All of my experience with saltwater fishing from a boat has been in the Pacific ocean. I've been bitten pretty hard by the boat bug. I've had the opportunity to purchase a 95 Crownline for $12,000 from a friend of the family. He had it listed for $20,000 as recently as September. I've looked at photos of it and it doesn't look like it's setup optimally as a fishing boat.
The other I've briefly looked at is a 1986 Grady White. Much better setup for saltwater fishing. Same price.
What do I look for? The Crownline is 25' and has never seen saltwater. The Grady White is 23'.
I'm going out next weekend with an outfit in Wilmington that is going to help get me reacclimated to boating on the ocean.