In no particular order:Rule #1 Verify.Following this first step will eliminate, right from the start, the vast majority of the bad and unprofessional contractors.A professional contractor is a professional in EVERY aspect of their business.

It also helps eliminate/reduce the risk involved in 1031 Exchange transactions because you have already closed on your Replacement Property.

However, if you are already interested to buy a "second home" on Whidbey, then making it a vacation rental would be a great way to defer or eliminate costs, though there is also value to your time that running a vacation rental will require.  

I have found 3 properties that I would like to place an offer on and I have a few questions to make sure I don't make any mistakes:1. 

If something does happen where there was a mistake and you cannot keep the property then you would gain a 6% interest rate on the transaction of the property.

It certainly does not hurt to get your license and if ~$1,000 matters to you down the road, I'm sure there were bigger mistakes made than investing in getting your license. 

With that being said, some things to watch out for would be: - Know what liens/encumbrances are eliminated by the tax sale and (more importantly) which ones are  not.

I know the general feeling on the forums is either (1) fire him / cut your losses or (2) suck it up and move forward as some of it is my mistake for not insisting on receiving the plan (god knows if they're even following a construction plan). 

I am just finishing my first flip and I made a lot of mistakes.

The best thing I can recommend is joint venturing with experience to prevent any newbie mistakes.