el luchador
is Blowin Smoke!
I jumped into stick burning with both feet and bought a LSG. If you have nicely seasoned wood, you'll be producing thin blue smoke while maintaining temps before the 6-hour seasoning process is complete. If you get to the point where you just aren't using the pit, you can probably sell it for a $500 loss to someone who isn't willing to wait 4 months. If you buy a piece of junk, the resale value will be next to nothing so your total cost of ownership may not be much different in the end between each unit. That's what I tell my wife anyway when I want to buy nice things. A cheap offset could kill your enthusiasm for stick burning because they are more difficult to maintain temps. As far as waiting for what you want to get built, I strongly suggest you do it. The amount of time you own it will be far greater than the time you waited for it and you will forget about how long you waited once it arrives. Having something to look forward to is fun and while you wait, watch some videos on fire management and hang out around here. You will learn everything you need and more to produce very good BBQ on your first try.
for clarification, was the stick burner your first smoker ever? or had you had practice on something else before going into stick burning?