Question 1

What is Peony, and is it a good fit for commercial real estate owners, brokers, lenders and fund managers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Peony is a virtual data room that CRE owners, brokers, lenders and funds use to share OMs, rent rolls and T-12s under NDA, see what each buyer reads and update files without resending links. Peony is trusted by 400+ commercial real estate companies. Data Room, the most popular plan, is $52 per admin per month billed yearly, with unlimited rooms and storage; inviting buyers is free and unlimited.

Question 2

Can I try Peony before I pay?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Peony's Data Room plan has a 7-day free trial you start yourself, with no credit card, and it never converts to paid on its own. Rooms, files, links, analytics and NDA settings carry over when you upgrade. AI features, such as AI document Q&A and AI room generation, switch on once you're on a paid plan. Book a demo to see them first.

Question 3

What is a real estate data room?

Accepted Answer

A real estate data room is a secure online workspace where a broker, sponsor or fund shares the OM, rent roll, T-12, leases and title work with qualified buyers, lenders and LPs under NDA. It replaces email attachments at the moment a transaction becomes confidential: access is gated behind a confidentiality agreement, permissions are set per party, and every view is tracked. Brokers typically run one room per listing; sponsors and funds run rooms for acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and LP reporting. On Peony's Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly, unlimited rooms), buyers e-sign the NDA before the first page, every page carries the viewer's identity as a watermark, and page-level analytics show who actually studied the financials. The full setup is in our real estate data room guide.

Question 4

How much does a real estate data room cost?

Accepted Answer

On Peony, real estate data rooms start at $30 per admin per month on Business (3 rooms per admin) and $52 on Data Room (unlimited rooms and storage), billed yearly; buyers never pay. Monthly billing is $44 and $75. Free ($0) covers single-file tracked links (50 documents, 500 MB) but not data rooms. Buyers, lenders and LPs never need a seat or an account, so a 40-party buyer pool or a full lender syndicate adds nothing to the bill. One admin running a 25-listing ladder on Data Room pays about $624 a year, and a 4-admin brokerage about $2,496. Per-project VDRs bill each listing separately (buyers report $5,000 to $10,000 per 3-month Firmex project), so several concurrent listings reach five figures a year; the side-by-side math is in our virtual data room cost guide.

Question 5

Can I brand a real estate data room with my firm's logo and domain?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Business ($30 per admin per month, billed yearly) puts your logo and cover image on every room, and Data Room ($52) adds a custom domain, so buyers see your firm's address rather than Peony's. Peony branding comes off from Business up, and each buyer group can get its own welcome message and a light or dark theme. Deal Team ($64, minimum 4 admins) adds a different domain and branding for each data room and a custom invite email, which suits a brokerage marketing listings for several owners. See custom branding and custom domains.

Question 6

What is the most secure way to send an offering memorandum to prospective buyers?

Accepted Answer

Send a tracked, NDA-gated Peony data room link instead of a PDF attachment, with email verification, per-viewer watermarks, downloads off and an expiry date. On Peony that full stack is on the Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly): the buyer e-signs the NDA before the first page, every page carries their email and IP, desktop and mobile screenshot protection is on, and the link stops opening on the date you set. Buyers view free, with no account. An attachment can't be recalled once it's sent; a link can be switched off the moment a buyer drops out.

Question 7

I need to protect my OMs from getting forwarded around the market — how does Peony prevent unauthorized distribution of deal documents?

Accepted Answer

Peony stacks four layers on every OM: an NDA before the first page, dynamic watermarks with each viewer's name, email and IP, screenshot blocking, and link expiry with instant revocation. Dynamic watermarks are burned onto every page server-side, so any forwarded screenshot traces back to its source. Screenshot protection blurs the page and clears the clipboard when a capture shortcut or screen recording starts on desktop, and Screenshield extends it to iPhone, iPad and Android with a fence view that shrinks what can be captured. The NDA gate requires every viewer to sign before seeing a single page, and link expiry and access revocation cut a buyer off the moment they drop out of the process or the deal closes. For a broker marketing a $20M property to 12 buyer groups, knowing that every leaked page traces back to a specific person changes behavior — buyers stop forwarding your confidential materials because the risk is visible. The full stack is on the Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly). Google Drive, Dropbox and email attachments don't stack these four layers.

Question 8

I'm a CRE broker marketing a $12M off-market retail property — how do I use a data room to qualify serious buyers before sharing financials?

