I've always found this aspect of working with the city on development projects to be extremely confusing.

Without much experience, I'd advise extreme caution.

Obviously it is a very different experience than walking the property in person so any advice would be extremely helpful and appreciated.

@Li Kia   Some people are just extremely hard on property.   

You are also bidding against experts at these auctions.The best thing to do if you do plan on vetting foreclosures is to talk to the two neighbors and the two houses across the street.

Here’s an extreme example to illustrate - if you 100% leverage a purchase for $300k and it’s worth $100k and you’re cash flowing $5/mo, your COC return is infinite.

I am extremely interested in all things real estate but do not know how I want to pursue it after I graduate this year.

Hi Yu Jin,Dayton is a step up from Toledo but also comes with a step up in price.The numbers make sense in many Ohio cities.You make money when you buy and not when you sell.So look for off market (We do a lot of direct to seller), negotiate hard, buy with cash and buy quickly.Great deals don't last so you need to know the numbers very well in your target market.I've flipped hundreds of properties in Toledo since 2014 and am glad to say that I know the market like my back pocket.All I need is the address, scope of work and how much I can buy it for.Quick access to AREIS, the MLS to run comps and "ka ching".I know if it's a deal or not.Immerse yourself in the market and become a market expert on the numbers.Nothing comes easy mate and all good things take time.If you are looking to build a rental portfolio in Ohio you have to build a big one.Buying 1 or 2 properties and expecting a significant impact to your bottom line from a net-worth or cashflow standpoint isn't worth the risk IMO.In all sub $100,000 markets, it's important to build a large portfolio as there is a high likelihood that you will have repairs and vacancy on 1 or 2 properties at any given moment.Just my opinion and all the best.

Of course, your bid will be extremely important, but it would be a challenge to get to the point of executing a bid proposal if we aren't confident in much of the above items.  

However this last tenant left our unit in a very damaged and extremely filthy state that took considerable work to remedy (which was a surprise because they had been pretty responsible until this event).