living on a 44ft carver

I'm confused by your post. Is it a Carver or a Trojan? For purposes of this response I'll assume Carver.

You're at the right place right here. Welcome. Hit the search feature, and open the Carver section. There's also a Carver's owners Forum you should check out. The one thing I find troubling is the 500 hours. Is that since being rebuilt? 500 hours in 13 years is way to few and could result in internal motor damage that's hard to diagnose before trouble comes. I like to see 100-200 hours per year. I'd also not recommend this boat for the cruise you're suggesting. It's not a rough water boat. That's not to say there's anything wrong with it. Just that it's a boat you won't want to get caught in 10'+ seas in. I ran one of these for a few years. I think you'll find that she'll generally cruise at about 17 kts., but seas of more than about a choppy 2' will get you down to about 12 kts.
As a live-aboard, good boat. Plenty of space, and everything is very accessible on it.

The Trojan 440 of that vintage was actually a Carver Capt. The 440 Express is just as capable as any other Express boat would be for the duty he describes and actually is a wonderful running boat that will cruise faster than the 17 knots and most likely has the 3126 Cats or the 450C Cummins for power.

Being that she was on a freshwater lake I don't think the 500 hours is out of line, in fact that's probably a lot for a freshwater boat!

That use would be unusual where I'm from, but would do the job. The problem with leaving a motor sitting is that any water or moisture would cause corrosion. If a boat is going to sit I recommend exactly that to keep everything lubed. I've had several clients who only used their boats a few time per summer. I'd take them out for about an hour e/o week to keep everything lubed. Had one client buy an 8 y.o. boat with less than 400 hours. He got another 13 hours after purchase before it ate a motor, a $30,000 surprise.
I was confused about the model, and thought you were talking about the aft cabin M/Y. The one I ran was actually a 2002 Carver 444 CMY (a 440 aft cabin with a cockpit), a totally different boat. Now I know your boat. It had a very good reputation. I've known a couple of people who owned them, but I never ran them personally. So I'll step out and leave you to those with more direct experience. Best of luck following your dream.

you will get a lot more responses at the trojan forum, i am a member there found it when i bought my trojan but still keep up even though i have a carver now. heres the link once there click the tab on the left for the forum
http://www.trojanboats.net/default.html