Absolutely right on, Gary. I would want to make one addition. You need to know the person that is doing the Annual Inspection for you. And you, as the buyer, should be present as the inspection is in progress. Just to hire somebody in the area of the airplane that has been possibly recommended by somebody is not good enough. If you are going to purchase an airplane and cannot be there, or have your mechanic do it, then I really would not bother paying for an inspection at all.
I have purchased two airplanes personally sight unseen. Both have been basically good airplanes. I had complete logs sent to me. Pictures. And have had friends take a courtesy looksie. I consider myself some what savvy where aircraft are concerned, however. And I seem to posses a fairly reliable "gut feeling." I did budget $5,000 each for the unexpected. And both airplanes had their problems. Even after Mr. Ed was annualled by a Certified Cessna Repair Station. But, that was the chance that I took by not personally inspecting the aircraft myself. Fortunately, though, I have never used the entire budget I allotted for the "just in case" scenario of buying a sight unseen airplane.
And, as Gary points out, having somebody explicitly experienced with the 150 or 152 is definitely an added bonus. Case in point. I had two different I/A's inspect 72G on successive annuals. With me looking behind them. Yet, the third, (and present), I/A immediately found the cracks in the bulkhead / doubler where the leading edges of the tail feathers attach. There is no doubt that they were there all the time. It just took somebody that knew what to look for to recognize them. People ask me why I do not get my I/A and do my own inspections? Because even if I did have my I/A, I would still want that second set of eyes to inspect my airplane. No A/P, or I/A, is absolutely infallible. (though I am acquainted with a few that sure think they are!)
Just an additional personal note. Very little irritates me more then to listen to somebody complain about a purchased problem airplane that they did not have their own mechanic inspect. Nor were they there themselves during the inspection. And then have this buyer turn around and blame a mechanic in which they acquired sight unseen to do a cheapie prebuy inspection? If these buyers had done their homework properly, and had the aircraft inspected properly, with they themself present during the inspection. Then, there should have been few surprises.
Or, sometimes even with the best of intentions, "S" happens!
When I sold 72G to John, I paid for the annual inspection. It was my mechanic, but John was right there as we went through the airplane. All buyers should insist at a minimum on doing this.
