Usually, you only hear that bad stories about contractors ripping people off on the news.....not the ones who show up, work hard, and do a nice job.  

Always do a math analysis and try to look at the prospective properties before you make an offer or at least have a clause in the sales contract that allows you the time (usually about 15 days) to make a detailed inspection and possibly back out of the deal without a penalty that will hurt you too much.I went to college too (and it is not mandatory) and I got a business degree that emphasized real estate.  

Usually they have pretty good pricing.Also to reiterate what @Dylan Vargas said, definitely check out meetups.Best of luck and welcome!

Also, usually there  is little notice to creditors and mortgagees in these type of auctions and the buyer has underwriting headaches when he goes to resell it.

Usually cheaper houses are better for rental income. and new houses are either to live or to sell

It's usually just a print out of the balance from your online banking account, or could be a bank statement or someone's IRA or what have you.

I send thousands of letters each month, and the source I use for data is a division of first American Title called Core Logic (or RealQuest).There are obviously many ways to get data, but in my years in this business I have found that Core Logic really is the industry standard for real estate mailer data for all types of real estate.The first thing I like about Core Logic is that the data is usually amazingly fresh, and they even tell you how old it is before pulling it.

Our usual bank wouldn't do more than 80%

The boundaries of a neighborhood can be larger streets, tracks, parks, etc.A house as close as possible in features (beds, baths), size, etc.Using the same financing method, with an arms-length transaction.Once you've found the right comps, then you have to make adjustments to them based on all of those features to get an accurate value for your property.I used to use a spreadsheet for that, until I built this tool: www.reikit.com/compsThe tool uses Zillow data for lookups, but usually I go in with my own set of comps from my realtors then use the tool for adjustments.The hard part is getting the comps, though, and MLS is always going to be king.Cheers!

@Sam Stout what class and price range do you usually buy in?