Not familiar with Marc's E38. I ask because the later E38s, or actually E38-200s, probably had a lot more issues to be concerned about. Among these would be blisters, which were VERY common in 88s and 89s, if not almost the norm.
The other issue that I think was more general, was subsidence of the hull. That is, on the 38s (at least the later ones) the TAFG was not quite up to the task of holding the hull shape intact, and the hull would sag a bit under the weight of the keel. Where you could see this was that the floor would pull away (down) from the cabinet work in the galley, leaving a space or gap of up to 1 or 1 1/2 inches or so. Once the boat is on the hard it re-conforms to the original shape, so you can only see this with the boat in the water. It isn't necessarily that big a deal, since the shape stabilizes once in the water and does not continue to sag. But ours had at least 1 1/2 inch of settling, which was enough to keep the door to the forward cabin from closing.
The final issue I'll mention is the keel-hull joint. Again on the later models the factory did not always remove the mold release before bedding the keel, with the result that most of the keel-hull joints would separate and leak. Especially bad was that the aft foot of the keel would separate from the hull and leave a gap of an inch or so. If the keel has been rebedded then you're good to go, but if I bought a late model Ericson I would assume that this needs to be done.