Welcome!
As actor Tom Cruise once said in a movie: "It's complicated..."
You will get most of your questions addressed during the survey. You are right to consider the condition of the thruhulls and spar, and should have the engine surveyed as well. Check the bulkheads for leaks/rot where the chainplates carry the rigging load through the decks. The year of the boat will make a difference -- these boats had a long production run and there will be upgrades throughout the years by the builder. Prior owners may have made changes -- this can be a good thing, or sometimes not.
If you search this site for references to this model and the similarly-constructed E-32 and 29 from the same era, you should uncover a lot of material.
If you check the owners registry on another part of this site, you will find many owners willing to share their knowledge and experience. Understand, though, that you need to do some site searching yourself, so that you are not asking something that has been well-discussed already....
For seaches, use the small icon on the upper right of this page.
If you are used to owning and maintaining a powerboat, you should do just fine. You will still have an engine, trans, controls, and fuel system to learn... and also the many subtleties of handling a boat under sail. I have spent a lot of time on boats, sail and power, and like both.
I do consider sailboats a lot less boring...
As to wheels, lots of owners like them. I prefer a tiller. The later model E-27 came with a split cockpit, kind of like the E-32.
Either will work fine and both have drawbacks...
As to delivery, it's a tough call. If you are buying a boat for 14K (and there is an excellent turn key E-27 for sale at my YC now for this price) then one would have to consider how much to spend to truck it ... how far... since this service is priced by the mile.
I once spent 2K to bring home a 45K boat and thought it well worth it. As the transport $$ ratio to purchase price rises, at some point I would have changed my mind...
OTOH, my boat, an Olson 34, is very hard to find. I would have paid more yet -- but do not tell that truck driver!
Keep us posted on your progress. Are there any photos on the web of your prospective purchase? The one in our YC is listed at
http://www.cascadeyachts.com/subweb/SeaSpr0.htm
And, no I have no financial interest in passing that information along.
Fair winds,
Loren in Portland, OR