said by Dodge:does it make sense to engage an attorney before there is an agreement is reached on the selling price?
No, that's not necessary. The contract gets forwarded to both lawyers
after the buyer and seller agree on a price
and both sign the contract.
Since you only have 3 days at that point, it would be wise to line-up a lawyer now (just get a name, call them and make sure they'll handle the work [ask for a price, too]), since you're from out-of-state.