I have a bit of a funny take on surveys
If you are new to sailing and you get a survey done on a 20 or 25 + year old sailing boat, you'll probably be scared off some reasonable boats to purchase. All older boats have some bones of contention, Catalina's leak around the windows, around the stanchions, one of the bulkheads can be rotted through leakage through the chain plate. Yet I purchased a Catalina as so described, with even more problems because none of them were "fatal" and none of them were that much of a challenge to fix. Most of the problems require "courage" to face rather than lots of skill, a little brawn might help and the willingness to open a book or two is helpful. Go to 25+ years and get yourself a Catalina 25, be willing to put in some sweat equity and realize you'll be replacing stuff for the next five years (or less if you are wealthy). So you will at some point need some new sails, your cushions recovered, better electrical system, etc. The interior probably will need to be re-sanded, re-teaked (or name your favourite poison), and possibly some new items like a heater, a better anchor, etc. Buying a boat isn't purchasing one toy, in fact you'll discover over time you will have purchased many many toys, like dishes, life jackets, binoculars, a good oil light, new cushions for the cockpit, etc. So relax and have fun; boats aren't called money pits without reason. But as an older gal said to me, when I said my boat was a money pit, her response was - "Young man (I'm 58), but its your money pit." Her and her husband were sitting in their cockpit beside my boat watching the comings and goings of the BC Ferries in Horseshoe Bay - not a bad way to live life.
