morris Hurricane / Stella" strat, $102. Ugly color, beautiful birds eye maple / rosewood neck/fb to die for. Sustain for days. Bought at MGR cheap cuz no one respects the brand.
* Squier Affinity Tele. Someone in Indonesia had a great day at work! Cool little guitar. $140. Neck alone is worth that.
* US built '94 (?) Peavey Predator. Love this strat copy! $60 used.
* Danelectro Dead On / Hornet reissue. Great fretboard, insanely good pickups, TWANG! $200 at MGR.
* Squier VM Jazzmaster. See: a million other posts on the interwebz. I got mine for $225 with a little haggling and friendly salesperson. I know Nash snobs who love this guitar.
* DeArmond M75, incredible pickups and coffin case, $199 used at Palmdale, CA GC.
The key is that most of these guitars really don't look great on paper, and their peers on the rack around them weren't much to write home about. But if you're willing to pick up each of the cheap guitars in Guitar Center or Music Go Round, etc., you stand a good chance of finding one or two that are above average (or if you're willing to do several trips, maybe even "good").
There is an art to guitar bargains, and it is patience and a willingness to "touch 'em all."
Last note: If you raise your price point to $350, your world expands enormously to used MIM Fenders, good Asian hollowbodies, etc.
Good luck!