How does an auction work?

[BJ Dante]

Hey everyone! This is the community for learning all things realty so I figure part of that needs to be humble and ask questions. I have ZERO real estate experience so if my questions now and I’m the future seems lame or naive. . . Well, you know why 🤓 So . . . . Looking at some of those foreclosed property sites like hubzu. Seeing that they have auctions for properties and the estimated starting bid. I know from reading some posts that some people like hubzu and some hate it. This isn’t about that site. This is specifically about an auction itself. All of them are going to be cash only buys correct? If that’s the case then do you personally have to have the cash/money available at your disposal or can you have approvals from a private or hard money lender? Are auctions a good place to find fix and flip properties? Lastly, is there any contingency if you win the bid that allows you to do an inspection or at a minimum walk the property prior to getting legally bound to a sale? Thanks in advance. BJ