I have participated in a number of REI groups and by far this is the most active and substantial...in just a few days.  

@Alejandro Duque, there are number of good tax experts specializing in REI who are active participants here on the forum.

Hello,I am new to real estate investing and I am about to participate in my first foreclosure auction.

Is this true or just something akin to say a Section 8 lease where if a tenant violates participation rules they can lose their voucher?

If you've got a lot of capital you could always participate in passive syndication deals for good returns without all the hassle. 

I’d suggest starting out by networking with as many other investors as possible and being an active participant in the forums.

FSBO without MLS presence randomly works.94% of all transactions happen Through the MLS.The best of both worlds is using a Flat Fee MLS listing like ours (we are licensed in FL and participate in the MLS that covers Lake county 8and many more).You just offer a commission to a buyer agent, get it onto the MLS and all Realtors will be happy to sell it knowing they will get paid.Remember that commissions are calculated on the total sales price of the property but they come out ONLY of your equity.

If you will ever consider out of state newbies I would love to participate.

This year I will apply for a REPs status and I will need to group some of my rentals in order to meet the minimum of 500 material participation hrs total.  

For a solo(k) plan the plan fiduciary is generally the plan participant, and any if no care is taken to name a successor plan fiduciary prior to death will have to go through the federal estate probate (please excuse me if I am using the wrong words), to identify a replacement fiduciary, even if it just the spouse, and that is so that solo(k) plan participant account may be transferred to the named beneficiary on the plan account (assuming beneficiary is named).