Advise on Appraisal & ARV for an Auction Home/Rehab

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Good evening all! Greatly appreciate the "intellectual teamwork" by everyone on these boards. The information is priceless.

I live in Maryland and will be attending a Guardian's Sale conducted by an auction company in Baltimore. The sale will be held at the house to be auctioned and the home is in poor condition and will require extensive renovation (as noted in the auction announcement). Terms of the sale are $10K deposit at the time of purchase, going up to 10% of the purchase price within 24 hours. Balance of the payment to be made in 45 days.

My concern is being able to inspect the inside of the house prior to making a bid so that I can get a better "current condition" appraisal of the house. The auction company will not open the house for inspection until 30 minutes before bidding. The house right now is vacant and all curtains drawn. You cannot see inside at all.

I've done the comps for the area to see what the house would generally sell for. What I'm trying to do from there is back out my costs so that I have an idea of what to bid. Short of breaking in (smile), does anyone have any ideas? My current plan is to possibly bring a contractor and/or an appraiser with me so that I can get a rough estimate of repairs, confirm the current value, and obtain the ARV. Would this be the norm and if so, what would an appraiser and contractor customarily charge for such as service? The house is a little over 1000 square feet.

Thanks!

Shawn