Hi John. Welcome to the (almost) ownership club!
Hung is right -- overhauls are expensive. But, our C-150 had around 1,000 SMOH when we bought it over 8 years ago. Now, it is over 1,500 and still running strong. Unless you fly an unusually large amount of your time, it takes a few years to add a few hundred hours to the engine. I fly most weekend, but not on long trips. I average somewhere between 50 and 75 hours a year. All that being said, an airplane around 1,000 hours SMOH wouldn't scare me off because 800 hours is quite a bit of flying. The one with 1780 hours, if otherwise in good shape, would be okay if the price reflected an overhaul in he near future. One thing about it, when you do the overhaul, you then know what kind of shape your engine is in. And, you should then have many more years of trouble-free flying.
Enjoy the searching process and good luck!
