3,000 LEASE FILES · XTO ENERGY / EXXONMOBIL · 20+ YEARS CONTRACT REVIEW · 48-HOUR DELIVERY
I reviewed 3,000 lease files at XTO Energy an ExxonMobil company reading every clause by hand across JVs, farmouts, JOAs, and PSAs covering billions in assets. I know exactly what the dangerous clauses look like. I will tell you which ones are in yours.
48-hour reports · Starts at $2,500 · Strictly confidential
THE PROBLEM
Your agent says the contract is standard. It is not standard. It is the seller's attorney's contract, written to protect the seller. "Standard" means nobody changed it.
I know what standard looks like. I managed 3,000 lease files at XTO Energy an ExxonMobil company reading every clause across JVs, farmouts, JOAs, and PSAs. I have read the aggressive versions and the reasonable ones. I know the clause that looks routine and costs you everything.
You lose your deposit. They can also sue you for more. Their only obligation if they default: return a check.
The income you are buying is not guaranteed. If the rents are wrong, you have no recourse against anyone.
"Improving" means capital projects you did not budget for. "All costs" means there is no ceiling.
Your partner gets paid before you get a dollar back. Even if the deal underperforms.
These are not hypotheticals. They are from deals that crossed my desk.
THE PROCESS
Upload your documents through the secure intake form. Tell me the deal size, the most urgent deadline, and anything already giving you pause. That is all I need to start.
Every clause reviewed against market standard. Every flag rated Critical, Important, or Watch with the exact clause cited, what it means commercially, and what to push for. This is professional contract analysis, not a summary.
A one-page deal summary. A ranked risk report. A negotiation playbook with specific language what to demand, what to trade, what to hand your attorney. Written the way a deal conversation actually goes, not the way a legal memo reads.
+ Every scan includes a 30-minute debrief call where most clients decide what to negotiate before they sign.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Your agent says the contract is standard. It is not standard. It is the seller's attorney's contract, written to protect the seller. "Standard" means nobody changed it.
One page. The numbers that matter. The parties, the purchase price, the earnest money at risk, the exact DD expiration date, the closing date, and the single most urgent action before you read another word.
Every clause reviewed, every flag rated and ranked. The report that makes you confident walking into any negotiation or walking away.
Not a legal memo. A deal-table guide. What to push for in round one. What to trade if they resist. What to send your attorney before you spend another dollar on legal fees.
All analyses include this statement: This is commercial due diligence, not legal advice. I identify the risk and the commercial exposure. Your attorney advises on the legal conclusion. Most clients find that walking into legal review knowing which three clauses actually matter cuts their attorney bill significantly.
Asymmetric Default Remedies Section 10(a)
RISK: Seller keeps your deposit AND can sue you for more. Your exposure is unlimited. This is not market standard.
MARKET STD: Seller's sole remedy = forfeiture of EMD as liquidated damages
ACTION: Negotiate before going hard. Require: "Seller's retention of EMD shall be seller's sole and exclusive remedy." Non-negotiable. Walk if they refuse.
All analyses include this statement: This is commercial due diligence, not legal advice. I identify the risk and the commercial exposure. Your attorney advises on the legal conclusion. Most clients find that walking into legal review knowing which three clauses actually matter cuts their attorney bill significantly.
PRICING
Takes longer. Doesn't include a negotiation playbook. Start with one scan. If it delivers what I say it will, the retainer pays for itself in month three.
The fast read. Before you go hard.
Simple (1–3 docs): $2,000–$3,000
Standard (3–6 docs): $3,000–$5,000
Complex (6+ / multi-jurisd.): $5,000–$10,000
Rush delivery (24 hours): +25%
Includes: Risk report · Negotiation playbook · 30-min debrief call
Submit Your Deal
For investors doing multiple deals a month.
Lite $5,000/mo — 2 scans · 72-hour TAT
Pro $10,000/mo — 4 scans · 48-hour TAT ‹ Best value
Elite $17,500/mo — 7 scans · 24-hour · direct line
At 4 scans/month, Pro = $2,500/scan below lowest one-off rate.
View retainer details
Already own assets? Audit existing contracts.
