Ideally it would be great to buy local but I think it really depends on what you are looking for too. Out of state sounds scary but there are plenty of good boat surveyors out there who can help you and 1600$ for shipping is a drop in the bucket when it comes to boat ownership/upkeep. Check out this guys blog when you have a chance. He has written some neat stuff about buying/selling boats and he has detailed (Very Detailed) accounts of the shopping/buying/surveying process that he experienced for each of the boats that he's owned (one of which he actually bought on lake winni).
http://www.tpenfield.com