steel or aluminum casement (many questions)

[mandos]

Hello. We are (trying to) buy a house with around 30 metal casements, mostly crank-out. We can't really tell whether a magnet would stick to them because they are so crudded up with caulk and paint that they are sealed shut. I've found a guy that "repairs" steel windows. Can you advise me?
Will repaired windows be drafty?
Can they be refinished or stripped to remove the paint and caulk?
Can they be weatherstripped?
Should I just replace them?
I haven't really shopped around prices for replacements, but I guess I'd prefer aluminum over wood or vinyl to look like the originals, and I read about some types that are insulated where metal would meet metal. Does that cost an arm and a leg? And someone said aluminum windows sweat.
Do they replace just the crank-out portion or the whole frame?
What's this going to cost, what can go wrong, and how much is fair to ask the sellers to shoulder?
Thanks in advance for any info you can spare.

[Window4U (IL)]

If they are all crudded up they are probably steel. The aluminum casements don't normally get painted as often or as soon as steel windows because of aluminum's ability to stay nice looking for a long time even without paint.

My advice is general advice since I haven't seen them, but I would not spend any more money trying to repair them. I'd get rid of them before they suck away any more money through lost energy and further maintanence.