Not always the case, its not necessary that you need to do a lot of repair, it depends and vary from property to property!
you can get good deal for pricier houses, not much saving on 3-400 K houses.
There was a house worth 1.8 million, and it was power of sale, it sold for 700K one steal of a deal!
Initially bank listed it for higher price but after a year or so they keep lowering the price, and finally it sold for 700k
Here is the link to property, we had a showing and it was in 95% perfect condition, very minimum repair needed.
http://mmteam.ca/properties/mmteam-ottawa-homes-for-sale-nepean-homes-for-sale-6-bedroom-7-cobb-ct/