- You described this really well in the second paragraph by adding that personal touch, but if I was someone receiving this I would most likely glance past that part because it's a bit too long, and the font is small.I hope this helps, best of luck !

Once I purchased a list, I then decided to type a message using Microsoft Word's Mail Merge feature in two different fonts.

Nope, all computers and printers, lots of cursive fonts out there.

Test different headlines, colors, text, font etc to see what works best.

Everybody's busy trying to figure out the "best marketing method"; how the font should look, what color envelop to use, whether to do voicemail drops, cold call, or if it's online marketing, how to do a proper PPC campaign, optimize their site for SEO purposes, etc.

Does anyone know of an affordable or free source of direct mail letter templates for different purposes(absentee owner, probate, pre-foreclosure, ect.) that have preset dimensions, fonts, colors, and messages?

The cost of a yellow letter (yellow paper, hand-writing font, in an envelope, with a regular stamp) costs around $1.15-1.30 per piece last I checked. 

Change headlines, colors, font size, wording etc. 

If they were, sure ask what color what font what.... works best. 

Specifically distressed owners are- recently gone through eviction in past six months, tax delinquent, absentee landlords, some driving for dollars houses with a noticed defect of their property.I'm still doing all the work myself- Printing out hand written font on a 5 x 7 yellow letter, printing same hand written font on envelope with mail merging from an excel spreadsheet, and stuffing each envelope plus putting the stamp on.