If you have a business card you could give it to them or put a letter in the mail to the heir. 

If a property of interest has a realtor sign in the front, do I contact the owner with a letter of intent or the Realtor with a letter of intent?

Looking for someone interested in sending out yellow letters in the Weatherford,TX area.

Send in a written offer with a cover letter of how you arrived at your price.  

We have sent out foreclosure letters, probate letters, direct marketing and done phone calls.

It boils down to the landlord having their act together and being on top of the process and following the letter of the law.   

Take photos of the issues.then you find the owners on the county assessor site, and send them a personal letter and pic of the property saying you drove past and noticed this house, that you were not sure if anyone was living there but you were interested in buying the property. while you are sending out these letters you should try and find any of the following:private money, hard money, flipping partners, landlords, cash buyers, etcyou can find these people on BP, or go to a title company and ask who has been buying in that area for cash over the last couple years, you could ask your family members, etc.Now when you get calls back from the homes you drove by, you already have the exit strategies. anyway, that was a condensed version of driving for dollars so if you have any questions about that, feel free to reach out to me or anyone else here on BPAdam Adams

I have several appointments on Monday and Tuesday with realtors and I am in need of a POF letter before hand.... before applying for the loans that I may need to purchase these properties if they are acceptable. 

If I'm honest with myself, the idea of renting back to him comes more from the lack of other ways to make my offer attractive to him.2 - The letter he has says the foreclosure proceedings will start in 2 days - is it already too late?  

Send them a letter telling them you found their house to be apparently vacant.