Please feel free to give me a call or lets grab coffee sometime to chat. 

You could ask the neighbor to give you a call if they see the heir clearing out the house.

I call up the buyer/agent and ask to come see the property?

I will call you during the week so we can chat.  

You can google "We Buy Houses in LI," call bandit signs if you see them, go on Craigslist and seek out ads who are looking for properties, or even post an ad stating you'd like to work with investors to bring them deals and locate investors that way. 

Call the hard money lenders in your area and ask for phone numbers of good wholesalers they work with and make loans to often.Also,you can attend local real estate investment club meetings and meet wholesalers directly.I wouldn't trust Craigslist to find someone to mow my lawn quite frankly.

Call back every 90 days.  

No more shady than "We buy houses - text your name and number or call 123-456-7890"

You may also be able to find Unhappy landlords by calling the For Rent BY OWNER signs on houses that look a bit rough around the edges -when you see that, you are probably going to be looking at a person who is not meant to be landlording, and is probably up to his/her ears in deadbeat tenants! 

-Call them and ask to talk about their experiences in the area and what they rent their properties for and what utilities tenants usually pay.