I made this post a few weeks back where I have a student who is looking into aircraft ownership as well, also in the line of a C310. You might want to read it as it's how I learned how to own an aircraft (to teach a student actually!)
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/fl...-airplane.html
Through helping him out, I've actually learned quite a few things about owning an aircraft... specifically, I never will - at least on a career pilot salary. However, just about anyone else makes more than a pilot so it's not THAT inconceivable.
First thing is - it costs LOTS of money to own an aircraft - specifically a light twin like the one you are looking at. This is NOT including the actual investment of the aircraft (which $50K is a MAJOR stretch, expect 100-150K for even a questionable one). I am just talking day to day and yearly expenses.
I will abbreviate some googling for you because there is too much "use search" or "google is your friend" -- and I'm a nice guy
: First, you have your fixed costs. These are the costs that you have to pay no matter what, even if you aircraft just sits. They include: Insurance, Hangar/tiedown (depends on airport), Annual inspection (3-4K/year), and currency (I consider this fixed). Tiedown's I've seen from $25-150/month and hangars from 400-600/month but that was at airports outside of chicago. Further out they should be cheaper.
Then there are variable costs that depend on how much you use. Most obvious is fuel. Fuel can range from $4-6/gallon NOW, but $8+/gallon should not come as too much as a surprise in the future. A C310 you should expect 24-26 gallons/hour (12-13/engine/hour). At $5/gallon, thats 130/hour. Also there are engine and prop overhaul costs. An engine and prop needs to be "overhauled" every 1500-2000 hours of use. More or less, you are putting a new or refurbished engine. With a twin, you are putting 2 on. At ~$25,000/engine that's $50,000 every 2000 hours. Quickly divide that out, that's roughly $25/hour you should put away for each hour your run your aircraft. HOWEVER, that's assuming you get your aircraft with 0 time engines.
I've seen C310s from the 1960s around 100K, but BOTH engines were at their max Time Before Overhaul (TBO) so they had to be replaced. I have yet to find the cost of prop overhauling but I found generally put $10/hour away for prop overhauls.
Back to insurance. A wet private with no instrument is going to cost heck of a lot more than say a commercial with instrument or even an MEI. Insurance will be even more if you plan to start operating commercially. Imagine the lawsuit protection you will need should something catastrophic happen. I'll let that topic go for another day. A rough figure I saw was a CFI/MEI with instrument cost about 3-4k/year for LIABILITY ONLY - ie, the "safe auto" minimum required insurance. Your hangar goes up in flames due to a meteor, you are SOL.
Finally, and this is just a personal note from A CFI... a C310 or barron are powerful machines - especially when compared to a trainer C152 or 172. Upwards to 300 turbopowered horses per engine! C310s are NOT training aircraft. They are quite complex and move FAST. I remember my first time flying in a Seminole (multi-engine trainer) after flying in my single engine trainers. There is more or less twice as many things to do and systems to manage and things happen a LOT quicker. And the Seminole is a very underpowered aircraft - 180 horses/engine yet it still hauled ass! Single engine operations in it still made me realize I had to do some squats to get the leg power to fight a single engine climb out. Imagine 300 horses at full power with a dead engine. Or both engines working and trying to fly your 45 entry to downwind, base and final. Things happen VERY quickly.
One may go "Hey snipp, you contradicting sonuva... why were you helping your student get a C310 yet telling this bloke it's not a good idea" My student has a couple hundred hours in them from when he used to work in them and is well versed in their operation. I am not trying to form a double standard here!
Soooo...
You asked for a lot of holes to be put in your idea and you just got them (maybe not actually!). I don't mean to tell you DON'T DO IT! In fact, no where do I say that. I am trying to give you all the information I can to help. For me, as a pilot making a sub poverty level wage, the simple THOUGH of owning an aircraft is expensive. But again, it's NOT inconceivable. People DO have better jobs than pilots (like yourself maybe) and maybe able to afford this. I am just worried that you said you have the money now, and may not later.
Best of luck. I hope I answered some questions.