After searching around for 7 months I bought a 1987 34 hunter in april. For any of you future owners this is my experience: I went thru the internet directly to the owner. I put my name in with atleast 10-15 brokers in the midwest area and only 1 kept track of me and my needs. Very dissapointed with this. After I bought, a couple of 34's in my area came up and the listing broker who had my name never called and the other brokers who are on bucnet never called. I let them all know I was a cash buyer and still the brokers seem to operate on some other schedule.My thoughts are to take charge of your own situation and dont wait for them to call. I had a poor experience with a broker on a 34 irwin in south carolina and after gathering a book of information on the 34 hunter, chose not to have the boat surveyed. The ins. co. was ok with this. Dont know if this was smart or dumb but i knew most of the big issues with the 34 but probably wouldnt do it that way again. So far the only thing that has come up was the fact that the seller was drill happy and i have been sealing alot of trial and error holes. Look for these on any potential purchase. I would also take note on the condition of the bilge as this is some indication of how the boat was taken care of. Also look for mildew and mold. We will be replacing our cushions this winter as this smell aint com'n out and my wife dont like it.Also look for sikkens spillage and see if the owner cleaned it up. We are still doing that. I think if alot of the cosmetics look ok then the rest will most likely fall in place. Also look at the condition of the beltson the engine and see if you can get a detailed maintenance/spending log to see what he has done since he bought.I am not an expert with blisters, hull problems, water issues, rigging issues and other things so if you need the help , probably better look for a surveyor that HAS HUNTER EXPERIENCE. Ask about the title. Ours was a documented boat and had no title. You should be aware of this if you want to do some sort of search to make sure you have a "clean boat" We got it retitled in minnesota and had alittle trouble doing this so check it out and make sure the title number and the number on the hull agree! If you have to ship the boat like i did you need to have confidence in the marina to demast and pack up the boat for shipment. They used duct tape to wrap the mast and it took me 4 hours to clean off. Also ask the trucking co. about the diesel exhaust and how much will cover the boat. It took me 8 hrs. with soft scrub to get rid of the diesel stains. You also have to trust the seller to pack all of the agreed items. I did not inspect the sails and the main has some mildew and both arent as good condition as he explained. I would recommend to thoroughly research this web site and any other sources of information to learn as much as you can about the model for potential purchase.Email other owners and ask them questions. Some brokers I dealt with were not aware of the compression post issue on the 34 or the trapped water issues. That is one reason i went at it alone. I dont think it is the best way to do that but on the other hand it seems to me that the surveyors arent a perfect world either. Whatever you do , I think it is in your best interest to look out after yourself and use other professionals to help out.