Personally I think buying in Dover is much more palatable as an owner occupied house hacking scenario, which won't work for you,  though enough of you guys move north of the border maybe you can be persuaded :).Rochester is often mentioned, and there are certainly good deals there.

How do you go about reaching out to the kids of the deceased to take this burden off their hands? 

Since this is your first post, you might want to check out this New Member Introduction section: New Member Introductions - you could introduce yourself and talk about your goals.Another good place to visit is the "Learn" tab up top along the blue border of this site.

They usually tell you the deceased is survived by the son who lives in whatever town.

For the last 5 weeks, I have been sending hand addressed letters to the deceased. 

Saw these while exploring around Newark yesterday in the bordering neighborhood in Harrison NJ (East Newark).

I would highly advise seeking advice from a cross border legal/accounting specialist to get the correct info for setting up your entity holding structure properly.  

@David Michael I own a property tight in the Newark Belleville border great area.

Doesn't seem like there is a big appetite in the US to open borders to the EU so I doubt the reciprocal will be happening soon, but call me bearish! 

A certain percentage of those will be deceased owners, both during and prior to probate filing.My biggest gripe sbout most probate deals is that the sellers are not sufficiently motivated to suit my criteria for profit.