Interview or Pending Offer?

Wanted to get an outside opinion on this.

I have been actively sending out resumes/interviewing for the past 3 months. I'm in my late 30's, and after spending my first 14 years post-college doing the analyst/associate/director progression for 4 different LA-based real estate equity funds, I've spent the past 3 years syndicating smaller value-add multifamily deals with a couple of HNWs who I've known for many years. They had staked me with a finite amount of equity, which I have deployed, and have come to the realization that it might be time to go "back to a 9-5 job" with a firm that has a track record and existing platform. Like alot of people, I'm not sure when the market will start to really shift, but given the Treasury market since Nov 8th, coupled with a rate hike in the next two weeks and likely more to follow, I'm not pinning my hopes to the idea that I can kill it working for myself over the next cycle.

I had sent out a "cold call" email to the president of a local private equity firm, simply to attempt to establish dialogue and see if there might be an opportunity with the firm he worked for. Got a response and ended up meeting him for lunch. Turned out he knew all of the firms I used to work for (some quite well), I gave him a copy of my resume and deal sheet and we agreed to keep in touch should anything come up.

A few weeks ago, I get a random phone call from him asking if I can meet him for lunch the next day. I'm thinking it must be for a specific reason, turns out he is going to be leaving his current firm at the end of this year and joining up with a REPE firm based in NY as a principal. He's opening a West Coast office for them and apparently thought of me as helping him with that strategy. He went into specifics regarding the budget he has been given for the office in LA (salaries, overhead, etc), various fee streams that can be participated in as comp package, etc.

Last week, he asked me to come meet some of the NY team who was in LA for business. Had a productive meeting with them as well.

Without being overly presumptuous, it sounds like I was offered a job. But since nothing formal has been presented to me (and maybe this is forthcoming as it gets closer to the new year), I am still actively engaging with other firms and setting up interviews, etc.

Would it be appropriate at this point to point blank ask the question as to whether I'm the person he is planning on bringing on board, the timing of everything, what type of comp are they offering, etc? Or do I let him reach back out to follow up and see where it goes?