I'm not sure of the rules of your particular area but in many cases you can't even get inside the properties prior to the auction. You're buying totally sight-un-seen. It works best for super large investors who can just play the averages. Buy 10 houses, you get burned on 2, get a great deal on 2 and about average on 6.

For a one-time buyer it's tough because you don't know what you'll get. An agent I work with fairly frequently has some investors that do this and it's a rollercoaster to say the least.