Unfortunately in bicycles a lot of times you pay for what you get. Like Carleton said, $400 may not have actually been such a hot deal after all. The dude could have trashed it, cleaned it up, and almost made his money back. Fixed conversions are fun, and you can probably meet around your market. But also as suggested, the IRO only runs at $550. The guy does make a nice bike at a fair price. Save up for another three weeks and I'm sure you can afford that extra $150. Goodluck.