Rudy,
Those six things you learned are priceless.
I especially love number 2, "I need to listen to my gut..." I know I removed the rest of the context, but you nailed it right on the head. All too often we have folks post here that say, "My gut feeling is bad, but what do you guys think?" It has already gone south for the buyer, keep it that way.
When I annual an aircraft, your number three is also a great big red flag. That tells me that either the annual has been pencil whipped, or that there has been no maintenance performed other than inspections. Just like you said, that's a big red flag for me. If undocumented maintenance causes an accident, who takes the fall? If the pilot and passenger survive, they and the last IA do. If the pilot and passenger die, the last IA does. Of course, the pilot and passenger are dead...
Number 6, using the same mechanic is a very personal decision, and if you're comfortable, stay there. Sounds like they kept you from getting bitten from a potentially bad situation.
These are lessons you can't learn from reading a book. I'm looking forward to seeing what you end up buying.
