county auctions foreclosures: worth the risk?????

[Tierra Petersen]

I'm in Rochester, Wa, 20 Minutes south of Olympia

 I'm tinkering with the idea of buying a foreclosure that's next door. I just wanted to get people's input. They are $15,000 behind on their taxes. It makes me sad to buy someone's property, potentially, because they were unable to pay their taxes. I really don't know how I feel about making a profit off of other people losses. I'd like to talk to the neighbors and ask them what's up. I think that would be a real awkward conversation and they might get upset.

I don't have any money, but I do have some property and a mobile home. It seems like if I bid at the auction, I could seriously mess up and get stuck with a money pit that I can't get rid of or I could potentially make a lot of money or have another rental.

It seems like there's a lot of risk involved buying a property without seeing the inside. So I joined this site to see if anyone had any useful advice on this subject.