Driving for dollars and found back taxes owed

[Alex Verdugo]

So I'm out driving for dollars and writting down addresses to look up later.  While doing my research to find owners and what not, I find a property that hasn't had its taxes paid for the past 5 years.  The total owed is just over $8k which I know isn't much but it could be quite a lot to the property owner.  

My questions are these:

1. What other research do I need to do to find the other information I need to see what I can do to help this owner?

2. How do I approach the owner? A direct face to face, send a letter explaining the situation and how I could help or some other method to get the conversation going?

3. I know at this point there will be a ton of different ways things can go.  The owner could tell me to get lost. They could be willing to sell their house.  Maybe they want to go down with the ship.  Who knows. Can you tell me of some of the possible outcomes and how to deal with them.

I have heard on several podcasts about investors buying a property for basically the taxes that are owed.  How does this work?  I look forward to the variety of answers I'm sure I'll get.  Thank you and please feel free to contact me and I can give more specifics.