I've never regretted buying a longarm myself (Pfaff P3 with an 18 inch throat). While it's on the small side as far as longarms go, I love it! I wanted to do the whole quilt from start to finish and love the results I can get with the longarm. While I quilt only for myself, I have had a friend or two come over and I've helped them quilt one of their quilts. I do this on a very limited basis, and don't advertise that I do so. I don't want to feel compelled to offer this to anyone/everyone who knows me. I have also been working with my step daughter who is a phenomenal piecer to teach her how to longarm her quilts on my machine. While she is very appreciative, I find that nerve wracking to say the least as she is the type of person who becomes an instant authority once she has a bit of experience with something. So she will argue or disregard my instructions so that I feel I cannot leave her alone for a minute in case she does something. There is no dealer nearby now and I am afraid that she may inadvertently due something that will damage my machine and then I'll have to figure out how to find someone to fix it - which would likely involve shipping it somewhere.... my husband and I can do the basic servicing and he can even retime it if needed but anything other than that would need the technician to do it.