Hi Jerome welcome to BP   great source of information I'm in applevalley  ca ,high desert  I have 30 years in experience in residential  building  and rehab  , flipping   I assist  in purchasing  and  rehab property. 

If you want to vet an agent before deciding to hire them, call their broker and ask for a list of all their transactions in the past 5 years (keeping in mind that longevity is no guarantee of quality, and inexperience does not necessarily indicate a lack of quality). 

Maybe my disappointment was due to my inexperience and unrealistic expectations.  

So I guess whatever you're lacking in experience or performance, try to make it up with personality and being cool to work with. 

I see it as a big risk given my inexperience.

You will have to either 1) read chp 33 and 42 in detail many times and deal with misfires as a result of inexperience or you will have to rely on your builder, architect or project consultant.  

In my inexperience, am I missing anything on that front?

After a few rehab deals, you gain the leverage in experience which you can offer it in exchange of the value of money/financing.

So you're beliefs and experience can get in the way either way.From a strategic point find ways to maximize your strengths-professionalism, confidence etc while minimizing your (perceived) weaknesses-inexperience.

I want to get the best/most information on the property I can (obviously) but I feel my inexperience has left me to leave some things out.