COVID aside:
As a seller, are you leery of a buyer, after learning they have been looking to buy a horse for over a year, including numerous ISO ads?
As a buyer, are you leery of a seller with a horse marketed, listed and actively for sale for over a year?
What is a realistic time frame?
If out of that time frame; could it be the sales price or purchase budget is unrealistic? Or?
Iām leery of all sellers 
And all buyers 
Who has time to track buyers and figure out how how long theyāve been shopping? Sellers itās a little easier if the ad states when it was originally placed. But do sellers really have time to stalk buyers like that?
IME buyers that have been looking this long will tell you right up front as part of their sob story.
Yes, as a seller it makes me leery when a buyer tells me theyāve been looking that long. I wonāt decline their interest but Iāll definitely expect some ridiculous expectations and a low-ball offer.
Oh boy. Anyone who starts off a business transaction with a sob storyāabout anythingāmakes me suspect itās gonna be a hassle
That too 
Everytime Iāve bought a horse they continually fail vetting and not with anything small. 6 months is a very basic timeline to find a horse in a generous market. I wouldnāt be surprised at all in a 12 month search. However Iād think the iso ads differentiate if folks are realistic. Weāve all seen the ads looking for a 3rd level dressage horse or 2ā6 hunter for under 10k lol. Those folks will dig a grave before they find something.
^^^^This-learned the hard way.
Iām not leery of either if the price is right and the horse is a fit.
Quite frankly, the horse world can be shady on both sidesā¦ so whether it has been up for sale for a week or decadeā¦ and whether youāve been shopping your whole life or a hot secondā¦ it doesnāt matter. Money is green. People want it. Some people are never satisfied. Thatās life.
As both, I am not leery of horses that have been on the market a long time.
In 2019, I personally was selling a horse & it took close to a year, I was very picky about selling as it was crucial that this horse went to a good home so I did turn down several offers that I thought wouldnāt be in the best interest for either my horse or the potential buyer but also the lowball offers & those that were way too far for me to feel safe transporting my horse.
This particular horse was also for sale for awhile, it was a bit of a gamble but after a perfect PPE & spending a week with the horse, I was comfortable knowing the horse had been for sale for awhile.
TLDR: For a buyer: Always do a PPE, bring an experienced friend or trusted trainer with you, & ask to see the horse pulled out of the paddock/stall as well as tacked/groomed etc. If allowed, film the trial ride too so you can look back at the footage! All of this will give you more info than just knowing how long the horse has been up for.
It really depends. Some buyers are looking for a unicorn and may have seen a lot of horses but not had one fit every box. It seems that the less horses the person can afford to have the longer their search tends to be. For instance, since I have the land to spare I can buy a horse that might not be perfect and be ok to get another. But when I was boarding, it was much more essential I got the perfect horse.
As a seller, I have had amazing horses sit for over a year due to them not being desirable in some way (OTTB, red mare, etc). I just had my OTTB sit for 3 years between leases because no one wanted to look at him since he was a plain bay teenaged OTTB gelding The woman who just leased him sends me messages almost weekly about how amazing he is and sheās have great success in the show ring.
But, any horse thatās super desirable that sits for a long while tells me thereās something wrong there.
Re: buyers who have been shopping forever, I went to see a really nice young WB recently that was pending vetting by another buyer. The very well-reputed seller said she wouldnāt normally even show me a horse that was pending vetting, but in this case the potential buyer had already done extensive PPEs on THREE of the sellerās other horses in the year she had been shopping and passed on all three for minor things. The best part was that one of the horses she passed ended up being bought at full price by the vet who did the PPE! 
Iām not necessarily leery of buyers that have been looking for awhile, especially since I always try to be upfront about pricing and if the horse is out of their budget, we donāt continue the conversation. Having been on the other side of failed PPE after failed PPE, I know it can take some time to find the right horse. With the market as crazy as it is right now, horses are getting snatched up fast, and I really pity anyone shopping at the moment.
On the flip side, especially in this market, I am SUPER weary of horses that have been for sale for a year. Iāve seen buyers get much more forgiving about PPEs and blemishes and certain quirks. If a horse has sat all through the crazy Covid market and itās not in some really out of the way location, then my first assumption is there is something wrong. Either a really bad x-ray or a screw loose.
I think COVID adds a whole dimension for buyers (and sellers) aside from failing PPE, job issues, kids being home from school etc could affect a buyers timeline. I was looking for a 2nd horse as my 1 was getting near retirement. I had issues w/ getting trainer to go look with me, bad weather, and the few I looked at were much greener t han I wanted. Winter hits so we put shopping on hold and I didnāt see anything of interest to me for awhile. Sometimes it seems there are so many you canāt decide what to see and then nothing.
As far as sellers, some sellers might not actively market a horse or it could be a situation where itās for sale or lease, and ends up being leased and then back on the market. I think it all depends on the history. And some sellers just price the horse more than itās worth. I know several people who had their horses for sale for a long time because they turned down offers they felt were too low. There are legit reasons on both sides, but if the story sounds too fishy trust your gut.
Iām always leery of sellers, but, I am also leery of people coming to try my horse priced at $80,000 and later find ISO adās saying their budget is $30,000. So annoying.
How dare you tell me my budget of $20k (inclusive of import) for a GP dressage schoolmaster is unrealistic! We can push it to $23k for the right horse. But in that case, I cannot pay both the trainer commission & import. Therefore, I will need you to pop a trench coat & fedora on him & drop him off in front of KLMās International Departures desk at Amsterdam Schiphol. I have just enough frequent flier miles to get him an exit row seat in Economy. As long as he mumbles in Dutch & flashes his FEI passport, they should allow him through Customs with no issues. We will send an Uber to meet him at JFK. 
Watching the action at a schooling show today, I have to say that I legit think it can (and maybe should) take a year or more to find just the right fit as a buyer. Probably more often than not. Horse/human pairs are every bit as nuanced as human-to-human romantic partners, imo.
Lol.
I made what I thought was a very fair offer on a young, unstarted horse about 7 years ago. It was not accepted. I bought another really lovely, young unstarted horse within a few months for less $$,$$$.
The āfair offer horseā remains available and unsold 7 years later.
Iām leery of horse people in general
This is exactly what I mean by ridiculous expectations. Sorry not sorry, if someone tells me theyāve vetted multiple horses and they all āfailed,ā my immediate assumption is theyāre expecting a miracle horse with not a single blemish or fault.
But I also donāt believe in āpass/failā for a PPE. All horses have something, especially if they have an impressive show record. The question is whether or not itās something youāre willing to deal with. Everyoneās definition of āminorā is different.
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