Get with a Contractor and a Real Estate agent that you can trust. get the contractor to bid on the rehab in order for you to understand what it takes for that property to come up to actual value, get comps from the real estate agent to understand what the property is worth, make an offer based on those numbers and move the property to an investor.

Kinda bummed to find out I lost a multi-bid situation.This was only my 2nd time ever making an offer on a home. 

HII posted this summary to help a beginner investor in Dallas Ft Worth yesterday...thought there might be some info you could use too...Hi as a beginner investor with the flexibility you have to move often and LIVE in a propertyyou can have the best of all investor  situations with best loan terms, owner occupied PRIORITY TO WIN HUD BIDS and get bank foreclosures, all while maintaining complete control over timing, tenant selection and growing your appreciating income producing portfolio at your own pace.

What you could do, is ask your insurance agent to give you a bid on your present home as if it was a rental.  

I'm planning on bidding on my first property at auction soon and started doing a recorders office search on the title.It looks like there are some hefty Federal tax liens that were filed on the same day about a year ago.

However, there are a few that could be great deals assuming the bidding doesn't get to high.

Would be happy to give you the opportunity in the future to bid for some work.

yeah, it costs $5 a month...bid deal!  

We're getting bids than have ranged from 20k-35k on renos.

Greetings All,A few newbie questions here regarding purchasing foreclosures at auction, specifically in Gwinnett County, GA: - How is title insurance typically purchased on a won bid?