Realization of the obvious on foreclosure auctions

[Nat C.]

I've recently started a quest to buy at the foreclosure auctions. I read in the rules that the plaintiff (the bank) can bid up to the final judgement order as their maximum bid. On most auctions the final judgement order is extremely high and well over double the appraised value of the house. I was wondering what the banks usually bid up to, whether it's the final judgment amount or an amount around the appraised value. I just found the answer when I was looking through the cancelled auctions list. All of the plaintiffs maximum bids were for the highest amount possible (which is the final judgement order). So the banks goal is obviously to get the property so they can sell it through the usual course on the MLS. It was a great realization, as I obviously won't bother to do title searches or due diligence on properties with a final judgement order higher than the appraised value (which is the case in most auctions). I wanted to point this out to others who might be bidding at foreclosure auctions also.