If buying and refurbing an aircraft is the objective, getting a deal is not an element. It'll be more a matter of "I have this budget, what shall I do?".
To put some context on this, I bought a C 182 on behalf of a friend for US$74,000, and flew it across North America. I oversaw a complete rebuild and lots of mods in Canada. The undamaged airframe was 98% reused (a few skins replaced), and the fuel and brake lines were inspected and left in place. A couple of flight instruments were overhauled, and reused as standby for Garmin glass cockpit. Everything else was new. I test flew it three years later, as a STOL amphibian, powered by a 550 and MT reversing prop, with new paint, leather interior, and about every avionic you could install. It had passed the $800,000 mark all in. The aircraft is delivered, and my friend is delighted. Needless to say, good value was an objective, but economy was not.
You have to assign a budget, and know that as you go, surprises will pop up. You do not want to put together an aircraft, "leaving" something, which you know should be done. It'll cost twice as much later to go back in and redo it then. I have seen so many planes, and asked myself "Why did they put it back together needing that?".
It is true, research the type before you spend. Personally, though I enjoy flying them, I would not invest in a legacy Piper Cherokee series - too hard to get parts. I have grounded two for rather minor defects - no parts. Neither flew again, a third I was involved with just slipped through, expensively.
Make sure the plane you select is either structurally faultless, or easily repaired. Understand that once you're done, you'll have to fly a lot of time off before you can recover your investment - if you ever do. But, if you plan to fly for an investment, you're dreaming!