Is it best to contact absentee owners who are out of state through direct mail or cell them? 

I have about 60K in school loans, I bought a new car in January with car payments, and I have all the regular bills as does anyone else like cell phone bill, car insurance, cable/internet bill...that kind of stuff..and I live at home with my parents.So I have been really really looking into real estate the past couple of months.

All free ones offered at your local library.Beyond that, the unofficial guide to real estate investing, the Keller guy from Keller Williams books, the wall street journal guide to RE investing (it's called something like that).

Just like cell phone companies, they will be super nice to a potential and/or new clients.

We like to also sign up for the Business Journal in our areas of interest.

Give me a call/email/text and I can forward info for a few lenders in town.Dawn NiermannRealtorBerkshire Hathaway HomeServices904-662-1357 cell/text

He had a BUYER (investor) agree to pay both agent's cell phone bills for the following 12 months just to keep the deal from falling apart since there was no room in the deal for commissions anymore.  

This is probably because of immigration and the city of Lewiston with their aggressive removal of apartment buildings (averaging around 20 buildings a year).There was an article in the paper(sun journal) about Lewiston and the proposed rental registration fees.

You have Craig's cell number and the office number also.

The drop-out rate was high.Here are some of the assignments and ideas that have made many students successful from their studies and work at  Street-Wise U.Select a neighborhood, look at fifty houses with agents and FSBO's, keep a journal of them, note the cost per SF (divide SF by the asking price = cost per SF price), keep a copy of the listing, notes on what agents and sellers say (the negative and positive comments) about the property.