Found Vacant Home, but Not Sure Where to Start

[Andrew Rellinger]

I was recently visiting my friend and over the course of a few months, no one has shown up to their neighbors property. They informed me that they believe the owner had died and that the property is now in their children's hands. I am not sure how accurate that information is. I looked on the property tax documents for the city which the vacant home is in (lets call this City A for reference) online and there is an address which is different from the address of the vacant property listed (lets call this City B). I looked up the address of city B in the city's property tax system and it came up with a different name than that of the property tax document listed on the documents of the vacant home. Looking at the homes utility bill history that is made available, it seems that the last time there were values for the water meter was in April of last year.

1. I would like to notify the owner that I am interested, get an inspection of the property so I can estimate repairs needed, get 100% capital so I can BRRRR the place. In what order would you do all these steps? I am not sure on the best way to start since this would be my first property.

2. How do I reach out and inquire about the home? How do I confidently know that I am sending the inquirey letter/postcard/ etc. to the correct place? How do I find out if there are any liens on the home? How do I find out who owns the home? How do I initiate the process of buying the home?

3. When it comes to capital, I have about $10k saved up. I would need about $80-100k saved up, but I might be able to ask one of my wealthy friends for a private money loan. I've never had a private money loan so I am not sure exactly how they work? Is it simple interest rate? Compounded interest rates? Do these things get established between the two parties (i.e. me and my friend I would be borrowing money from)? Any tips with getting and establishing a private money loan would be very helpful. 

Have you ever been in this situation when looking for a property? What would you recommend doing? Any advice would help here. Thanks!