Thanks. Still looking for a plane, but want to have someone lined up.
It's probably worth finding someone from a Mooney service center to do the pre-buy on a Mooney.
Also, you might want to cast your net wider than just your local area when it comes to buying an airplane.
I am sure that would help in locating a plane. Question, is it common for folks to buy a plane site unseen? That "feels" like a bad idea to me, but I am by no means an airplane evaluator...so other than cosmetics (which should be attainable from pictures), would a buyer really need to see the aircraft in person? As long as you have a trusted representative, I guess that makes sense. Thoughts?
I wouldn't do it sight unseen.
I've been involved in buying four airplanes, and the way it works is that we agree on a preliminary price, travel to see the plane, check out the logbooks, adjust the price if necessary, sign a prepurchase agreement and fork over a deposit, fly the plane, get a prebuy inspection done, and then go pick the plane up and fly it home.
In this century, you can now check out the electronic copies of the logbooks in the beginning, avoiding any adjustment.