Accepted Answer

Put Peony's NDA gate and access questions in front of the room, so every buyer gives their name, company, proof-of-funds range and acquisition criteria before the first financial page opens. Load the offering memorandum, rent rolls, T-12 financials, lease abstracts and Phase I report into one room; until a buyer has signed and answered, they see nothing, so you know who is a qualified $12M buyer versus a tire-kicker before they ever touch the rent roll. Peony's Data Room plan at $52 per admin per month includes the signed NDA, custom access questions for buyer qualification, and page-level analytics that show which buyers actually studied the T-12 versus which ones skimmed the OM cover page. Dropbox and Google Drive have no NDA gate, no buyer information collection and no page-level visibility, so you are sharing financials blind. For the episodic version of this workflow — the CA gate, the watermarked rent roll, revoke-on-dropout, and the pricing math for a shop that takes an off-market deal every other month — see our off-market listing NDA guide.

Question 9

I'm listing a $8M retail strip center and want to collect buyer information before they see the rent roll — what information can I require?

Accepted Answer

Peony's access questions let you require answers to any questions you set before a buyer reaches the rent roll: proof-of-funds range, entity type, acquisition timeline, geographic focus or intended hold period. Name and email come first through viewer info collection, which runs on every plan; access questions are on the Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly). For an $8M retail strip center with 15 interested parties, this turns anonymous listing clicks into a qualified buyer pipeline ranked by engagement. After buyers answer and sign the NDA, Peony page-level analytics show which ones actually studied the rent roll and which ones bounced after the OM cover page. Google Drive, Dropbox and WeTransfer don't combine gated buyer qualification with per-page engagement tracking in a single workflow.

Question 10

I run a 3-person brokerage team marketing 8 listings simultaneously — how do I track which buyers are engaged across all my properties without drowning in spreadsheets?

Accepted Answer

Run one Peony room per listing with a tracked link per buyer, and each room shows who opened the OM, how long they spent on the rent roll and whether they returned. Page by page, you see time on the rent roll versus the cap rate summary, return visits and each buyer's approximate location, across all 8 listings in one workspace. For a 3-person team running 8 active listings with 40 or more buyers in the pipeline, this replaces the spreadsheet you are currently maintaining by hand. Peony's Data Room plan at $52 per admin per month gives you unlimited data rooms, unlimited tracked links, and dynamic watermarks with each buyer's identity on every page — so if a confidential OM gets forwarded, you trace it instantly. Firmex charges thousands per room, which makes running 8 simultaneous listings prohibitively expensive for a boutique brokerage.

Question 11

How do I market a multi-property portfolio from one data room?

Accepted Answer

Run one Peony room with a folder per property, put access questions in front of it, and give each buyer group its own link with folder-level permissions. Per-document and per-viewer analytics then show who wants the whole portfolio and who is cherry-picking one asset. Access questions and granular permissions are on the Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly), which also has unlimited storage for every property's surveys, drawings and environmental reports, and Index documents numbers every folder and file (1 for the first property, 1.1 for its rent roll) so buyers can reference documents by number on calls.

Question 12

We're marketing a $35M multifamily portfolio to both institutional buyers and 1031 exchange investors — how do I show different information to different buyer types?

Accepted Answer

Use Peony's folder-level permissions to build tiers inside one data room, with each buyer type in its own group with its own link. Put the OM, property photos, and market overview in a folder every approved buyer can see. Gate the detailed rent rolls, T-12 financials, and tenant estoppels behind a second tier for institutional buyers who have signed the NDA and passed your qualification criteria. For your 1031 exchange investors, create a third tier with tax-advantaged analysis and exchange timeline documentation. Each buyer group gets its own share link and its own analytics, so you see which institutional buyers are deep in the financials versus which 1031 investors are still reviewing the overview. Peony's Data Room plan at $52 per admin per month handles all three tiers in one workspace with granular permissions. Google Drive requires separate folders with separate share links and gives you zero consolidated analytics across buyer groups.

Question 13

I'm a top broker preparing customized packages for 4 different buyer groups on a $20M industrial property — do I need to create 4 separate data rooms?

Accepted Answer

No. Create one Peony data room and give each of the 4 buyer groups its own link, with its own folder permissions, welcome message and analytics. One institutional buyer might see the full financial package including environmental reports; a buyer group interested in owner-occupancy sees the building specs and zoning but not the detailed tenant financials. Each link has its own analytics so you know which group is most engaged. Peony's Data Room plan at $52 per admin per month includes unlimited links with per-group permissions, dynamic watermarks that print each buyer's name on every page, and Screenshield screenshot protection on desktop and mobile. With Dropbox or Google Drive, you would need to duplicate files into 4 separate folders and lose all consolidated tracking.

Question 14

What happens when the rent roll changes after buyers already have the link?

Accepted Answer

In Peony, use Upload new version: the rent roll keeps its place and its link, buyers who open it from then on see the update, and every earlier version stays in the version menu. You resend nothing, so a buyer working from last month's link lands on this month's numbers, and you can open any earlier version (v1, v2…) by its upload date to show what was shared when. Deleting and re-uploading would create a new file with a new link and reset its permissions, so use Upload new version for every live document: the T-12, the estoppel tracker, the updated OM. See update files after sending.

