John & Christina - we just went through a similar experience re: real estate. We gave our attorney a limited power of attorney to accept the offer from our eventual buyers. We incorporated hard parameters as to the terms we wanted. We were in Bali far from a fax machine, let alone a notary.

It worked extremely well. We have also gotten comfortable giving him limited power of attorney to sign off on the actual purchase or sale of real estate.

If you have someone else whom you trust and who can follow your instructions, you could use them as well. Have your attorney draw up the limited power of attorney. It is so much easier than trying to leap across time zones, etc.

Hope that helps and have a wonderful trip. Congratulations on the real estate transaction! Cheers, Anne