You can look up any property address and it will reveal who the owner of the property is and their address.  

Definitely get the survey to make sure what the seller is charging you in price is what you are getting.Example you buy a .50 acres for 45,000.The new survey reveals the actual acreage is .33 acres.So instead of paying 90,000 an acre you would be close to 135,000.Also the soil will tell how expensive it is a long with the root system to build on the land.A bunch of rock or a steep slope can get very expensive to build on.If sewer is not there and you want septic the county might require a minimum lot size to build on.You just really need to do a lot of due diligence on it.

Say the inspection revealed 50,000 worth of issues needing attention right away.

I've got contingencies for inspection and financing in the contract, so I can get out if the loan falls through or if more thorough inspection reveals something I don't know about.

Each step you take reveals a new horizon.

Let's say the property you are buying has a 600K purchase price and the report revealed damages of 100K.

The stance on this varies from Dave Ramsey- pay cash for everything - to a debt to your eyeballs, refi and strip all equity possible no matter what, forever.I wish people that weigh on on this had to reveal where they are. 

Further investigation revealed that ######## is not licensed to do business in the State of Texas, and ######### is apparently a disbarred attorney.######### is engaging counsel to look into this for us, and title issues that may be uncovered to protect our investment. 

The septic inspections revealed minor concerns, which would cost $7k or so.

Here's a lesson in both patience and in "not wasting time"....on the same deal/property:1 - Offer made, negotiated to less than AP, accepted.2 - Property inspected during inspection period...with major undisclosed issues found...including existing tenant.3 - Offer withdrawn (see #2)4 - 2 months later, property's AP drops to below accepted offer in #1 above.5 - Reduced offer made (again), negotiated lower, and accepted...again6 - New info revealed, during the inspection period, that City has a list of repairs needed...and only 2 weeks to complete before foreclosure.