This could be a win/win for a wife who doesn't want to live in a fixer upper again and we could buy a house with a finished basement/separate entrance and close it off.

I am an equal opportunity kind of guy, so the goal is to form win-win relationships where we both come to a fair agreement. 

I've read stories where the highest bid does not necessarily win.

So we ended up doing a large package deal at a great price and it was a win-win.  

There's really no good win to either party not making payments.

@Erica Bird  I have had claims over my 40 years of doing thisa huge one.. were myself as the buyer of a HML portfolio discovered that a borrower in our portfolio had forged reconveyances and Deeds of trust.. so the deeds and releases on said properties were not valid..

Depending on the size of the county - many properties are posted - a lesser amount actually get to actual Auction as owner has until last minute to clear up the deficiency or some type of legal maneuver is filed to forestall the actual sale. you'll actually see some properties Pulled and a month or so later it shows up again.It's a real "crap shoot" as to what you can buy - and you have to PAY CASH that Day if you are successful in winning the bid.Sheriff's Tax Sale are another animal as well with "Right Of Redemption".  

Plus you don't have to go through a bank...seems like a win-win.

It is not easy for sure, but it is what gives you the investor edge on the market and tilts the odds dramatically in your favor ... heads you win big, and tails you win small, but the house always wins and you are the house.

I consider still a novice in this new platform that I discovered in BP!