.......it IS all good advice. Though for those who bemoan how handshakes have gone by the wayside - I bought 41G on a handshake and small deposit after pre-buy and sent on good funds for the balance after. The owner and I had both travelled to see the plane which was displaced from the owner's home field. He didn't want to travel again.
We left the keys and logbooks with the mechanic who did the pre-buy and I got a bill of sale on the spot. When the funds were confirmed good by the owner to the mechanic he called the mechanic and he handed me the keys and logbooks and a small bill for some squawks I had him take care of till I could get back for the plane. We used all FAA paperwork in the mechanic's shop on the day.
Till the owner was holding cleared funds we all reasoned that my signed bill of sale was worthless because it mentioned funds but when the funds cleared with the owner then the Bill of Sale was good. Lawyers could probably shoot this approach full of holes but we looked each other in the eye and shook hands and it worked.
