General bidding question for tax sales/foreclosure auctions

[Kate S.]

Hello :)

My name is Kate and I am a pretty long time lurker but this is my first post. I apologize if this has been posted elsewhere already, but my searching skills seem to be subpar today.

First my questions, and then some background info:

For those of you who purchase property at foreclosure and/or delinquent tax auctions, what percentage of property value (based on your valuation methods) are you usually prepared to bid, since you are not able to see inside the property in most cases?

Assuming the following:
-Title was searched and came back free of superior liens/judgments
-Outside of the property looks acceptable with no serious damage

Does this percentage change whether you are buying to hold, or buying to renovate and resell?

I ask because something like that seems so risky when you can't see the inside of a property or have it inspected. So how much of a risk would be considered a "safe" risk, knowing that the property may have been/or may be damaged during the eviction process?

About me: I went to school for accounting, and found myself in a job at a title company by chance, processing title searches, verifying documents, etc. Two years later, I am still there and loving it, and I've found that I love learning about real estate in general, and investing in particular. I am working for peanuts pretty much, but the learning experience is worth, it in my opinion, while I save money to go out on my own and try some things. I am pretty familiar with liens and other recorded documents because of my job, but I am curious as to the nuts and bolts and how people come up with their figures when investing in something potentially risky.

Sorry for such a long post, and thank you for reading!

Oh, can anyone recommend any good books to read for both tax auctions and foreclosure auctions? I would love to get my hands on more information.