Auction purchase best practices question

[Don Spafford]

I have a question for experienced investors with auctions. I am new to the field of rel estate investing. I have a great opportunity coming up soon with an auction. The house was built in 2007 and is in foreclosure. it is currently being rented. I am not allowed to look inside, just have to buy it blindly. The outside looks great and being a newer home I am not too worried about needing much rehab. I plan to try to get it to hold as a rental.

My question is, what is the best way to go about it. It has to be a cash only purchase so I would need hard or private money first and then get a conventional loan to replace it. But until the auction ends you don't know how much you will pay other than what your max will be. So do you try to line up the finding first basing it on your max, or just try to win the auction and then move fast to secure the money? What do you do if you can't get the money after winning the auction?