Flipping auction properties

[Justin LaTorre]

Hello BP!

I'm trying to wrap my head around an idea and I'm hoping you guys can help me out with some facts.  So my Dad is a general contractor working for a guy that flips houses in Florida.  This guy buys his properties at auctions.  My questions are this: What are the requirements to bid and purchase a property at auction?  I'm lead to believe that anyone can bid as long as they have 5% of the purchase price on hand at the time of the auction.  If this is true, can I apply for a conventional loan to purchase this as long as I have 20% of the loan as a down payment (my primary residence is bank financed so this one couldn't be considered my primary).  I know this doesn't cover the renovation costs but isn't realtyshares.com a pretty good place for that?  Any insight would be great!