I wonder how many people have bought at auction and then later found out (to their financial ruin) - that there were severe and advanced structural and/or termite/pest problems with the house they bought.
At least when you buy a house by private sale - you can make it subject to a satisfactory building inspection.
At auctions less than 1% of the people would do a building inspection - you're not going to pay $600 for a building inspection and then risk being outbid at auction - there goes your $600.
So with termites being a huge problem and other numerous expensive structural risks - people are playing Russian roulette with their hard earned money at Auctions..