yeah, all my trees are turning to crap right now because of the winter .. I'm going to sit here and forget about them for at least a month.. I hope they have fruit by then.. actually, I think some will
one to two years is way too long to wait.. if one tree won't have fruit, then I'm just going to walk over to my other one and get it. Planting the trees are just a hobby for everyone, and many learn because of successes or failures (so next time they won't or will do the same thing to get better); basically, this is all a learning experience for everyone here; It is good to also have very knowledgeable people like yourself to help us out when we do; Not all of us has the space or climate to grow things, but we just want to try; You won't know until you try, right?
You are right though in that they should buy one or two trees first to test it out, and if everything is good after a few years, then just add more of the same kind (like mangoes perhaps).. That's also what I'm doing with my yard too.. have a little of everything.. if something dies, I see what happens and try not to do it next time, or just get another thing.. For example, I have been trying to grow abius here in CA (4 died so far because of freezing, but I try different areas of the yard).. I still have one alive, but it is very small (about 1 gallon).. it's not going anywhere, just slowly getting more leaves.. hey, it's all about growing more stuff, and that's the fun of it.. failures and successes.. I even tried durian and rambutan too, but I'm not touching those until I get a greenhouse next time haha..