(I don’t own a home, so it all sounded odd to me, but have heard that was not uncommon in the last few years) The house needed a TON of work, and then never had the money to do anything.

The risk is that someone offers them asking price which is not uncommon around here on distressed properties in decent neighborhoods.

So, that's not uncommon, ok.So, since they haven't officially accepted my offer, this means that I can withdraw, change the offer price or add language, etc.

Recissions after the auction aren't all that uncommon.

Its not an uncommon issue with inherited properties (in this case) that have multiple owners.

I still have to imagine it's better than paying major points for hard cash.Is it common/uncommon for first time investors to use 100% of their own cash?  

It is not uncommon to enter a crawlspace in the south and find water pooling on plastic from humidity condensing on the exterior insulation of forced air duct work.  

local broker should be able to set you up for auto alerts a program like top producer so that you get e mails daily of new listings that meet your criteria .. takes the agent a few minutes to set up and its all automatic from then on out.. you then get the MLS feed as to your criteria and you can have your local person bird dog them. .you find one you want to offer on call your agent and instruct them to write it for you.. it would not be uncommon to try to negotiate a little better deal if the agent is simply writing offers and doing nothing else but giving you e mail feeds.For instance I work Charleston I get e mail alerts every day... about once in 30 to 45 days I see something I want to write on.. and go from there..

It's not uncommon to find things like 5 gallon buckets of paint for discounted prices.

I'm sorry to hear you got saddled with a bad investment like that - it's not uncommon, but I doubt that makes you feel any better.