Piano Advice - I Am in the Market for One.

For that price I think you should consider a digital piano. If you do buy a used piano, I would want the records to prove it was tuned every 6 months as recommended. If it wasn't it may need tuning once a week. We pay $100 for a tuning sometimes a little more if something else needs to be done.
I read the other post and I just do not know how to get a decent piano for under $4000. We have a Charles Walter Upright that we paid $5800 for about 11 years ago. To buy the same piano new today would cost $11,000+. Now we do have the Cherry wood finish which is more expensive but still.
We also have an digital piano that my husband thinks is the best deal around. He recommended the Casio PX 130 or Casio PX 330 to a friend that wants a piano but doesnt want to spend a small fortune:) The Casios run between $500-700 depending on the model you choose plus $100 for the stand. Good luck!

I have shied away from buying one so far. Here is my advice, take it for whatever you think it is worth:
1)Pianos are instruments, and all instruments need tuning. On a REGULAR basis... it is not a one time deal. Probably once or twice a year, so I have been told by the piano/music store in my area. I'm sure that you could skimp on it and be fine, but once a year or every other year probably would be expected. They are affected by humidity..... do you keep your doors/windows open ever? The more exposure to humidity, the more often it will need maintenance/tuning.
2) They are big, heavy, bulky pieces of FURNITURE. Yes, I know they are musical instruments, but they are the size of furniture and you will need help to move it, even if you are just wanting to rearrange the living room.
3) You do not know if either you or your daughter will enjoy or stick with playing the piano, once you eventually begin to start taking lessons.
4) There are some amazing digital pianos out there these days that are a fraction of the cost of a new piano. There are also some very inexpensive keyboards (not the same thing---they don't have the full length of the keyboard as a piano-96 keys or whatever it is). I bought an 84 (?) key keyboard for my daughter to learn on (until we maybe one day take the leap and buy an actual stringed instrument) and she is in her 4th year and it is still perfectly fine. I paid $200 for it. It is lightweight so I can move it around easily, and it doesn't take up as much room as an upright piano. They make them (some of them) with weighted keys and pressure sensitivity, so that they FEEL almost like a genuine ivory keyed stringed piano, and if you press a key with force it plays the note louder (or softer is quieter) like an actual piano. You can buy (for $20 or less) a sustain pedal to add.
For us, it has been a real blessing. The place I thought I wanted to put a piano, now is where my desk (homeschool) is located. And we no longer have room for a piano.. but the keyboard just moved from the living room right into my daughter's bedroom without a second thought. ;) If she still enjoys it when she's a little older (she's 10 now) maybe we'll look into other options again. But for now, I am SO glad that we just opted to "get by" with a decent keyboard.

You can buy a very good upright piano for under $800.. even close to $200. Even if you have to hire tuner/some small repairs/movers, you will save thousands of dollars from buying a new piano... especially since you don't know if the new hobby will even stick. You will likely have to get it tuned and hire movers. Even if the piano is perfectly tuned, moving it can often get the piano out of tune and will likely need to be tuned once settled. A lot of piano tuners will go with you to look at the piano to see if it is a good one. Rusty strings, damaged pinblock, sound board, strings, felts, pedals can be costly to repair, and some are easy fixes and only be spotted by an expert. Also, touch each key to see if it sticks or drags.

Ask for the make and number, approx year of the piano, many tuners can look up the model for any known defects or give you advice on that brand. Uprights, kept on an interior wall can last very long with great sounds.

A good site for info;
http://pianoeducation.org/pnobuyng.html

If you cant get someone to look at the piano for you, then here are some things you can check yourself:
http://www.classicpiano.com/howtto.html

*edited to add, the keyboard advice by Victoria is awesome. Just know, some of them are also in the thousands range.

I see them in the free section from time to time. Yes, you definitely need to plan on having it tuned. It will get out of tune while it is in transit to your home.

We got ours for $300. Then paid $150 for a mover and another $150 for tuning. Some on Craigslist are even free. I wouldn't pay full price if you don't know if you or your child are going to like playing.

We started our daughter on piano lessons with just a small electronic keyboard, just to be sure she would like playing. Then we started looking for a used piano.

Here, we have an organization here called Keys 4 4 Kids that takes used pianos and then gives them away or sells them for a reasonable price.

Craigslist is a good place to look. I bought one for $500 in great shape. I had my piano tuner go and check out the piano with me, which he did free of charge. Check with piano tuners in your area and see if they are willing to inspect one before you buy it. They know what to look for. Don't buy one brand new. The older ones are often better made anyway.

My husband is a musician and when we faced this decision, he opted for a digital "piano" (it is really a keyboard built into a piece of furniture, and it has built in pedals to control whatever the pedals control.)
He checked a LOT of them to find one with good tone and a good "action." so it feels like a real piano. And as the other person said it responds just like a real piano. It also has 88 keys, which is full size piano price.

