NDAs / Commercial BBAs

[Autumn Wibright]

I am on the commercial team at my brokerage, and since I'm a newer agent, I'm trying to network with investors while helping my mentor with his listings (before going after a ton of my own commercial listings). I have long lists of contacts for many investors that came from different commercial platforms, but my team has not done much outreach to these leads. Therefore, I see an opportunity there to connect with investors. After just a few conversations already, investors want me to send them deals/listings.

I would like some advice on the best way to approach connecting with investors due to conflicting opinions within my brokerage. One broker thinks that you should just sent any opportunities you find directly to the investor based on what they told you they are looking for. Another broker thinks that you should have them sign a NDA/non-circumvention agreement before sending the investor detailed information about opportunities. The first broker thinks that freely sharing information/listings that fits the investor's criteria helps build rapport, trust, and partnership with the investor and thinks the non-disclosure/non-circumvention agreement scares investors off / makes them suspicious of you. The second broker thinks that most investors will just go around you as a buyer's broker and go straight to the listing agent if you send them the information without an NDA/NCA. This broker thinks sending the NDA/NCA right off the bat sets the intention that if the broker sends the investor detailed information about this property, the investor should go through this broker when submitting LOIs, etc., so that the broker gets credit for bringing the investor the deal. It's essentially a commercial BBA since the agreement says the broker is owed commission if the investor closes on the deal the broker brought them. Similar to a residential BBA, but investors are much more likely to be frequently returning clients if you are good at finding them what they want. Losing an investor client seems like a bigger loss than a residential retail client..

I know that NDAs are common in the commercial world, but I don't want to lose trust or credibility early in my career by gatekeeping certain listings or information and scaring people off by mentioning "potential commission owed" in the agreement they sign. However, I understand the view that this agreement protects the broker in the end. I guess this is similar to, if not the same as, the dilemma for buyer's agents overall since the NAR settlement.

Any thoughts??