The jury is still out on our recent purchase, but all-in-all, it was a
good, but stressful experience. The stressor being that, besides a
house, this was my biggest single outlay of money ever. No matter how
good your prebuy, there is always potential for a major disaster after
the plane becomes yours. What will you do if you blow an engine early
on? My partner and I decided that, if the worst happened, the plane
would have to sit for a while while we saved money for a new engine.
This was a risk we looked at and decided up front that we were willing
to take.

Expect the prebuy negotiations, inspections, and paperwork to take a
lot longer and cost more than you anticipate, especially if you are
buying from a private owner. We filled out the FAA Bill-of-Sale form,
but not the Request-for-Registration form, which meant we weren't
quite legal for a couple of days. These forms are virtually identical,
so we thought we were good. One place where going through a
trustworthy broker would be nice! Also, we were doing the purchase
from a private owner, long distance, who was hard to get a hold of.
Minor questions often took several days to get ironed out. Negotiate
with the insurance company on coverage and required hours as well if
you are stepping up in aircraft class.

Have the conditions of the purchase and contigencies SPELLED OUT in
your prepurchase agreement. We jumped the gun and sent the owner a
deposit before we actually filled out the agreement, which made
getting money for several prepurchase deficiencies difficult. Despite
some deficiencies that the prepurchase revealed, we decided the plane
was still what we wanted and in our price range. If we had been
willing to walk away, we might have been able to find something for
slightly less money, fewer problems, better equipment, etc..., but we
decided at the time that it was "close enough". We spent 6 months to
get "close enough".

Be prepared to spend some money right after you get your plane. We
found the following on our prebuy:

1. No current weight and balance: $450
2. Fixed display on #2 NAV: $300
3. Corroded overhead speaker wi $100
4. Installed new magnetic compass: $100
5. Pitot-static/transponder check: $180
6. Altimeter failed during #5: $750

Several other problems that we haven't fixed yet, but will need
attention.

For the money we spent, we thought we should be able to get something
closer to perfect, but it wasn't in the cards.

Vic