Jaba is right, there are some serious crooks out there. An aquaintance bought in a 182 recently, apparently with only about 700 hours on it. He even went over to look at it. The seller had supposedly replaced the crank on account of the dreaded A/D and did a 'full' engine overhaul at the same time. The guy also got a bunch of what he now knows to be cowboys, to put in some extra avionics because it did not have an ADF amongst other things. They made a real pigs ear of the job, putting a big plate over the panel to cover up a stuff-up they made cutting holes for new instruments, telling him they had to 'strengthen the panel'. It later transpired the instruments did not work properly were not overhauled as he had been informed - and worse still, apparently had forged paperwork. The American prebuy inspector missed all of that. On arrival in Aus, the buyers LAME found the packing and shipping company had done a 'quick and dirty' and had cut wiring, hoses and even control cables during dissassembly, costing a fortune in extra reassembly costs. Then worst of all, his Australian LAME found that during the 'engine overhaul' they had put the crankcase nuts on upside down... really worried now about what they may have done inside the engine and thinking of a bulk strip to check it all out. He has reported all of this to the FAA and has investigated getting some retribution through the American legal system. The legal stuff is a waste of time and not worth pursing because he cannot get costs, which would be enormous. It seems he is wasting his time with the FAA too. The 'avionics' facility does not now exist (actually it does, its changed its owner and trading name).
Soooo, its buyer beware! Having said that I have done it several times and have only found honest, decent folk, although its always has minor 'complications' and takes longer and costs more than it should. There are a few no- no's.. Firstly, I would never entertain a field overhauled engine - just too risky. Nothing less than a factory engine or maybe one of the major FAA approved engine overhaul shops is sensible. Do your homework... check out everyone you deal with. There are lots of databases to check stuff on, like the FAA and NTSB accident databases. Keep delving until you feel absolutely confident you are getting what you think you are dealing with who you think you are. Do your title checks etc etc.
Its good advice to see what you can get here though - although many Aussie advertised prices are in Cookoo land, the market is very flat and depressed due to the high AUD and it might be surprising what can be negotiated. its certainly a lot less aggro to buy something already here.