Commercial real estate brokers often approach off-market deal sourcing as a numbers game: pull a list of property owners in a zip code and start dialing. But according to Dan Mosher, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered commercial real estate intelligence platform DealGround, that brute-force method is not only inefficient but also counterproductive.
“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,” Mosher said. With such a vast universe, calling every owner is impossible. Trying to do so often backfires, he added.
Mosher describes the common “carpet bombing” approach as a major mistake. “You go too broad and too generic, and that becomes off-putting to an owner, that it creates a low probability of success,” he said. Instead, he advocates for 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.”
The shift starts before any call is made. Off-market sourcing, done well, means building a specific set of filters around a buyer’s actual criteria. “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 filtered list exists, the conversation with an owner changes from a cold call to a warm lead. “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,” Mosher said.
This is the practical shift DealGround is trying to help brokers make. Rather than treating every owner in a territory as a potential lead, the platform helps brokers narrow in on properties and owners most likely to be receptive, based on real data rather than guesswork. Brokers who want to see how this kind of targeted sourcing works in practice can review the process on DealGround’s how it works page.
For brokers still relying on volume calling, the takeaway is straightforward. More calls do not necessarily mean more deals. A smaller, better-informed list usually beats a longer, generic one. As Mosher’s comments suggest, the future of off-market sourcing lies in precision, not volume. By leveraging data to identify properties that match a buyer’s specific criteria, brokers can transform cold outreach into warm conversations and ultimately close more deals.
