Hi Rebbecca,

You have two very good answers already so I just want to add that my family and I have had a vacation house in Poultney, Lake St. Cathrine since 1978. We have purchased numerous homes on the lake for investment as well. If you would like a referral to a good real estate attorney, let me know and I will provide you with the person we have used. Also if you have any questions on the area, I'd be happy to answer what I can.

Larry Jensen
St. Lawrence Properties, llc
http://www.stlawrenceproperties.net

Rebecca,

There isn't really a right or wrong answer to your question. There are a whole lot of variables that can influence the decision.

If you were working with a real estate agency and using the standard Vermont Purchase and Sale, you would be able to put the property under contract while you worked on getting your financing secured.

The other benefit of working with a real estate agent is that their job is to work with you and the other party to help put the deal together and work through any difficulties. An attorney's first job is protect you and your position. This can sometimes lead to a feeling of inflexibility on one side or another. I have heard of deals going away, because one party's lawyer wanted one word changed and the other party's attorney advised against it.

That being said, one of my Buyer clients is currently talking directly to the Seller of a property to work through some issues with the inspections and the lawyers are happy to wait for them to work things out and have me write the addendums to keep the legalities straight.

The other thing to keep in mind is that, if you were to retain an agency to represent you in the transaction, you could be looking at paying their fee out of your pocket is the Seller is not willing to compensate them. There is language that can be used in the offer to get this done for you, but some FSBO Sellers can be quite set against the use of any agent and might deny your offer just to avoid them.

I guess it boils down to if you want someone to help you complete the sale or do you want someone to only do the contract and protect your interests. If you are truly from San Diego, do you have the resources to get your inspections done prior to the sale?

We had an agent just start at our office that has been working that area for the last 10 years. Let me know if you want an introduction to see if she can help you.

Good luck.
Jim

Since you have already indentified / selected the house and that it was not listed by an Real Estate Agency you are better in going through a Law firm. However, you may want to contact an Real Estate Agency to see if they have a past History on the house and also to have them perform an CMA. This will give you an idea of the Homes worth.
Your lawyer will handle the legal contract, in additon he will check to see if there are any judgements on the home as well to insure correct title. He will work closely with the title and mortgage companies, if needed. His firm will be the "Go to Person" relative to any problems that may occur in the future. If you went with an real Estate Person, he or she may not be around. Hope that helps. Werner