Finding a Property's Current Owner

[Cody Duval]

I have a property that is off-market just down the road from where I live. I live in a New Hampshire lake town, so small camp-like houses are very popular around here. This place is about 700sqft in a corner lot, but clearly isn't lived in. I've been here for almost 3 years, and not once have I seen somebody there. It is about a 3 minute walk to the lake, so it would be perfect for a seasonal home or rental/AirBnB. I have looked high and low, but the tax collectors office doesn't seem to have an online public registry of owners, and the town tax collector acted like I was a psychopath when I asked if she had contact info for the current owner.

My best assumption is that it was an elderly couple, and the house got left to a family member or something because somebody pays the taxes every year, but the house isn't used and needs work. The driveway was dirt and has become part of the yard, as it is on a dirt road and years of grading has eliminated any evidence of a driveway entrance. The house itself doesn't appear to be in horrible condition, but would certainly need work. Looking at comps in the area, I'm sure it could fetch about 180k once everything is repaired, but in the current condition, I think an offer of 60-75k would be fair. So, there is a fair bit of potential profit to be made on this property. 

Is there a different way to go about finding the owner of the property that I am missing? Is there a way to get in contact with somebody who may want to do the legwork themselves and give me a bit of a cut for finding the property, sort of like bird dogging without the possible legal ramifications that vary state by state? I am trying to get started down my path of real estate investing, so I don't have the capital to mess around with the property right now, but I certainly feel like there is potential here and I don't want it to go to waste.

[William Dinsmore]

@Cody Duval you should also be able to get some information off of the CRS database. If you have any realtor friends you could ask them to look it up for you. Some towns don't have a website to look up tax information.