Hey Grinch,
I briefly looked at a Lancer 36 in Ventura and the 36 in San Diego (both yachtworld listings). I assume we''re talking about the same one in Ventura. Just from my brief 10 minute walk-thru of both boats, the Ventura boat was in far superior cosmetic condition.
The San Diego Lancer 36 looked pretty bad, so save yourself a trip to SD, unless you need a challenge.
I am relatively new to sailboats and certainly don''t have the technical expertise (not yet anyway) to help you with quality/design/performance issues. I asked a few a questions and got mixed reviews (as usual). The cabin layout is certainly unique, and one person said that would be a detriment to marketability. I liked the cabin layout (maybe because it WAS different!). And the boat is certainly not slow at 126 PHRF. I looked at 20-25 SoCal boats in your price range, and the Ventura Lancer 36 was definitely on my short list of about 5 boats, simply because of its condition. Had I made it a priority, I would have really dug into its lineage.
Good Luck
Art
P.S.- I bought the Dehler 35 in Channel Islands Harbor 2 weeks ago. Survey Tomorrow!!