How does a vendor's lien affect my deed?

A deed represents your ownership of the land. When you own a deed and there are no other claims on the land at all, then you own the property free and clear.  This means you can sell it to whomever you want, will it to whomever you want, and do whatever you want with it within the bounds of the law (i.e. zoning laws and pollution laws). However, when you have a deed with a vender's lien, your claim is now not the only claim on the land. The vendor has interest in the property, and the property cannot be sold with the lien on there in most cases since the buyer will not have "clean title."

This is all a really fancy way of saying that the vendor has a claim on the land, and so you can't sell. A vendor's lien is commonly placed when you are sold items to improve the property or when work is done on the house. For example, if you are having a home built, then the builder may have a construction lien on the house. The person who sells the lumber may have a vendors lien. If these liens are on the house because the vendor and builder are unpaid, then when you try to sell the house, the liens are going to come up in the title search. The new buyer won't want to buy (in most cases) because he won't be getting clean title... he'd be getting the house along with the debts and liens. 

If you have a vendor's lien on your property and you want to sell, you should consult with a lawyer to find out what your best course of action is for dealing with the lien so you can sell your home.