His reasoning was that he couldn't buy an upright piano that would sound as good as he wanted, while the digital ones could sound like a grand piano (we can't fit a grand piano in the house, nor can we afford the 10s of thousands of dollars).
He can plug in headphones if he wants to practice late at night, or just not fill the house with the sound.
It never has to be tuned.
It has more sounds, so it can sound like an "electric" piano or a harpsichord.
It has a built in metronome.
He can hit a button and record what he is playing and listen to it again, or even plug in outside peripherals to expand his sounds or record stuff.
it has prerecorded music, which is nice if we have company.

This was around 10 years ago, and it cost us around $1300 dollars. We've never had any maintenance and it still sounds as good as it did the day we bought it. By now they are probably cheaper and sound even better.
I would definitely look into it as an option.

I've got an old one I tried to sell on Craigslist a couple of years ago for $300.... only people interested were the scammers!

You should be able to pick one up pretty cheaply... if you have a friend with a pick-up, you don't need to pay anyone to move it for you... a couple of strong back/weak minded (lol!) guys can do a world of lifting... just offer them some pizza when they are done!

Believe it or not, we picked one up at our local thrift store for $200. It's a bit beat up and needs to be tuned, but just about every used piano needs to be tuned. I think it's around $100 to get them tuned (we haven't done ours yet).

I would buy used. But then, I did buy used.

Pianos, if well maintained, last for a LONG time. I bought mine for $150 on Craigslist, and it's a 1903 beauty. It cost more to move it to my house than to buy it.

As to tuning, wait at least a month after moving it to have it tuned. New or used, it needs to acclimate to your own house for a while before it is tuned.

It IS possible to buy a piano privately; however, if I were you, I would at least find a friend who knows how to play to come and take a "test run" for you. If you would like to find out whether it needs to be tuned, a good way to test it for yourself would be to buy a pitch pipe of your own-- one that's circular, with all the notes printed on the top of it-- you know, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, with all the sharps between each note. When you test the piano out for pitch, the "C" note is the white one directly to the left of the two black keys together. The notes (starting with that white one) go C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then another C, another D, and so on. While it IS possible to buy from a dealer, it is EQUALLY possible to buy from a seller privately; in fact, you're more likely to find a great deal buying that way. If you decide to find one yourself, there's Craigslist, Amazon, and a ton of other ways to buy privately; however, if you decide to do that,, then at least find a friend who plays him/herself so you can get someone who knows how it feels to play it-- that way you can tell him/her what you would like to get, feeling--wise, from the piano-- like do you want a clear tone from a light touch, or one you must hit each key harder, or something in between? (For instance, I like a relatively light-touch piano, while my sister, who also plays, wants one where you must hit each key somewhat harder.)
It IS possible to buy a piano for under $800, though you might have to look in the classified ads of your local paper, or go to the local college or community college for their yearly piano sale.
The fact that you would like your child to learn alongside you is wonderful! That way, you can grow closer to each other both musically and in your relationship! While my parents did not play, my grandfather was a piano teacher, and I still cherish memories of time I spent playing alongside him. Hopefully you will grow closer through your music! Good luck!

We rent ours. $50 a month, and 1st tuning ($250) free.

Tunings in our area are recommended twice a year (number of tunings depend on your local weather conditions and how often the piano is played). Since the weather here is pretty much the same for 10 mo we just deal with it being a little out of tune over the 2 months of summer in Aug & Sept and get it tuned in October

It's a rent to own contract. The piano is about 5k EITHER rent to own or cash up front. We had to pay 6mo up front, and pay for delivery ... so we wrote a check for $500 + tax... which I kinda forget what that was now. It was 2 years ago.

We can pay off early... or take the whole 8 years. We can return it to them, or sell it ourselves and pay it off.

For US it was the best compromise. Both of use knew JUST enough about pianos to know that we didn't know enough to buy a used one (many used pianos have been warped by weather or not being tuned frequently enough... we're talking YEARS in some cases), and end up needing to be tuned once a month aka DO NOT stay in tune for anything. At $200 per tuning, that was an impossible problem for us. This is true ESP in areas like ours which are sooooo humid and damp... and people don't have air conditioning... and houses are old / floor slant. Pianos warp a LOT in those conditions.

It's not THE piano I would have wanted to get. Actually, it's not my second choice, either. THE piano was a baby grand we don't have space for, and 2nd best was $85 a month, which might not seem like a lot more, but it put it out of our price range. She's a good instrument, though :). Nice tone, decent action.

Before you decide to buy OR rent... DO DO DO go play around on a bunch at a piano store. If you're like me (who doesn't play at all... or rather, I didn't) this can be kinda embarrassing. FORTUNATELY music people tend to be pretty cool. I called and asked when a "slow" time for them was, and went in, and a sales person took me around to 15 different uprights in my price range letting me / encouraging me to just feel how the keys felt and listen to the instrument's voice.