Essentially, you get contractor bids and give it to the appraiser and the appraiser goes to the home and uses the bids to see how the home would look after. 

I went to bid on that house at Sheriff Sale but the upset bid was too high for me.

We have a lot of weight (and liquid capital) behind us, so we can negotiate faster and harder than an individual, we know how tax auctions work and can place competitive bids, we're built to find solid properties that need work, and buy them as cheaply as possible.

EVERYONE is a flipper, and so cal has an abundance of people with a lot of ready cash to invest; and more often than not, they bid prices up over market value, thinking that because it's a fixer, there's money to be made. 

I put in a bid for a condo on auction.com in NY that has $1,300 in back association fees.

Pissed off the court house steps folks big time.. as they were all ready to bid only to have it pulled from the auction.

HD was at least 30% cheaper than the other bids I got, and it's warrantied through HD, so don't really have to worry about them not being around for the life of the warranty. 

Tom Anderson if in doubt about a contract or even a bid price, pay a lawyer you trust a few hundred to negotiate the different bids you have received.

Before I bring my client to a deal I ask ( Are you going to try and push the market with multiple rounds of bidding and extract every basis point out of this property  OR Are you looking to sell right away to one buyer for a reasonable purchase price and terms?)

First of all, you need to attend the sale in person even if you are not there to bid on a specific property.