need advice on possible motor purchase

I'm looking at buying a 1986 mariner 9.9 and need some advice. I'm in upstate SC, and I've been looking for a 9.9 or 15 for about a month now, and they're really hard to come by. There aren't really any businesses around here that deal in motors that small, and the very few i've found on craigslist and the like are usually around 1200 to 1400 bucks or they're beat up and need work. Asking price on this is $595 with fuel tank and lines. It's at a marine service shop that does a little bit of sales as well, and they say it came off a jon they took on trade. They lake tested it on a 16' flat jon and it ran 21 mph with one guy in an empty boat. Link to the ad: http://greenville.craigslist.org/bod/2857329008.html I'm going to look at this on friday and I was wondering if there are any things I should look for with this particular motor. I don't have a ton of experience with outboards and would appreciate any help/suggestions. Thanks.

Re: need advice on possible motor purchase

I would ask the service dept. what service has been done on it. If they have done carb/ignition check, and changed impeller, then $595 is a fair price.