My noob 2 bits ...
The best deals on Strats (IMHO) are the Tokai patent/copyright infringement models, the ones that unscrupulous repair shops would offer to re-badge as Fenders for a nominal fee. There are great ones among them.
I have a friend who has a mint 57 desert sand Strat, formerly a lovely instrument, but now just a 6 figure investment/work of art that can't be played or touched and that adds an expensive rider to his home insurance and causes him anxiety about theft. He also has a gorgeous Tokai. In a blind fold test with the two guitars plugged into the same vintage Fender Twin, no one can tell the difference between the two guitars, the no one includes professional musicians with many, many years of experience. The Tokai has everything down right, even the vintage, slightly demagnetized, sloppily (by modern standards) wound coils sound. He paid about $125 for the Tokai. It has appreciated in value to about $800. Let's see .... $800 vs 6 figures. Let's see .... a guitar you can gig with without being overly worried about it being ripped off vs a guitar that you have to keep locked in a gun safe Hiltied into your concrete floor.
Strats are great. No question about it. Classics. But they do have problems which are inherent in their design. The pick up placements cause interference with the strings, particularly the bass strings, which generates false harmonic overtones and thereby intonation problems in higher neck positions - the infamous Stratitis. Backing off pickups can alleviate this. But it is a balancing act. The pick up placement is also what gives the Strat its delightful and characteristic, unearthly metallic howl - much loved by me.
Teles are the archetypal electric guitar (sorry Les Paul owners). I would love to own one. Basic. Basic. Basic. And versatile!!!!. Ed Bickert - Canadian Jazz great - a Tele player. Ted Greene - a modest and unassuming but brilliant Jazz player and an even more brilliant teacher - a Tele affectionado - sadly passed away a couple of years ago. Bill Frisell - often seen sporting a Tele. Keef - a Tele lover. Led Zepplin I, the proto/archetypal heavy metal album, was recorded on a Tele. And lets not talk about country pickers. It his hard to imagine a Strat being so versatile and adaptable.
I want a Strat, and I mean really, really want a Strat. I also want a Tele. Faced with a choice of one of the great Strats and one of the great Teles where I could only have one - it would be the Tele every time.