I ended up buying a Turbulent. I've found that ownership of an aircraft of that vintage has a steep learning curve in terms of maintenance. I think your advice to get a year's experience on a similar type with dual controls is overly conservative, but I agree with you that they are outside mainstream training and swinging a prop is still not something I am entirely comfortable with - which is probably as it should be.
Insurance is very cheap for these aircraft. Overall it's been a good experience, though I'd have probably got more flying done had I simply rented.