Wholesaling- First Steps

[Jonathan Hamilton]

Hey guys!

Im sure this is posted in other places as well, so if there is anywhere I need to look in particular, or you think would be helpful, please point me in the right direction!

I recently went driving for dollars/looking for homes in neighborhoods that I am familiar with. Many need a lot of work, and are in areas that have suffered from urban decay. With that being said, I have a list of approximately 30 homes or so, some of which had for sale by owner listings. 

At this point, I am a baby in the real estate game, and need a little direction on where to go from  here. I looked up a lot of the homes with the city assessors and many of them have owners who do not live at the address, out of town, etc. 

My question is, do I need to start to contact them first? I do not have a buyers list, so I am concerned about doing this without having someone to sell to. I am thinking of mailing them directly and stating that I would be interested in potentially acquiring the home.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!