Advice for acquiring dilapidated property

[Hamish Odiean Jr]

Hello,

I'm new to BP and have been blown away by the wealth of knowledge on this site. I'm a licensed Realtor, although I haven't been practicing as I've been enjoying a stable life in corporate finance; but ready to change gears.

I've recently noticed a moderately dilapidated property that doesn't appear (by all standards) to be occupied. I looked on the public record and found the name of the owner, which has an address listed in upstate NY (300+ miles away). I'd be very interested in finding this person and possibly taking this property off their hands.

If anyone has any experience with this or any advice and/or warnings/words of caution of how to proceed with this type of situation, I'd love to hear from you.