So Im looking at possibly buying a home in the DFW area after college. I have a job offer in the area with 18 months of job training in DFW, and a guarantee to stay in DFW afterwards. Im using Zillow to try to browse homes, and a lot of what I see are auction homes. My salary is looking like 43-47k a year. Im looking at homes that are around 100k. Ive seen some nice homes that are valued at 150-170k, but are being auctioned at 70k and are being bid on. Has anyone ever bought a home via auction? Obviously if I can get a nice home via auction then I can get a nice ROI, but Im sure these homes never sell that cheap...or do they? 21 year old about to leave college and need a place for a redbone coonhound and bird dog to have room to run around in a decent to small yard. (Less so for the hound, she's getting old.) All home buying advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance

There are different variables that come into play with auctions.  Some auctions will require you to show proof of funds to register to bid on properties.  Meaning, you will need to show that you can write a check for the total amount of the house.  Some auctions will let you finance the house, so if you are going that route, you will need to get pre-qualified for a mortgage.  Many houses that sell cheap, or way under market value are priced that way for a reason.  They typically need a shit ton of work.  You could still buy them, with either cash, or a loan like a 203k.  I bought my personal house through an online auction site using a 203k loan.  It was a pain in the ass, and there are many hoops to jump through.  Most of the other houses I have bought through auction sites have been through a realtor, submitting a typical cash offer.

ETA:  I will add that in my experience, a house that is move in ready, isn't going to sell substantially under market value.  As an example, you might be able to buy a move in ready house with a market value of 100k for 85k, but if you find one that is selling for around 45k, it most likely needs 40k in work done to it.  

I would take a hard look at finding a short sale.  They seem to need less work done to them, and the prices are usually pretty good.  Closing takes forever though.