I would put it this way, real estate auctions are not for the novice and it isn't anywhere near as easy to spot something that could yield a profit.

Before there are scammers, during there are scams and after it is over you might just have to deal with a scoundrel of a previous owner. Agents will tell you buying the worst of their listed is a bed of roses but reality will be far from it especially if someone is still occupying the premise and nothing is worse than trying to deal with someone who knows they have nothing to lose from the situation.

Having said that, things have improved a lot with the advent of e-bidding but it is still no substitute to doing your ground and homework. Both of which are essential.
That SS2 was a major wake up call. It definitely made me become 3 times more cautious than before and it also made me seek far more information on the property to analyse before a bid.

I only buy landed and freehold houses that are in need of TLC. I don't like houses that someone else renovated or has been done up by the previous owner as you don't know whether something is lurking beneath those sheen of nicely painted walls, House #2 is a perfect example of this, no way I'd have guessed a mere 10% of the problems the house had under those plaster.

Was it worth it?
House #1 = Yes. You ask me about American or British buildings I can tell you A-Z about it as I am an American trained architect and urban regeneration consultant. However at that time I wasn't familiar with Malaysian buildings and I had newly returned to Malaysia. It was a good learning experience and from designing that house I had 5 house owners in the area that asked me to design something for them. The value of it has appreciated to the point where it is has delivered a very healthy return.

House #2 = No, this house wasn't worth the time or the effort. There was nothing to learn or amend in any significant manner and no one was able to notice anything about it. The house I bought while everything was designer about it, in reality it looked nice but reality of it 99% of was either nice because someone choose to splurge money to buy the most expensive thing out there or it was a situation where it was nice to look and possibly touch but that was about it, much of the nice panelling were veneer on chipboard or an expensive tile that was poorly fitted. Returns has been okay at best but it was a learning experience that sometimes what you see isn't what you think it is once you dig beneath the skin.

House #3 = Yes, the amount of items I salvaged from the house more than paid off the cash for keys deal I made with the previous owner. After it was completed I had 3 house owners ask me to design their house and flattery of all flattery someone did an exact replica of this house 2 streets away. Had some good offers on it but I have no plans to sell this house.

House #4 = This house I always feel is very special. As a piece of land I scored an absolute bargain for it. As a house it has won 2 architectural awards and an award for its landscape. It did cost a lot to get where it is now but well worth it.
Returns? I'm not interested in selling it anytime soon but most recently someone made an offer to buy it off me twice of what I have put into it.

House #5 = It is easy to dismiss this as something not worth it. I view it very differently. I don't consider it that I lost a lot of money on the house as I viewed not being able to collect rent on it sooner was more of a case that I had not earned the money, you only lose money if you had it to begin with and then it went out of your hands, since the money never came into my hand therefore I never had it. Yes I did spend quite a bit of money using some rather high handed techniques but in the end it taught some lessons, it made me do better homework and due diligence as well as finally I was thankful it wasn't a case where I had taken a loan to buy this house and relied on the rental payment to service the loan. I was also thankful relative to the other properties I own this wasn't the most expensive of properties to have to learn such a lesson on.
6th was supposed to happen in May but was withdrawn from auction. The other target was also withdrawn from the auction presumably because someone purchased it. Let's see if am successful with one that will take place end of this month, its in the same area as house #5 but this is a corner that was abandoned during renovations. Hoping to strike gold here.