Since you are in the market for a boat, when the boat that meets all your criteria comes along, I'd buy it, bottom paint or not. I'd rather not have it also, but if I was in the market. and my dream boat got listed, bottom paint is low on my list of issues. If it looks like it's spent it's whole life in the harbor, then EVERYTHING is gonna be crustier than a 6 times a year trailered boat that gets rinsed/flushed, but might have a mint trailer....Ha. Since 7's closed I'm gonna finally get around to getting my boat on jacks soon to deal with the barnacle residue from my friend(previous owner) who left the boat in the water all summer WITHOUT bottompaint....Ha. Betting there's gonna be a lot of boats listed in the next few months(buying season), so hold out for what you really want. If the boat is properly powered, bottom paint shouldn't be a huge performance issue....Tom