What's my first step?

[Robert Muzyka]

I'm a Real Estate Investor, I just haven't done any deals yet!  I've been reading and studying on BP for awhile and I'm getting excited about moving forward.  Here's my question:

Let's say I'm driving around my hometown and I see a property that looks to be distressed (not mowed for a very long time, blinds and windows in bad shape, dirty, etc).  I look up the property on the county tax records and the owner of record's address is in another state.  So that means that this is probably an investor?  Perhaps the renters are terrible or the house is vacant all together?

If I want to make an offer, what is my next step?  Send the out-of-state owner a letter?

Thank you all for your help and advice!