Deal stolen by potential partner - how do I prevent this!

Real Estate Professional · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 6 votes

Hey BP family,

I hope everyone had a great 4th weekend!

I had found a deal here in Austin, TX and was talking to a private lender/partner about the deal (not on BP to my knowledge). This person ended up going around me and buying the deal for himself. I made the mistake of giving him the address of the property and naively trusted him because he was referred to me by someone I trust very much.

My question is when presenting a potential deal to an investor how can you both present all of the necessary information about the house and protect your interest in the deal? I know it may be as simple as DON'T GIVE IT AWAY IDIOT but at some point the investor has to know it is a real property.

Thanks in advance!

Dillon

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Mindy JensenPro Member

BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes

10y

@Dillon Randolph, you said you got this person's name from someone you do trust very much. Have you gone back to them and let them know what happened?

Also, take their name, and burn it into your brain as someone to not ever do business with again.

You've already been told multiple times to have it under contract first, so I'll just chuck another vote on that pile, too.

There will be other deals. Better to lose what sounded like a fairly small deal in the scope of things and find out their true colors at a low cost, than to have wasted any time building a relationship with someone who is not trustworthy.

But definitely let your friend know so they stop recommending this person.

[email protected]Podcast Guest on Show #261

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Bill Paesano
Entreprenuer/Investor · Rochester, NH · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 3 votes
10y
I guess lesson learned on this one. Never trust anyone you don't know or have not done business with in the past.
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Denis Saklakov
New York City, NY · Member since 2016 · 26 posts · 3 votes
10y
Guys, I have read the comments. IMHO I would say that if we are talking a real anchoring (e.g. for this nice thing to never happen again and without this referring to the mighty Odin who will keep all the bad guys from Valhalla ), I would suggest that you might consider working under a platform of an investment fund (we have it under 506 (e) SEC - in essence not expensive arrangement at all ) or a similar unit, where you essentially seek for money first and therefore ALWAYS SECURE THE DEAL BEFORE you contact a lender. This having done, I can publish the papers like this one on the web being not afraid to be circumvented.
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Jared Watson
Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 58 votes
10y
if you don't trust him with the address never never fo a deal w/em
You gotta earn trust
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