Without cash flow you will end up going out of pocket for any repairs and Capex expenses. 

I win in court and tenant is kicked out in 24-48 hours.In 90% of all situations, the tenant leaves before I have to file in court, I use their deposit to cover unpaid rent and as much cleaning/repairs as possible, and I move on.

The security deposit is approximately 10% of total repairs so it won't cover most of the damages.

If a major expense comes about (i.e. roofing repair, hvac, etc) we would split that as well.

Can someone tell me if this is correct: if the owner redeems they have to pay the full bid price, fees and court costs, 10% interest, and any “necessary” repairs (what constitutes that)?

My close to 1% cash flow house has tenant calling for repairs 9 times in 12 months (out of owning it 18 months).

It does not cash flow now with the increase but if I raised the rent it would cash flow a couple of hundred dollars a month (the home is paid in full), at this point I'm losing money (between the tax increase and repairs)Are you betting on appreciation in your investment strategy?

The seller will not let us extend due diligence and will just put it back on the market and said he could do these repairs for half of the cost of the low bid (~5k).

You could add being available to schedule repairs and make remedies to owners out of state or are too busy to do it themselves.

I've found that what I value most in regards to real estate investing are the people who know about actual home repair and can approach a sale from that perspective.