Question 15

Is there a storage or file-size limit for large CRE files like drawing sets and surveys?

Accepted Answer

Peony has no per-file size limit on any plan, and its Data Room plan ($52/admin/mo billed yearly) has unlimited storage, so PDF drawing sets, ALTA surveys and site videos upload alongside the OM. Business includes 100 GB of storage. Peony charges no storage fees on paid plans, and buyers read PDFs, Office files, images and video in the browser, so the original never leaves Peony unless you allow downloads on their link. See unlimited storage.

Question 16

Our acquisition team is bidding on a 200-unit apartment complex and needs to share our LOI and proof of funds with the seller's broker — how fast can we get a data room set up?

Accepted Answer

Within minutes: the median time on Peony from sign-up to first uploaded document is 4 min 19 s, so your LOI and proof of funds can reach the seller's broker the same afternoon. That figure comes from Peony's State of M&A Data Rooms report (Q3 2026 edition). Upload your LOI, proof of funds letter, corporate entity documents and acquisition track record, add your firm's branding, turn on the NDA gate and share the link. Peony's AI room generation drafts the folder structure from a one-line prompt (say, multifamily acquisition, LOI stage) before you upload, and Index documents numbers every file (1.1, 1.2…) so the seller's broker can say “open 2.3, proof of funds” on a call; both are on the Data Room plan. For a competitive bidding situation on a 200-unit complex where multiple buyers are submitting simultaneously, the speed advantage is real: a quote-based VDR starts with a sales process, while Peony starts at sign-up with no quote or sales call, so your materials can reach the seller's broker before a competing bidder's room is set up.

Question 17

We're a 20-broker investment sales firm and every agent shares deal documents their own way — one even runs listings through a personal DocSend account. How do we standardize?

Accepted Answer

Make one Peony workspace the firm standard: a folder template every new listing duplicates, firm branding on every buyer-facing room, and an NDA gate on every offering memorandum. The listing ladder becomes the template (teaser, CA-gated OM and financials, then the under-contract diligence file), and Duplicate a data room copies it into a fresh room with clean analytics for each new listing. Every broker is an admin in the firm's workspace and runs listings in the firm's team space, so the firm keeps every room, its buyer engagement and its records in one place instead of in personal accounts. Peony's Data Room plan ($52/admin/month) includes unlimited data rooms, so 25 concurrent listings cost no more than one — versus per-deal VDR quotes, or per-seat document tools that fragment into personal accounts the firm cannot see or audit. Brokers keep the workflow they like (send a link), and the firm gets consistent branding and NDA coverage on every offering memorandum. For a ranked comparison of the platforms a CRE firm would shortlist for this decision, see our best data rooms for commercial real estate guide.

Question 18

How do CRE lenders use a data room for a loan closing or loan sale?

Accepted Answer

On Peony, run one room per loan: the borrower uploads the appraisal, PCA and estoppels into a closing folder, loan participants get view-only access, and every open is logged. Folder-level upload and view-only permissions, dynamic watermarks and the full audit trail are on the Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly), and borrowers, participants and counsel join free, with no account. A loan or note sale runs like a property sale: an NDA gate before the collateral file, per-bidder watermarks and page-level analytics that show which bidder studied the rent roll and the appraisal. Upload new version keeps the updated appraisal or title commitment at the same link through closing. The collateral-file build is in our note sale data room guide.

Question 19

We manage a $150M CRE fund and need to share quarterly reports and capital call notices with 25 LPs — how does Peony handle LP communications?

Accepted Answer

Give each LP its own tracked link into one fund-level Peony room, and you see who opened the quarterly report, how long they spent on the performance tables and who came back. Set up folders for quarterly reports, capital call notices, K-1 packages, and investment memos. For a $150M fund with 25 LPs receiving quarterly distributions, this intelligence tells your IR team who to call before the next capital call. Peony's Business plan at $30 per admin per month includes NDA gating and unlimited e-signatures for subscription documents and side letters, and the Data Room plan ($52/admin/month) adds dynamic watermarks tied to each LP's identity — all inside the same platform. Vendr's buyer data puts the average Datasite contract at about $68,000 a year, per our virtual data room cost guide; one admin running this fund room on Peony's Data Room plan pays $624 a year, with all 25 LPs free.

Question 20

Which data room is best for a real estate investment fund raising capital?

Accepted Answer

Pick one that gives every LP its own tracked link and shows page-level reading of the PPM; Peony does both, with unlimited rooms on Data Room at $52 per admin per month and LPs free. Use one fund-level room with a folder per document class (PPM, track record, quarterly reports, K-1s, capital-call notices). Peony's page-level analytics, included on every plan, show which LPs opened the PPM and where they spent time; data rooms start on Business ($30 per admin per month), and the Data Room plan adds dynamic watermarks, the signed Advanced NDA and unlimited rooms.

