This might have already been addressed in the previous posts but if so it deserves repeating. Get a "buying buddy" to be the disinterested party when you do locate a plane. There is probably a club member near you or the location of the plane that you are interesting in. Let them look it over, review the logs, and give their opinion. Also make a list of what's important to you, what you have to have and what you can live with. For example, I had to have complete logs from day 1. That's not critical to some but it was to me. I was not as concerned about the time SMOH as I was about the maintenance history. One question that I always asked was "are the transponder and encoder cert's up-to-date? It wasn't a do or die item but I would use that answer in conjuction with other items to determine, from my perspective, the owners attitude toward aircraft maintenance. To me TT on the engine was more important that TT on the airframe (when not the same)if all other factors were OK. Just take your time, ask questions, and get that third, fourth, and maybe fifth opinion before you jump. Aircraft ownership isn't cheap but for me and I believe most of us, it is very satisfying and worth the cost.
