Creative off-market hunting strategies

[Derrick Lubomski]

Looking for my first deal and could use some input. I'm currently in Raleigh, NC looking for a duplex or triplex (along with the 200 other people at every TRIEA meeting) for me to house hack. The issue is Raleigh does not have many duplex's and when they do come available they are either snatched up instantly or numbers don't work out. 

This leads me to wanting to get creative with finding off market deals. I'm a people person, so I don't mind putting in the leg work of cold calling land lords to see if they would be interested in selling, however the issue is how do I find these properties? I'd prefer to not drive around searching neighborhoods as I said they are more rare here then other cities (I'm originally from Pittsburgh and they seem to be a dime a dozen there). Does it say on tax records what a property is zoned for? If so could I retrieve the tax records for the desired county I want to live in and sort through all of them and compile a list of all multifamilies then tract down the landlord? Any other suggested methods?

Thanks in advance!

Derrick