Good construction but low on luxury materials...

Larger boats are mostly nothing like buying a car or truck. Each is individual and made by hand to an owner's wishes. A little like the handbuilt Rolls Royces before the WW1. On the same chassis you could have a Lux town car or a desert warfare armoured car with machine guns.

Lets take the humble Pilot Boat used around the World for the last 70 years. Tough, good in rough weather, easy to handle and simple to keep running.

Now add some leather and gloss. Is it a lesser boat? I think not. Same with fast fishing boats in the Bay and those swanky ones down in Miami. If they don't work, people soon ignore them as serious craft.

Something like this is a swanky version of a commercial hull.
https://www.**************/boats/20...se-2986488/Courtney-Comox/Canada#.W0-X9NJKiK8

See what happens when you start looking for something that fits within a couple of your constraints: e.g. Look at craigslist in Vancouver for power boats between $200k and $250 and what is there?

... Not that much: nothing that comes close to the speed you want and has a big aft master. Note that a newish, ~30 ft Cutwater or Ranger Tug is getting close to your price limit. From everything I've read and from looking at a few, those are good quality boats, they have the "no leather and expensive wood finishes" that you want, but they're smaller than you want.

Or change the lower limit to $150k and see what's available: for less that $200k, you can get a 39' Bayliner, but it'll be closer to 20 years old and won't have the top speed you're looking for.

I'm not a powerboat guy, but based on my general sense of what boats cost and then looking at these local listings, I'm pretty sure you can't find anything the size you want, with engines capable of the speeds you want for the amount you're willing to spend.

You could look at Carver, Sea Ray, Cruisers, Maxum, Silverton, etc. aft-cabin "motor yacht" models, and maybe some of those brands plus Bayliner (and maybe Meridian, maybe others) "cockpit motor yachts"...

At least for that kind of size, space, and layout. Should be boatloads of those in the 35-40' range under $250K. None of them (that I know of) will run in the low 30s, but many will run in the low 20s easily enough, some mid-20s especially the diesel models.

Example: There's a '95 Bayliner 4587 in Tacoma with twin diesels, looks like an aft-cabin (full beam master) cockpit motor yacht, for not all that much money. No idea about condition or layout, looks like lower cruising speed than you're after, but may give you a example of the kind of boats you might look for...

-Chris

Fountain 48' Express cruiser has a 40 knot cruise at about 1 mpg, it's a triple diesel Arneson boat though. A 45' cabo with C18's will cruise 30 knots and is top quality build. They also made FB boats like the 40', 43', and 47/48' and most cruise right around 30 knots.

Not too bad...….just the motors and generator, a/c units....most had no teak to deal with.....some aluminum and stainless....easy boat to wash..........a 45' express is built like a tank with excellent wiring.....systems....etc.....

This is likely the feature that starts bringing boat sizes (hence, weights) up and speeds down.

Unless you mean something like the "aft" (mid) cabin underneath the helm in a SeaRay Sundancer or similar.

-Chris

Try: https://www.pacificboatbrokers.com/
They have one of the better web sites on the West Coast and a lot of boats. I bought my current boat thru them and it was the best broker experience I ever had.
If you're not fussy, you might be better off with an older boat that needs some tlc, and save some cash for unplanned expenses. A common problem with boats. Better yet, learn how to maintain and repair most or all of the systems. Boat yards are expensive. Because of the usual exchange rate, a little cheaper in Canada.

Question is do you want a condo or a sport boat. If the latter, then you don't want something that's gonna get wet and mold. If the former, then look for and old trawler, troller or tug - esp the ones that never leave the dock.

You should easily find something for under $150k, especially with your mechanical abilities. There's a lot of boats out there for sale. You can find many good deals.
I purchased my 42' Ocean Yachts with a full aft cabin and diesels for under $30k three years ago. I had it surveyed and sea trialed it twice before I handed over the cash. The boat was quite clean after sitting on the hard for more than two years. Just needed good servicing ,cleaning, maintenance and use, to bring her back to life. Which I did on my own. Over time I've replaced a few things, like a generator. That was quite easy too.
What ever you buy, make sure it runs! You must sea trail the boat. Make sure the mechanicals have good "bones" along with the hull and superstructure. Engines, pumps, transmissions are expensive even if you know how to work on them.
I tend to over look the cosmetics as they are easy to do yourself, but do take some time.