New investor looking for advice on cold calling or direct mail

[Anthony Lucas]

Hi everyone,

I am very new to REI but have enjoyed the BP community and pod for a while now.

I'll get right to it. There is a distressed home in the community where I live, Northern VA. It's a nice town with a growing population, solid economy. Anyways, this single family home is trashed from the outside and kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, windows all boarded up and front porch falling apart. I looked up the owner from the town's tax assessor and it's an older woman, early 80s who lives out of state. I instantly think this could possibly be something fruitful. Maybe a flip or BRRRR with seller financing? I'm not sure yet. However, I'm conflicted on what the best way would be to connect with her. I'm curious to here what some seasoned pros or others that have gone through situations like this have tried.

Just to paint the situation a little clearer. The home has a fair market assessment (based on taxes) of 372k. It's a 1200sqft 3/1 with opportunity to build onto the back and make it a 4/2.   

Thanks for everything.