I used to fly a couple of Aerostars in Australia. I really liked them. Both were Aerostar 600s - one with the wing extension mod so increase the MTOW, and the other original. The longer wing reduced TAS by ~5 kts ie 185kts instead of 190-ish. Non-turbo & unpressurised so probably the cheapest of the marque to operate.
Definitely not a short runway aircraft. Higher speeds for most things, compared to other 6 seat twins.
Not a lot of room in them either, although I seem to recall it was better than, say, a 58 Baron. At least the rear pax still sat upright, unlike a C310 or Baron with the low bum, raked seats.
If all-weather IFR in cooler, wet climates is your intent then FIKI is a no-brainer. Ditto weather radar. Whilst it's damn near always cheaper to buy something with the avionics already upgraded, don't forget that Garmin 4/530s have dropped a fair bit in price now that Garmin are into their touchscreen things. Even a 430 can display XM weather with the XM datalink module. I think XM is the biggest advance in weather safety since on-board weather radar was invented. Not for penetrating around cells, but for the bigger picture. On-board radar for tactical decisions, XM for strategic planning.
Three good rules for them:
* Always fill the fuselage tank 1st. Only the fuselage tank is guaranteed to supply fuel under all flight conditions. The type even has a double x-feed procedure to preserve fuel in the fuselage tank.
* Don't get slow. Has a high speed wing, high Vyse and the like
* Don't be in a sideslip when the gear is put down. When open the gear doors hang lower than the wheels so they need to be closed for landing or there'll be damage. Take care not to damage the doors with side air loads.