Some leaky faucets , slow drains , a broken window , a broken screen door, missing damaged facia , Eve's and saufet .wood decay around front door , a ceiling fan that doesn't work , ac with water filling drain pan , crack in garage ceiling , 1 cracked floor tile, 1 double tapped breaker , and a missing attic inspection cover .

The monthly rent covers my loan, property taxes, yard care and leaves me with a small amount  per month which I save for repairs.

What i would say is look into buying another one with it. 4 units or less and the VA will still cover it.

We're used to covering the closing costs (usually minimal because when seller's call us there's no need for an agent or commissions).So, even when we have a seller who could pay the closing costs, as in example 1 above, we pay the closing costs anyway because they need the extra motivation to say yes to our offer.

Water is covered by tenants on a single family. i've never seen a client pay for that so you can probably eliminate that expense.

USBank did NOT cover outstanding utility, municipal things like sewer and trash or the HOA fees. 

I think that would be the first step and they could advise you as to the best way to qualify for a loan and/or whether or not it makes sense for just your cousin to be on the loan and for you to have a partnership agreement outside of the loan that covers that. 

My question is: In this particular market is it it possible to offer home owners who have their homes on the auction list a price that covers their back taxes and interest along with cushion money to sweeten the deal and buy that property free and clear?

"highest & best" use of the land... you can see some pictures on my website: https://rejuvenationhomesinc.wordpress.com

From the pictures they sent me it would be alot just to clean all the junk out of the property!