There is a property I am interested in, and it will be auctioned at the courthouse next tuesday, so I order a title search.It shows only 1 lien for $amount (I don’t know the current balance of the debt), originally taken out by Barack Obama and later the loan was assumed by Donald Trump when he bought the house from Obama.

In the situation where the parents are exchanging into a TIC in the replacement property, this seems to be a different situation since it's actually the parents LLC which is taking title to real property via the TIC, so if an heir was to invest in the property as an LP I feel the IRS may view this differently but am not sure.

Lawyer, title search, transfer, etc??   

We feel comfortable enough to tackle it but we know some buyers are not comfortable with just going with a lawyer and title company.We will do our best to stage it and plan to list on Zillow.

It turned out, after during a bit more research, that the title actually includes three lots.

That contract expired last year.This sounds like an option to purchase otherwise at COE, the title would be in his name and at the end of the 'contract' you would have been fully paid off. 

I would like to start working with title companies, but how do I find them and have them agree to give me what I am asking for.

The rest of the fees should be at closing (title, processing, etc)

I would also suggest you call up a title company and get a list of recent property transfers.

I'm buying one now w/o agent but both of us know what we're doing, I used a land consultant to negotiate (complex deal with easements, etc), we put the PSA in front of an attorney for review and then opened escrow with title company.