I know sites like Zillow can give you an idea of the status of a property, but are there any sites online that will tell you who owns a property?
I'm in Massachusetts, and in these parts, each city or town maintains their own database of property owners (out of their town Assessor's Office).
When I see a property I'm curious about, I make a note of the address and then Google "town name assessor" (substitute your town or city in that search string). Usually before I finish typing, Google's suggestions have found the town's assessor database web site. Once there, they usually have a couple of ways to narrow down the search to the lot or parcel you are interested in, i.e., by street name and number. Once you get the summary, by address, there may be a link to a parcel map that allows you to click and select each parcel, bringing up the owner information for that address. Typical information I see is: Owner, owner's mailing address (sometimes different than the address in question), Assessed value, lot size, sales history, description of property, year built (if it's a house or other structure), and other pertinent facts. I was just doing this last night in fact, for a property I drive by all the time, just outside Boston. The home was built in 1850, but the owner lives in Connecticut, so it might be rented. I now have the means to contact the owner.
What if there is no house on the property and therefore you don't know the street address ? Where I live, it is fairly densely populated with homes or businesses, so I just get the address of the closest home on that street or around the corner and type that into the assessor's database query page and then use the map feature to navigate to the property I'm interested in. Sometimes, the land is owned by the municipality, or a non-profit group, but at least I have found the owner and can plan my next step. I use assessor's databases all the time, from many towns all around me.
And, best of all, I haven't paid a dime for any of this information.
Here's an example of a page I might find on a property search as described above. It even shows a photo of the house and floor plan.
http://gis.vgsi.com/DedhamMA/Parcel.aspx?Pid=2435
Good luck.
Jim