This is not meant to be dismissive but..
If you do not know the answers to the questions you ask then I would suggest you should definitely not buy. Aviation has more than its fair share of sharks and neerdowells and a naive and his money are soon parted.
If you already know the answers then you probably have enough experience and background knowledge to sort the wheat from the chaff, without it you might as well write sucker on your forehead.
Either pair up with an existing owner or join an open group, where they share the details of running the aircraft (that will probably mean buying a share rather than the 'non-capital' type groups). It can be a real eye opener to see the poor standard of work, estimating. planning and costing for maintenance. And then you have the CAA and their various campaigns - all of which will cost you money in one way or another. Then of course the issues of where you keep it and how much they want to extort for that privelege. Minimise your exposure to financial risk and still gain the experience and knowledge you need - join a group.