[sailingdog]

I would take the mechanic's word with a grain of salt. It would definitely be worth getting a survey done of the boat. If there is nothing else wrong with it, the TLC that you put into it will be repaid many times over.

By novices, do you mean novices at sailing, at boat ownership, at restoring/maintaining boats?

Do you have any plans to go cruising or on any longer-duration sailing voyages? If all you want is to daysail, the boat is probably a bit large for that. If you do have plans to either go cruising or live-aboard, then the boat might make more sense.

From your description, I am assuming that this boat is owned/was owned by a relative of yours—is it possible for you to share the boat with other family members, as a jointly owned boat possibly?