The price for the bus is about what it is worth.
There are several things I don't like about the bus but they are more personal preference rather than problems for you.
First, the 8.2L is an okay engine. The problem with it is GM stopped making them a long time ago. So there are no parts in the GM inventory for those engines. It is also getting difficult to find anyone who knows those engines and what the work arounds were. It is a good engine for what it is but it isn't a powerhouse and isn't particularly easy on fuel.
Second, that is a low roof model. There isn't a lot of headroom in that bus. If you are close to or over 6' tall your head is going to be rubbing the overhead.
Third, that is a Ward body. At the time that bus was built Ward was the bargain basement brand of bus. Most of them were put together pretty poorly. I remember a brand new Ward bus of that vintage that you could slide your fingers between the upper and lower sash of almost every window.
Lastly, the GM chassis was a good choice back in the day. However, like the engine, GM stopped making medium duty trucks a long time ago and chassis parts are difficult to find.
In regards to where else you could go to find buses, you are going to have to have a larger amount saved in your bus fund. Even with scrap prices low like they are right now we can take buses like that in trade and drive them straight to the scrap metal dealer and get almost what the asking price is for this bus. In other words, you are going to find it difficult to get any bus for less than $2K.
We have in our inventory several buses whose asking price is $5,000.00 or less. Many of those low priced buses are in really good shape and would make excellent candidates for conversion. They will have much better engines and they will have trucks underneath them that will not have issues when it comes time to find parts for them.
Bus Inventory - Harlow's Bus Sales, Inc.
Contact me if you would like to chat about buses or if you are interested in one of the buses in our inventory.
Good luck.