I need to act fast, as I have already needed to outbid someone and don't want to get caught in an expensive bidding war...
"Marry in haste; repent at leisure"
In addition to the previous advice, you really oughta have an A&P (that YOU picked) take a look at the plane before money changes hands. Planes advertised as having a fresh annual may still be hiding very expensive problems (maybe the mechanic was a friend trying to help the sale; maybe the annual was just a paid signature).
You'd hate to get a 'great deal', only to spend $5000 more on 'obvious' problems after the fact. Not all transactions are bad, but there's a lot of financial incentive in aviation to be unscrupulous....
