Buying from county autions and steps to protect oneself

I was recently looking at county auction sites and wanted to get some input on ways to protect yourself from buying these "as is" properties.

My main concern would be checking for clean title since this is not guaranteed. Are the steps for this to research and visit the property prior to the auction, run the numbers and then have someone check the title prior to making a bid?

Any information from people doing this would be helpful.