I have everything in place to start. I have insurance quotes for general Liability and Employee Sureity Bond. My question is:

1)- Do I buy the insurance now so I have a Certificate of Insurability to show buildings before they will contract with me? (buildings are not going to hand over they keys without GL insurance)
--or--
2)- Do I wait and get my first gig, perhaps something that is small and doesn't require insurance, and then buy the insurance?

The Premium for a new GL polcy with no history is $1,200 per year and Surity Bond is $183.

at frsit i thought you was mad not getting insurance straight away until i read how much it'll cost. i'd say get it asap bu ask to pay per month. if you're serious about the business you wont struggle to find enough work to pay for insurance alone, plus it may push you more to get good work that pays right

I started out without one. I did a hair salon and some other small building. But as soon as I started to target bigger accounts I immediately got the insurance.
So it depends how do you plan to start out.
But anyway, it's always good to have the insurance, at least for your own protection in case something unexpected happens on the job.