The marine engineer says don't buy if you don't intend on stripping.
Are you sure he's talking about the hull? Marine engineers can be full of baloney.
Marine engineer or accredited surveyor? You should have the latter with good recommendations (possibly available here) if you are making this kind of investment. The bottom paint could be the least of your problems.
It probably does need stripping from the standpoint of having a proper bottom job but the downside of just slapping another coat of paint on it until you build up some more cash may just be going a bit slower in light air. It could need a barrier coat under all that paint but you should talk to a surveyor about that. You probably won't be able to get insurance without a survey so you may as well get it now.
If you are going to be a boat owner, buy a digital camera and sign up on one of the free photo sharing sites. You're going to need it to best ask questions like this here.
