James Dallas Don’t Be Fooled: Insist on Genuine Financial Statements Before Trusting this guy San Diego California

I was referred to James Dallas, who was presented as a high-net-worth investor. He claimed he needed to purchase a 30,000-square-foot building for a new business venture, allegedly paying cash and closing quickly.

As a commercial real estate broker, I arranged access to several properties that matched his requirements. The first red flag was his resistance and irritation when asked to provide proof of funds—an essential requirement for properties valued at $10 million or more. Eventually, he sent over a financial statement that supposedly reflected a significant amount of money in an account.

However, the document immediately appeared questionable. It was formatted like something created in a basic word processor, making it look unprofessional and suspiciously easy to duplicate. Most concerning, it lacked a signature or verification from an official bank representative—an omission that is highly unusual and deeply suspicious considering the large balance it claimed to represent.

Despite these concerns, I did go ahead and show him five properties that fit his stated criteria. The listing brokers were generous enough to allow showings on my word alone, without requiring any financial documentation. Yet during these tours, the individual looked for every possible excuse to assail and belittle the brokers. He showed no respect to any of the professionals involved, including myself, and even went so far as to insist that “high-net-worth individuals” like himself don’t deal with “little brokers.” Instead, he claimed he was accustomed to approaching owners directly and cutting deals without intermediary representation.

The irony is that we as brokers come across off-market deals all the time, and savvy investors know to treat brokers with respect precisely because of the unique access we have to such opportunities. In fact, we did find him an off-market deal that met his exact criteria, and even negotiated with the seller to finance a portion of the $10,000,000 purchase price himself.

When it came time to draft a Letter of Intent, another red flag surfaced. While reviewing it with him, he once again made reference to cutting the brokers out of the deal and going directly to the owner—declaring, in his own words, that “Kings deal with other Kings.” When I attempted to explain politely that brokers are licensed professionals whose role is to facilitate these types of transactions, he became visibly upset that I would say anything to oppose him.

At that point, he mentioned he was recovering from an injury and would need a couple of days to look over the LOI. A few days later, I received a call from his assistant saying he wanted to put everything on hold, with the reason being that “I don’t listen.” This abrupt shift, after weeks of effort and negotiation, reinforced the conclusion that he had no genuine intent to close and was not a credible buyer.

Adding to the pattern, he also made sweeping claims about purchasing entire blocks of real estate for large development projects, despite having no prior experience as a developer in Southern California. This only further highlighted the disconnect between his grandiose statements and his actual credibility.

Please let this serve as a warning if you are in the real estate industry: do not let someone like this waste your time or play manipulative power games just to validate a fragile ego. Protect your time, demand proof of funds up front, and be wary of individuals whose actions don’t align with their extravagant claims.