First boat purchase, what will work for me?

[LoFi]

So, I want live aboard. I have been in my friends 30' and find it comfortable, but would like to go a bit bigger because I have a four year old son. I would like to know what I am getting into. I make a salary of $2200 a month. I have someone who would move in with me (making about $1300/month) and she has a one year old. I am curious of maintenance cost/requirements and intervals. Also, are there certain models to consider/avoid? I am not looking for speed, just sturdy and stable. I live in northwest Washington (Seattle). Is it unbearable to live in a rainy climate during the winter?

I grew up on the water and miss it dearly. I like confined spaces and the smell of salty air. As of right now I don't have internet or cable so I won't be getting any withdrawals... please give some good news that I can live my dream.

Thanks

[LookingForCruiser]

Boats are very expensive. Cheap boats cost less and then you'll have to sink in more into repairs upfront.

Here are your costs:

a. Slip fee (or mooring fee). No idea what this would be in your area
b. Insurance. My 30' catamaran costs me $1200 or so
c. Haul-outs, bottom paint, winterizing, launches. Check with boat yards. I don't recall of the top of my head what I'm in for here. Maybe winterizing won't be a problem in your climate but you'll still want to haul for bottom paint at some point.
d. Maintenance. Some people seem to be able to cheap out on this. Sometimes that ends very badly. Anyhow if you're like me or anyone of the other hundreds of people who have posted on the topic, it costs vastly more than you'd think before you go ahead and buy a boat. Every single thing costs more and takes more time to fix than you'd imagine. My to-do list is huge, how much per year I spend will depend entirely on when my wife tells me to knock it off with the boat expenditures.

Here are up front costs:

a. Survey. Don't skip it. I paid $500 on my boat
b. Buying the boat. Costs what it costs.
c. Tax
d. Initial repairs. There will be plenty. The surveyor probably will miss some stuff. This depends, but think thousands on a cheap 30'+ boat. I plunked down $5000 I think to get my boat ready for launch, with me doing a bunch of the work, yard doing some

You want more than 30' which is going to make it more expensive (expenses will go up with cube of the length - the boat gets bigger in all 3 directions as it gets longer, not just one direction). If you have no savings, then you have to get a loan, probably on a very old boat to keep costs down - and there's a chance the bank won't even want to use the boat as collateral if it's old, so you may have to qualify for a personal loan.

[LoFi]

sounds like I have a place to start. I think I will go down to the marina that my buddy lives at talk to some of the live aboards there.