Where there was vinyl, they put down cement board and laid the tiles.

Well recieve the full report tommorow, but the major issues found were- water puddles in yard-waterproofing/basement company needed- patch work plus shingle job on roof (we have a family member to do the roof at a good price) - water and some mold in crawl space and some rotted wood on foundation - foundation issues: put on wood instead of cement He gave us a rough estimate of about 25-30k.

Recent cement driveway and sidewalks. 

I was thinking cement board for the bottom 2 ft and drywall the rest.  

Roofing cement applied over every nail hole?

Sometimes you are better off making the offer through a third party, lawyer or agent, you want to be arms length to be safe.Try to inspect the property before bidding, sometimes the mortgagor (owner) will damage the property just to get even with the mortgagee (lender), like removing all the dry wall, pouring cement down the commode, blocking the vent line (from the roof) with a tennis ball (keeps toilet from working right), short circuiting the electrical system, over flowing the sinks....etc.Be aware you are paying interest from the date of the sale until settlement, if it take the bank 6 months to ready this property for transfer, it could cost you thousands of dollars.Be very careful............ it is easy to make a mistake......look at the property, talk to owner, talk to trustee and auctioneer, read the contract before bidding.2) How do I prepare for the auction?

Couple other options1. if you don't need the window, close it with a cement block2.

I have investor friends that have had tenants put cement in the main drain in the basement and leave the water running damaging the foundation.  

We have mudjackers here who drill 2 inch holes and pump under pressure low percentage cement/sand mix to lift the concrete back up and support it... only if the structure isn't out of level.  

Shed: should be relatively easy to remove, if there is a cement slab below it that can be the hardest part.