Greetings, all. I hold ASEL and Instrument-airplane privileges, with ~750 hrs total, ~200 hrs in high-performance, and ~25 hrs of retract time in an Arrow. Formerly owned a Socata TB-9 Tampico and a Cessna 172R. I have a solid 1.1 hrs in the last 10 years.
A new-to-me aircraft could be in my future again. I've taken a fancy to the post-1977 201 series. Obviously, some training is in order. Rather than merely refresh my flight review, I thought a commercial rating was more the path forward. Not only to genuinely refresh my skills, but with the added benefit of presumably lower insurance rates when I go to buy. However, with the geographic constraints that I face commuting to work, the dizzying turnover in instructors lately, and let's just say the challenge of finding an available rental aircraft I'd trust my life to, obtaining that training has been hard to do. Thus, I'm considering solving the aircraft availability conundrum by buying an airplane in which to train.
I seek the collective wisdom of the anonymous internet to inform my decision making. For starters, if I decide to buy now, am I even insurable? If I can get insurance, would it be so expensive that my training for the same number of hours in a rental would be cheaper, assuming that rentals are available? Presumably, the added time-in-type I'd get by getting an instructor to train me in my own aircraft would "reduce" my future insurance costs. What are higher-TIT folks paying for full coverage with ~$130k hull values? Is a commercial rating actually going to materially affect my rates? What else can I be doing to make myself a competent pilot attractive to insurers? An inquiring mind wants to know....