Just be careful with smog. Seller is supposed to but often sells "as-is buyer smogs." I happily took that risk on my jeep 'cause the old lady selling it could have gotten much more for it if she waited a day for other people to see her listing
Anything pre '75 is smog exempt but it's locked in there, used to be a rolling date but they stopped it so now a '76 will always need smog. If you know what you're looking at in a car, always do private sale. It'll save a lot of money.
Careful with project vehicles that need a lot of paperwork and inspections. I had an old Harley that needed safety and CHP inspections, and around here those are usually booked out past when your temp reg expires so you gotta deal with the DMV twice on top of the inspections...