Then I met a woman who was worth 30 million+ due to property investment, and she said "Dean, if you get a bit of money, then get another mortgage on another house and rent it out, build a portfolio of property"Ok, sounds great.The way I see it, I have 4 distinct paths that I could take (correct me if I am wrong).

That's the distinction that I make...

Okay we need to make a clear distinction here.There are similarities between auction houses but there are differences as well.There are about 6 to 7 big auction houses nationwide that hold auctions throughout the year in different states at different times.They all conduct the auctions differently in some respects.You also have really small local auction companies that do stuff locally but do not have the size and scale of the big guys.With the reserve not being met the owner can still accept your offer or counter your offer or decide to do nothing at all.Many properties go to auction already listed for sale and then the bank takes an offer already out there or re-lists it again when they do not get their price.Auction companies always proclaim how they get these great prices but what they do not say is how many of those offers make it to closing.Not that many.

Sometimes they would disable the electrical panel as well.I distinctly remember one of my colleagues who did it just because the rent check bounced & he retired a very wealthy man with a lot of 'doors'. 

And I'd draw a distinction between total amount, what you want to keep for reserves, what you want to use as a down payment, etc.

The valuation and market value of a multi family property differs from a single family and you want someone that understands the distinctions if you go that route.

If the contractor/partner is bringing in capital to the deal, you may want to consider a structure where he/she plays two distinct roles. 

There are two distinct differences in insurance policies while home is vacant and being rehabbed. 

That makes a lot of sense for the different types of distinctions and figuring out how to talk to each. 

That said, I don't see the designation distinction to be all that important.