How much to bid at a sheriff sale?

[Steve R.]

Great website!
What a great source of information.

I am a buy and hold investor.... for the most part.
Briefly I have purchased 3-4 family buildings in the NY tri-state area. I have experience buying and managing these.
In my area, prices are still high and not even close to having positive cash flow. I will not buy w/o positive cash flow.
The sheriff sales may offer opportunities.
I would pay all cash and take money out after the fact.
I realize you HAVE to do your homework, title searches etc (and that is another post)

My question is how do you determine how much to bid for a property? How much positive cash flow is "enough"?
(assuming I had a mortgage w/20% down)
I'm looking for a simple basic guideline.

One formula someone told me:

If you can break even with 20% down, and a 10 yr mortgage after all expenses.
Basically the house would be paid off in 10 yrs.

I do feel I "need" to buy so unless it's a very good deal, I can sit and be patient and if I miss it, thats fine.

Any guidelines or input would be greatly appreciated!