I am not necessarily interested in the composition of the soil but rather owning the land beneath someone.

I've dealt with building departments, surveyors, soil tests, excavators, all the trades, scheduling, ordering, and my favorite, design. 

Looking at the walls, they are arriving at very different conclusions of how much work needs to be done to ensure no further movement in the basement walls against the soil pressure.

Maybe because of the expansive soils we have.   

The range of potential fixes could be from epoxy injecting the cracks, which would cost roughly a few thousand dollars, to soil or foundation stabilization, which could cost a few tens of thousands of dollars. 

Worst case, you would want to slope the soil a few feet from the foundation and maybe add a french drain.  

if you have no gutters or downspouts taking the roof water away from the foundation its going to puddle .. and of course depends on the soils etc.. 

When was the house originally constructed and in what type of soil (embankment or natural soil)?

You can get someone to come out and do this, if you find them you probably need to do soil testing.

It can be leased out to farmers depending on the soil quality.