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Well, turns out someone just made an offer on this plane last night that the owner will likely accept. Oh well, I have several months to keep looking anyway

That's a bit more comforting. Looking at flightaware and myairplane.com, it looks like this plane was in Mass. just over a month ago and was sold through: http://www.nafsinc.com/sales/index.html to the company here in Georgia that owns it now. Interesting. Although, it may not still be available when I am ready to buy in 2 to 3 months. Anyone had experience with DLK aviation in Kennesaw, GA? (for pre-buy)

Thank you everyone for the information! As a general reply to mostly everyone's comments, My budget is about 50 to 55K. We will be paying cash, so I'd rather not try to stretch another 10 or 15k to buy a J. Honestly, an F will be a HUGE improvement over every single airplane I have ever flown over the past 12 years of being a PPL. That to me is enough. My main requirements so far are: about 1000 hours on the engine or less, IFR GPS, AP, decent paint and interior, recently sealed tanks, and if I am not already too picky, I would prefer an older plane with manual gear. I am having difficulty finding all of these in a single plane, and based on my own reading and several posts here, it would be better to find a plane with all of the equipment and avionics in it I want rather than pay to have them installed myself. Just today, I actually found one right down the road from me here in GA: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/Single+Engine+Piston/1976/Mooney/M20F/1286297.html My only thought though is that the engine has more time on it than I would like. Any input on buying a plane with 1600 hours on the engine? Other than that it looks excellent! Especially considering it is the only mooney I could go visit in person in a 40 minute drive. A few more things I would appreciate some input about: How long is a tank reseal good for, why would someone just reseal the left tank over both (as in this plane's case)? How much below the asking price would a decent offer be, 3 to 4k?

Hello all, Allow me to introduce myself. I started flying about 12 years ago, and earned my PPL 6 years ago (it took so long do to age restrictions... had to wait to turn 17). I have about 330 hours, which includes complex, gliders, insturment (hood and actual... almost finished my rating) My wife and I have discussed this, and we believe we are ready to buy a plane. After years of reading, a Mooney seemed like a no brainer (anything but another 172!). Last weekend we drove to a local rental place that has an m20J I'm going to plan on building 10 hours of time in before buying. I believe an m20f will be the best option for us. We would like to take friends on trips, and after having a third person sit in the back with my wife up front in the J model, I cannot immagine that working too well with a plane 10 inches shorter. In addition, I would much prefer a fuel injected engine. Any tips, insight, or information would be much appreciated... and feel free to PM me if you know of an m20f for sale! I have so far looked at the following options for planes currently on the market. I am in no hurry, so if none of these suit our needs, we will wait until something better pops up. http://www.lasar.com/w/id/106/new-plane-details.asp#interestform http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20F/1970-MOONEY-M20F/1194061.htm? http://www.learstevensaviation.com/aircraft_inventory_1967_Mooney_M20F_N645OQ.html http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_for_sale_detail/Mooney/1968_Mooney_M20F_Exec_21/33478.htm http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_for_sale_detail/Mooney/1967_Mooney_M20F_Executive_-_201_Mods_-_Nice!!!!!/29990.htm - Scott