can a verbal agreement be enough when someone owes you a large sum of money

Under the concepts of quasi contract and promissory esstoppel, it might be posssibe to establish that an oral contract was in affect.  Although these concepts are not available under statutes of Frauds when it involves the transfer of real property, often times if there is enough evidence to show that but for an oral agreement you would not have performed as you claim the courts will acknowlege an enforcable oral agreement for services rendered.  This however, is very fact specific and depends on many variables.  If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail I invite you to contact me at 415-827-1425