I am always amazed how many trucks there are for sale and the condition when I look outside of road salt New England (NC, Texas, CA, AZ, etc).
Here is an example of the trucks (Sub 5k) I am seeing as I have been looking for the last year:
http://worcester.craigslist.org/cto/5403892827.html
I think it's better to buy out west and drive or ship back to my neck of the woods.