The link for instructions you have provided will still be running ChromeOS. Every few weeks it will break when Google forces an update. You'll need to update the crouton install before it works again and sometimes the crouton update isn't ready for a few days.
You'll boot into chromeOS, open a terminal and type a few commands to get any Linux version running inside a chroot. You will see Chrome every time.
If you want to wipe chromeOS and boot directly into a Linux, then ... keep reading.
Making a chromebook be installable for any Linux is a non-trivial exercise. Different models have different issues, so saying "Lenovo" isn't enough. Some are easier than others. Some are impossible. $200 for a used chromebook is way too high, IMHO, especially if you just want word processing.
I'm on my 3 chromebooks. The keyboards keep wearing out, usually before 2 yrs. On most laptops, changing the keyboard is $20 and 10 minutes of effort. Not so for chromebooks where it is more like $100+ and half a day. Pulling the entire machine apart, including the motherboard, is required.
The easiest chromebooks to get working with Linux are listed at mr. chromebox's website
https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices . I have personal experience with a Acer C720 and Toshiba CB2. The Acer was really easy. The Toshiba took much more effort and still requires effort to maintain it due to BIOS differences.
After breaking the warranty (you'll have to do that on every chromebook), then you flash a replacement BIOS, and can load almost any OS, if the chromebook is intel-based. The chromebook will never boot chromeOS again, ever.
A friend had a Lenovo chromebook that took over a year to get Linux onto. It was cheap when he bought it ($99 new) and he got paid $50 for a battery class action lawsuit, so the price was $49 total. It is a dog with a very slow CPU.
Oh and any CPU you get should have a passmark rating of about 1500 or more. A Celeron 2950U is fairly old now, but a fast CPU in a chromebook. Many of the newer models have CPUs that are over 50% slower than that. Be careful. ALWAYS check the exact CPU so you aren't sorry.
There are low-end laptops available these days which will run Linux without all the same hassles. They won't be missing certain keys that all chromebooks lack - DELETE, F11, F12, PgUp/Dn/Home/End ... you get the idea. I don't plan to ever buy a chromebook to run Linux again now that cheap laptops exist. There are some great, fast, used Lenovo laptops on ebay. I'm partial to Dell myself - prefer the Dell keyboards.
Those are my experiences. Hopefully, others will chime in with their experiences. I'm only 1 data point.
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