Hi mate,
welcome to the club, I quite a novice compared to some of the chaps on this site. I have not even clocked up over 100 posts yet!! LOL
I've only had mine 6 weeks.
I would recommend to go for a TT rather than an NA, I was a bit like your self, should I buy a cheap one or push the boat out and buy a nice one. I would say if finance allows buy a nice one, less grief in the long term and at least you know it's been well looked after, and clean examples are rear and highly sought after, hence hold their value.
So wots your budget, are you after a completely stock car or one with a few mods?
Manual or Auto?