Are there any liens on this house, tax etc? how would I find out?

You can call a title company and ask them to do an O&E on the home which means owner and encumbrences. They will tell you the chain of title and all that is liened against the property. It's better to ask your real estate agent for it, they can do this for very cheap as probably you will find O&E's can be a little pricey. The listing agent also would provide that for free if the home is listed through a real estate company.. You should/ will get an owners title policy when closing a purchase contract which will insure that  all liens are extinguished upon transfer.