In commercial real estate, the conventional wisdom for finding off-market deals has long been to pull a list of property owners in a zip code and start dialing. But according to Dan Mosher, co-founder and CEO of DealGround, an AI-powered commercial real estate intelligence platform, that approach is fundamentally flawed and rarely yields results.
Mosher points to the sheer scale of off-market inventory as the primary reason. "Off-market is any building that’s not currently being listed. You have about 160 million properties in the United States right now, and the number of properties that are currently being listed is a small, small subset of that. So almost every property is technically off-market," he said. With 160 million property owners, having a meaningful conversation with each one is impossible. Attempting to brute-force the process through volume calling—what Mosher calls a "carpet bombing" approach—often backfires. "We think that carpet bombing approach is not the right approach. I think that’s the biggest mistake, you go too broad and too generic, and that becomes off-putting to an owner, that it creates a low probability of success," Mosher explained.
Instead, Mosher advocates for a "sniper-like" approach: targeting a specific set of properties based on a buyer’s criteria and reaching out with detailed knowledge about the owner and property. "We really believe in more of a sniper-like approach, whereby you’re targeting a specific set of properties because you have a buyer, you have a situation that you can help, and you are targeting owners with great information you have about them. We think that’s a much better approach that yields better outcomes," he said.
The alternative to cold outreach begins with building a filtered list. "Off-market sourcing is creating a set of filters and search parameters that fit your specific needs as either a principal or a broker who’s looking to find a deal for a buyer," Mosher said. Once that list exists, the conversation with an owner is no longer cold. "When you reach out to that owner, you have a story that is compelling. You know the details about the owner’s property. You have a buyer, or you are a buyer, that’s got a certain philosophy and a buy box, and that property fits within that philosophy. That is not cold outreach. That’s more of a warm lead," he added.
This shift in prospecting is central to DealGround’s mission. The platform helps brokers narrow in on properties and owners most likely to be receptive, using real data rather than guesswork. Brokers interested in seeing how this targeted sourcing works can review the process on DealGround’s how it works page. For those still relying on volume calling, the message is clear: more calls do not necessarily mean more deals. A smaller, better-informed list usually beats a longer, generic one.
The implications for the industry are significant. As competition for deals intensifies, brokers who adopt data-driven, targeted sourcing will likely gain a competitive edge over those who continue to rely on outdated, high-volume tactics. DealGround, which serves the top 15 CRE brokerage firms nationwide, is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation. By turning fragmented data into actionable intelligence, the platform enables brokers to move faster from prospecting to closed deals. For more information, visit www.dealground.com.
