Welcome to the club Murray! As you have probably already noted, the club is an excellent source of information on the bird. A number of names will stick with you as people with good insight and experience with the aircraft. Mike's book was invaluable when I went hunting for my 150. It would seem you have arrived at an aircraft purchase during a period where aircraft prices are declining. I bought my aircraft in October of 2007. By March of this year the valuations started to decline. Fuel costs played a large role early in the year, but the financial world collapse in the early fall has accelerated the decline in value. I created a 150 model as close to mine as possible for valuation purposes. I will, on occasion, plug the model into an aircraft valuation service such as the one utilized by AOPA. The net result has been a steady decline of about twenty five percent of my purchase price for the aircraft. I would suspect you may be able to find good aircraft at good prices duing this period. Good luck!
