The Best Way To Use FCPX & After Effects?

Hey there everyone, after a ton of issues and headache with Premiere Pro I am trying my hand once again with FCPX. But I have one pretty annoying issue that I need to find the best solution for.

I am constantly using After Effects in my projects, whether it be for a lower-third, or motion-tracked text. Though when switching to FCPX the only solution I've heard of is XImport, or possibly just finishing an edit and then exporting that media, importing to AE, make the edit, and export again to FCPX - But I worry doing that might lose quality, is there a way not to lose quality if I were to do that?

So I have few questions

1. Should you finish color-grading and doing the main editing before trying to send a clip to After Effects?
2. Is XImport the only way to send a video to After Effects?
3. Can you export an XML from After Effects to then send back to FCPX as an XML, or do you have to render that video and just re-import it as footage?
4. What are some of the options of using FCPX and AE in conjunction with one another?

I am open-minded, I just really don't want to have to purchase that $150 dollar plugin without knowing that it's going to do what I want it do, while doing it well.