I sent a letter to the address in the appraiser record.

I am sending a letter to one of the heirs and we will see what they say.

Is it okay if I call the owner instead of waiting to hear back from a a yellow letter campaign ?

A transaction lending company I am involved with will send proof of funds letters

You can't really put a system that robust when you only have 1 PM and 15 projects, all you need is a good secretary that can follow instructions to the letter and trainable.

Mark, I actually read your news letter.

Almost all listed properties will require you have a preapproval letter before they even consider your offer, especially REOs and short sales. 

I would also suggest an extenuating circumstances letter.

This process can be called 'Letters of Administration'.

I once had a similar (one a commerical building) situation and one letter from a lawyer changed that, though lengthy specifics and we could have sued for what they did, we just moved on, and didnt do business in that town again.