Question 21

Our JV partner wants to review the property financials but we need to redact tenant names and lease rates from certain exhibits before sharing — can I do that inside the data room?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Peony's advanced redaction (Deal Team, $64 per admin per month billed yearly) permanently removes tenant names, lease rates or any figure from a PDF before your JV partner sees it. Redaction saves a new PDF with the covered text taken out of the file, so it can't be copied, searched or recovered, and there's no need to create redacted copies in Adobe or a separate tool. For a joint venture negotiation where your partner needs to review T-12 financials but should not see individual tenant identities until closing, keep the unredacted original in the room and set it to No access for your partner's group. Deal Team (minimum 4 admins) pairs redaction with NDA gating and an audit trail showing exactly who opened which file — critical when multiple counterparties have different disclosure rights on the same deal.

Question 22

We're a regional CRE firm running 3 to 5 deals at any time — how much does a data room cost compared to legacy providers like Firmex or iDeals?

Accepted Answer

A regional CRE firm running 3 to 5 concurrent deals pays $624 a year per admin on Peony's Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month), with unlimited rooms and no per-deal fees. Per-project VDRs quote each deal separately, so concurrent deals multiply the bill: buyers report $5,000 to $10,000 per 3-month Firmex project, or $15,000 to $50,000 for three to five projects before any extension, and iDeals prices each single project by storage on a quote. Peony's flat plan has no per-page, per-GB or per-deal fees and includes unlimited storage, page-level analytics, NDA gating, dynamic watermarks, Screenshield screenshot protection, built-in e-signatures, AI document Q&A, AI room generation and Index documents. The economics are not close; the side-by-side math is in our virtual data room cost guide.

Question 23

What should be included in a real estate data room?

Accepted Answer

Eight categories cover nearly every commercial real estate transaction: title and ownership, financials, leases and tenancy, environmental and engineering, zoning and permits, property condition and capex, insurance, and deal documents. In detail: title and ownership (deed, title policy, ALTA survey, entity documents); financials (T-12, rent roll, operating statements, budgets); leases and tenancy (leases, abstracts, estoppels, SNDAs); environmental and engineering (Phase I ESA under ASTM E1527-21, property condition assessment); zoning and permits (zoning confirmation, certificates of occupancy); property condition and capex (capex history, warranties, service contracts); insurance (certificates, loss runs); and deal documents (CA/NDA, LOI, PSA drafts, closing checklist). Load the teaser first, gate the OM and financials behind the confidentiality agreement, and open the full diligence file once the property goes under contract. On Peony's Data Room plan, storage and file size are unlimited, so the full drawing set and survey sit alongside the rent roll, and Upload new version keeps the rent roll and T-12 current at the same link. See our real estate due diligence checklist for the complete request-list version.

Question 24

What is a DD room?

Accepted Answer

A DD room, short for due diligence room, is the data room a buyer's team works through after an offer is accepted to verify title, financials, leases, environmental reports and legal documents before closing. It lets the buyer, its lender, and counsel verify what they are purchasing. In commercial real estate the DD room is usually the third rung of the listing ladder: the teaser is public, the offering memorandum sits behind a confidentiality agreement, and the full DD file opens to the winning buyer under contract. A well-run DD room tracks every document view, so if a dispute surfaces after closing, the audit trail shows exactly who reviewed which disclosure and when; on Peony the full audit trail is on the Data Room plan. See our due diligence data room checklist for the document-by-document build.

The real estate data room that closes CRE deals

What is a commercial real estate data room?

Peony at a glance

What do brokers, sponsors, lenders and funds use a CRE data room for?

See which buyer actually read the rent roll

Keep the OM from circulating the market

Swap in the new T-12 without resending a link

Look institutional on every listing

Run a loan closing or loan sale from one room

Raise the fund and report to LPs from one room

Custom-branded portals

Page-by-page analytics

Built-in NDA gating

Granular access controls

Dynamic watermarks

Unlimited links per document

How do you set up a commercial real estate data room?

Pick the pricing model before the platform

Clone a folder template per listing

Gate the room

Send per-buyer links with watermarks

Track engagement and revoke on dropout

What should be included in a commercial real estate data room?

Title & ownership

Financials

Leases & tenancy

Environmental & engineering

Zoning & permits

Property condition & capex

Insurance

Deal documents

Who sees what: the CRE permission matrix

All approved buyers

Qualified institutional buyers

Lender and counsel

JV partner

The best data room setup, by CRE deal type

How much does a CRE data room cost on Peony?

Frequently asked questions