I?m sure you?ve seen some of the older VAF ads. There?s one that is asking 19k and is open for offers that was built by an A&P. Says it is well past QB stage. He?s also throwing in a lot of tools. It?s been on VAF since mid-August, and still seems to be for sale. There?s another one that looks like nearly all of the metal work is done, but still needs finishing kit for $18,500. These seem like fair prices to me if I was looking for a 7, and the quality is good.
Going to barnstormers, if you click on the RV kits and also RV projects, you?ll find a few there too. But hopefully you two can work something out. It would be a shame not to when you?re so close. Traveling expenses add up rather quickly on long distances, and inventorying can be a pain if the seller hasn?t done his homework, and only deciding to inventory again when you just get there. What was inventoried when the kit was bought a year or more ago doesn?t mean much to me. You don?t want to have to send a search party out to find those remaining parts, and chances are you will if this was done years ago. So whatever kit you get, do take your time with the inventorying as another has stated. Missing pieces can add to the costs significantly, even if it is just smaller parts.
On my RV-4 kits, it took me a few days gathering things all back up again in one central location, and re-inventoried everything. I suppose this took about 16 hours or so over a period of about four days. When the two separate buyers got there, they obviously insisted on re-inventorying again, but this time it only took about 3 hours for each of them as well as wrap all the pieces back up and load. It would have been easier for one buyer to buy all of my kits, but each wanted a separate kit.
Inventorying is no biggee at all, if the seller has done his homework, and there is enough room to find the part, check it off, then move it to another area ready to load. It was sure nice to see those last final pieces getting checked off.
I continually check barnstormers for completed RV's, projects and kits. For completed planes, I have seen some of the same planes still for sale a year or two later. A few I noticed are still asking their same price, and just don?t seem to get how bad this economy is. It?s certainly a buyers market. The middle class has lost 40% of their net worth over the last five years. There isn?t nearly as many buyers these days.
So good luck, you?ll find the deal you want.