From my experieince. I would look into an Robinson R22. I know someone who has a rotoway in his basement and never finished it. They also tend to crash due to pilot inexperience. The R22 is a very reliabe chopper. They have good resale and are low maintenance. You need a private pilot license to fly which ensures proper training. We used them at the flight school where they took alot of punishment. (thousands of hours and hard landings). I have freinds who own and run them. You cannot buy a better helicopter for the money. I also have a friend who has built and is rebuilding a Mini 500. He has as much money into this as you would an R22 with alot less headache. And if you have the bucks the Jet ranger is a lovely machine to fly but the maintance may kill you. Helicopters are great fun but very dangerous so take it serious and enjoy being a rotorhead.
Hope this helps.
Rotorhead Joe