Boat choice ...

[wakina]

my budget is between 10 -15k

There are probably alot of boats in your price range in the Boats for sale page on this site. Your needs will dictate what you should buy. If you buy used and it is an I/O it would be best to have it surveyed both mechanical and structure as the small cost of a survey can save you a bunch of head aches and heart breaks later as well as alot of money. Probably best to have any boat that you want to buy surveyed for flaws before you buy it.. I just sold a 21 ft cuddy cabin after I bought a 23ft walk around there is no comparison between the two boats ride wise and room wise. Wife wanted me to get something that had a better ride or she would quit going fishing with me.
The western basin of Erie is fickle, it is shallow as the other Great lakes go with probably nothing over 35 to 40 ft with a few really small areas a little deeper and she can get really rough and dangerous in a very short period of time. Lake Michigan gets a different type of rough so you have to take that into consideration.