Pier and Beam Foundation Issues

[Matt Brown]

I'm looking at what appears to be a deal at first sight, all the numbers work out, I'm liking it. I would buy and hold this house as a rental. Oddest thing though, it came off the market and back on the market a couple times since November. So I called the listing agent and asked about it. Turns out someone out it on contract, had it inspected, inspector found foundation issues, and they backed out within their option period (yay Texas). 

The realtor informed me it is a pier and beam foundation and the inspector said it had some tilting piers. They couldn't elaborate much more than that. 

So here's my question, since I don't know much about foundations... 

For starters, based on the limited information I have and provided in this post, how much would a repair like this cost? We drove to the property and walked around it, doesn't seem too apparent on the surface that there's a problem. Additionally, think it's possible to contact the original inspector to get his take on it? 

Second, how critical is it to repair this right away? What could be the potential implication? Could further damage occur, or house collapse? I'm totally naive on pier and beams. Would it affect my ability to get insurance or finance the home? Could I rent it, cash flow it, and pay for the repairs out of that? 

Just some thoughts and would love to hear your experiences with issues like this.