Surveys are fine, but they can cost hundreds of dollars.

and can the survey even be relied on.

in the end i think the best thing is for whoever is buying the boat to
know what they are buying. someone cruising, in my opinion, can't be
like someone who buys a car, or an rv, or even a house. those things
you can hire some folks to come in and take a look at it for you, a
mechanic, someone looking for termites, an appraiser, etc, and you act
on whatever they say. but a sailboat, that's your life on the line ...
it's not just inconvenient to have the boat sink out from under you, so
you have to take more responsibility as a buyer to watch out for your
own person.

so my opinion, and it's just that, is that it's ok to hear what the
broker and owner say, and it's even better to bring in a diesel
mechanic to look at the engine, and a surveyor to do a survey, etc, but
that in the end you have to be out there ripping the floor up to look
at the hull yourself, checking the zincs, finding out if the electrical
is a mess or not, looking in the bilge (if the boat isn't on the dirt),
climbing up the mast to check the rigging for hints about it's age,
etc, etc, because in the end a lot of these things are things you'll be
trusting your life to. and since it's your life, it isn't that great
of an idea to trust it to someone else no matter how much they know.
even in cars, you sort of trust your life to a mechanic when he works
on your brakes, but not nearly so much is at stake as there is with
your hull, or your rigging. your brakes on a car usually fail slowly,
but even if they failed suddenly you'd be in a crash at worst, maybe
lose your life, but most likely just smash up the car. most likely
you'd just get out, walk around, check to see that the other driver was
ok, you'd wait for fire and rescue, sue your mechanic, etc haha. but
if your boat has water coming in through a misplaced through-hull, or
water comes in through the engine or something, you're suddenly at the
mercy of a giant ocean, and there's really nobody there to help you ...
if your radio/electrical failed not even a way to tell them you need
help (short of an EPIRB).

sailors i think have to treat their boats as more than just
transportation or a house, more than a vehicle, and have to know a lot
more about it. the connection between a sailor and his/her boat i
believe is a much more personal one, more intimate, and the survival of
both depends greatly on the essential quality of each. the boat has to
be strong, move well, stand up to a gale, and take care of her captain,
etc ... and the sailor has to be smart, resourceful, know the boat
well, and be industrious in giving the boat what she needs. it's like
a team effort, a much more personal relationship than simple ownership,
or car & driver type of relationship. her sails are your sails, her
engine your engine, her hull your way of keeping dry, etc, she's like a
set of clothing, or armor, or wings that you strap on your back, giving
you capabilities you don't possess without her. and there has to be a
level of trust there, confidence, that comes through really getting to
know her and how she acts, knowing her little tantrums and her flaws,
and knowing her strengths so you can rely on her, etc.

i think trusting a boat broker to pick out a boat isn't anything at all
like trusting a car dealer to find you a car ... it's a lot more like
trusting a matchmaker to find you a wife lol. and yeah ... they are
way too uncaring and sleazy to trust to find you a wife.. ahem, i
mean, boat lol.