Do I need a realtor?

[TJ Thompson]

I found a house that I'm interested in buying.  It's a fixer upper for $44K.  I don't have a realtor, so I called the listing agent.  He's out of town at a conference, but he said he could call someone from his office to show me the place, but if I was going to get an agent then he said I'd need to have them let me in the house instead.  

So it's Saturday here, and I'm wondering if I should rush to find an agent (I don't have any strong realtor recommendations right now), or if I should just plan to proceed without one.  What are the pitfalls I should be aware of?

My father in law, who lives in town, just recently let his realtor's license expire.  So he can't be my agent, but he knows the process well enough that I wonder if he can't just help make sure I don't forget to cross any t's and dot any i's, bt without an official realtor.  

What do you guys think?