Rudder stuck - feature or bug?

[earbuilder]

I am shopping for a used Hallberg Rassy 31. First one I checked had a tiller that froze in the position i moved it to. It was on the hard. The tiller was easy enough to move, but there was a clearly discernible resistance.

According to the owner the bearings were changed four years prior. Boats I have sailed before had tillers that are fully freely moving with little or no resistance (except from the pressure of water of course).

Could this be as it should be? Or, is there more likely something wrong?