$5,000–$30,000 depending on scope.
Deliverable: risk inventory + renegotiation map.
First-time clients: pilot scan available at $1,500 (vs. $3,000–$5,000 standard) in exchange for feedback and permission to use the output as an anonymized case study. Mention this on your intro call or in your first email.
A mid-size law firm bills $400–$600 per hour for contract review. A single associate reviewing a standard PSA takes four to six hours minimum before writing a memo or attending a call. I deliver the commercial read in 48 hours. Then you decide what to send to legal. Most clients find that conversation takes half as long.
WHO I WORK WITH
Your DD period is 14 days. I deliver in 48 hours. That is why my RE clients call me before they call anyone else not after the earnest money has gone hard and the leverage is gone.
You have signed the LOI. You have 30 to 60 days. You need to know whether the APA you just received is market-standard or seller-skewed before you commit to full legal diligence. That window between LOI and legal engagement is where I add the most value
Active deal flow means active contract risk. The retainer puts a senior commercial analyst on call without the law firm overhead, the billing increments, or the week-long turnaround.
Your team is stretched. Contracts are stacking up. I turn them around in 48 hours in language your CEO can read, not just your GC. Consistent format, every time.
FAQ
AI tools read the surface. I read the deal. I know what market-standard looks like across thousands of contracts. I know which clauses shift risk — because I've seen them fail in real transactions.
Your attorney reviews for legal compliance. I review for commercial risk and negotiating leverage. Most clients use both — my report tells them which three clauses matter.
No. This is commercial due diligence. I identify the risk and the commercial exposure. Your attorney advises on the legal conclusion. Every report includes this disclaimer.
Real estate PSAs, NNN leases, JOAs, JDAs, farmout agreements, APAs, operating agreements, and most commercial deal documents.
Every engagement is confidential. I sign NDAs on request. Documents are transmitted securely and never stored beyond the engagement.
Book a free 15-minute call. I'll tell you whether this is the right engagement, what I'd focus on, and what to expect. No pressure, no pitch.
ABOUT
Before I built this practice, I did contract and lease work for XTO Energy — an ExxonMobil company — managing 3,000 lease files covering billions of dollars in assets. Every clause. Every obligation. Farmouts, JVs, well files, JOAs. Tracked live in Quorum Land Systems, where a missed continuous drilling clause, an unpaid shut-in payment, or a miscalculated royalty did not mean a billing dispute — it meant a lease invalidation on an asset worth far more than the error.
That work was done by hand, before AI existed, at institutional scale.
After that, I continued working with XTO Energy on additional projects, alongside independent landman engagements for Morning Star Resources, Jetta Operating, and dozens of other operators through brokers. Full title research, lease analysis, JOAs, surface agreements, PSAs — across deal sizes ranging from single acquisitions to portfolio transactions worth hundreds of millions.
If you know what a Pugh clause does, or why a continuous drilling obligation matters, or what depth severance means for a mineral estate — you know these contracts are not simple. I have read thousands of them, professionally, at the level where errors cost real money. Real estate purchase agreements are shorter and more standardized by comparison. Which means I can find the landmines faster — because I know exactly where they are buried.
I also invest in real estate myself. I have been the buyer sitting across from a seller's attorney, watching the clock on my due diligence period, deciding whether to go hard on earnest money before I knew everything I needed to know. I know what it feels like to need this analysis before it is too late to use it.
I built Deal Sense because those two things — institutional contract expertise and the investor's perspective — rarely exist in the same place. Attorneys charge by the hour and take a week. Generic tools summarize what a contract says. Neither tells you what it means for your specific deal, what is negotiable, and what language to demand before you sign. That is what I do. And I deliver it in 48 hours.
Modern research and analysis tools mean I can work at a speed that was not previously possible — without compromising the judgment that comes from two decades of professional contract work.
"I managed 3,000 lease files for an ExxonMobil company reading every clause by hand, at scale, before AI existed. I will read yours."
The negotiation leverage disappears the moment you go hard on your earnest money. That is the window I work in.
Five minutes to submit · Report in 48 hours · Debrief call the same day
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