He doesnt want to take himself out of the market in the event that we change our mind or dont perform (which we will). 

When dealing with a broker in a resort area, ask her/him to provide an analysis of their best 3 or 4 performing sales in the last 6 months.

Electrical work without a license is risky - your insurance may not cover a fire if its known that unlicensed work was performed; and YES, they do investigate that because its a way to reject your claim. 

If you are able to obtain the current income and expenses on the property, you can assess how the property will perform on day one.

Transfer all spare keys and any other personal property belonging to youIf they attempt to fine you for terminating, push back and let them know this is an "at fault" termination and you're not paying a penalty when they failed to perform.

What percent of calls made by your VA are answered? 
We're pulling our lists from PropStream, then skip tracing with Batch Skip Tracing, and our VA is through VAHub calling on Batch Dialer. We are seeing a 16% answer...

Some parts of the US are cold enough that heat pumps won't work... but the majority of the country, even in places that get pretty cold, aren't that cold.Ducted heat pumps will give you better performance with better ventilation and better dehumidification.

Feet, and the type of fix (i.e $25 Sq. ft. for Kitchen/bath, paint, floors) ARV - $350.000Private $ - $280,000Private $ Fees - 7% - $9,800Fixing Costs - $55,000Holding - 3% - $10,500Closing - 3% - $10,500Realtor - 6% - $21,000Profit - 14% - $49,000Max Offer - $194,200That's what I use, my fixes are based on a general formula I perform my due diligence prior to making a real time offer but it's close enough to let me know if I should be interested or not.Mike

Make sure your contract provides the seller will look ONLY to the assignee, if any, for performance under the contract or you may still be liable should the assignee fail or refuse to close as required. 

And in the case of landlord/tenant relations , past performance is a good indicator of future behavior.