Even when purchasing in a residential area, I stalk the property at all hours before deciding to buy... go there at night to see what noises there are, what kind of light shines on the house (street lights illuminating a bedroom, for example), on weekends to see how the neighbors party, etc. I research the utilities available, costs that the current/previous owners paid. Maybe even talk to a neighbor I see working in their yard, ask them what their experience has been. You can also usually pull permit records to see what kind of work the house has had done on it over the years, or if a neighbor is planning a big addition that could block a view you thought you were buying. I might look up the local police logs and local paper to see what kind of drama the town has and ask myself if this is the kind of community I want to invest in. You'd be surprised what you can find. There was one town I looked at buying in (and eventually decided against) that I discovered had a lot of drama at the municiple level with tax increases, tax distribution, permitting, potential growth proposals that would change traffic patterns, light pollution, etc. There was a house we loved that was across the street from farm land. Turned out that the elderly owner was leaving the property to the NRA, which meant high potential for development in the future. We walked away (never get emotionally attached to a property!). The town I currently own in has a lot of issues with over development and the water table being stressed. Many new owners are freaking out because their wells are dry, but had they looked into the meeting logs, Facebook posts, etc. they would have seen that the issues they are experiencing existed for years before they moved in.

You can't catch it all, but there is definitely a lot of due dilligence that can be done before purchasing a property because, as others have said, once you move in, there isn't always a lot of recourse to be had.

Lastly, keep in mind that realtors just want to sell property. They aren't going to be forthcoming with information that makes their job more difficult. You have to do that work yourself (and it's not really as much or as time-consuming as my list suggests).