Here are the five places attention slips most — and what a careful buyer does instead.
1. Confirm the aircraft is genuinely available
Before you invest a day in an aircraft, confirm it is truly for sale and who holds the mandate to sell it — in writing. A genuine opportunity has a clear, verifiable answer.
2. The records gap
An aircraft's logbooks are its resale value. A missing engine record or an undocumented repair doesn't show on a walk-around, but it quietly cuts what the jet is worth when you come to sell. Treat records completeness as a price-defining issue — gaps are negotiable, if you find them first.
3. The glossed damage history
"Minor" does a lot of work in this market. Ask the damage-history question directly and in writing, and let the pre-buy inspection — not a seller's summary — answer it.
4. The rushed or seller-controlled pre-buy
The best protection a buyer has is a thorough inspection at a neutral, buyer-chosen facility — and it's the step most often compressed or steered. You commission it, you choose the facility, and you buy "subject to" its findings.
5. The weak agreement and unprotected deposit
Money moving to a seller instead of into neutral escrow, clauses that quietly favor the other side. Funds sit in aviation escrow, and an aviation attorney — not a broker — reviews the agreement.
The traps don't announce themselves at the asking price; they surface after you've committed. That is exactly why a serious buyer wants someone in the room who answers only to them. If you're weighing a purchase, tell us what you're looking at.