Blind Bid - No Listing Price - Starts at $1 - Not a Foreclosure

[Carly Peterman]

The neighbors of some family of mine are selling a SFH, maybe worth around $400k if it was fixed up, but is in bad shape due to foundation issues. Currently getting bids off the engineer's report to estimate foundation costs, but my problem is I can't find any information on what to offer. The bid starts at $1 but is not a foreclosure, sellers are just picking the highest offer. First time ever seeing this non-foreclosure, and with more than likely extensive repairs needed, I'm wondering if anyone has participated in a bid like this? Should I even use an agent?

Would you throw $ 10,000 at it, or actually try and pay the price the house would be worth minus repair costs ($200k maybe)? It's cash only if that helps.