If you are marketing to owner occupied, what other criteria are you including to narrow your list?

Yes it can't hurt to ask and if "no" then have option B and C ready.

I wouldn't install units in the 3 bedroom until the current tenants moved out.The neighborhood seems to be maybe C+/B- and it appears to be on the up and up.

How do you narrow down homes that have an absentee owner?

Look to narrow down what areas you would like to invest in and don't rush into something blind.

As for other ways you can continue to build your education while working a full-time job, I would first look to start narrowing down both the investment path and geographic area you plan on focusing on.

And before narrowing your choices down to one or 2 sites, I would recommend 1st looking at the entire universe and finding out which ones might be appropriate for your investment goals. 

It is a fairly narrow topic.  

Use the assessed values to narrow down the price ranges that fit within the scope of what you're looking for (if certain properties are clearly out of your price range, delete them)What kind of property uses are you looking for? 

Real estate investing is so broad that it help a lot by narrowing down and drilling into what you want to focus on.