I am sure there are, but Attorneys, generally, are ethically limited in their ability to reach out to prospective clients.

The dispute went into ethics committee for the escrow company and will be tied up for a least one week. 

There is such a simple answer (or 3 or 4 actually) but I'm not in the habit of giving advice to people that are disingenuous and not willing to be ethical in their dealings with others.  

If its your work ethic then your not going to find anyone to partner with, maybe someone willing to hire you.  

So unless you made it clear to them that you ONLY want them to find you houses, but never Buyers, then I would say that ethically, you probably should wear the $500 this time - but then clarify your arrangement going forward. 

@Jay Hinrichs   Wasn't trying to imply not to follow the rules of the FREC and NAR Code of Ethics.

I always get them and they are sometimes of value for a borrower with ethics who runs into a rough patch.

I was wondering if it was legal and ethical to reach out to the owner or visit them at their alternate address to try to make a deal with them in advance.  

I want to be an ethical wholesaler who can help people and also offer accurate estimates for cash buyers.

It sounds like you probably didn't do sufficient due diligence on this guy and/or don't know him well enough to predict how ethical and trustworthy he is.