Spent the day pressure washing entire exterior of the house in preparation for contractor to being addressing dry rot issues as well as prepare for new paint.

It still can be a good time to buy, but, as in 08, financing is drying up.

I have put money into things like a necessary new deck, dry rot, new windows (they were only single pane), new flooring, retaining walls etc...just to keep it well maintained.  

Yes, its pretty dry, but it does not practical examples you can read if you download the long version. 

There are several products you can use to harden rotted wood:All can be bought at HDTwo part epoxy - mix the 2 together, apply it and it will dry in minutes.

Looking do to a kitchen, floors, dry wall, bathrooms etc...

Well, it is completely possible that you buy a house today at $500k, the inflation numbers for the next quarter come back bad (pretty likely), causing the fed to clamp down and raise rates again (pretty likely), causing demand in the market to dry up significantly (already happening; look at days on market and price reductions, or talk to any agent), causing the market to dip 15%. 

Just keep in mind things like rot, mold, bad foundation, etc. could pop up and substantially increase the repairs. 

You need a guaranteed W2 income to use toward qualifying for financing.Income as a agent is not consistent enough and if we enter a down turn in the markets your income, as a agent, would dry up.Alternately I would suggest you move to where your skill set will provide you with construction employment.

My biggest concern is getting things in writing in some sort of a contract so he can't sell the place out from under me while I'm doing the rehab or once I'm done leaving me high and dry with no profit.