By KeyCrew Media
In a higher interest rate environment, closing a commercial real estate deal takes more effort than it did a year ago. Brokers are running more numbers, preparing more broker opinions of value, and pitching more owners to land the same number of transactions.
Dan Mosher, co-founder and CEO of DealGround, an AI-powered commercial real estate intelligence platform, says brokers are feeling that added workload. He says the brokers who keep pace will be the ones who cut down on the research and admin work behind each deal.
Closing one deal now takes more work
When financing costs rise, fewer deals pencil on the first pass. That means more properties have to be evaluated to find one that works for a buyer.
“It’s going to require more evaluation, it’s going to take more intense pitches, it’s going to take more objection handling than what was required a year ago,” Mosher said.
The problem is not motivation. Most brokers are willing to put in more effort. The problem is that much of that effort goes into gathering data rather than talking to clients.
“They’re going to have to work harder in some instances to reach their commission targets, but they want to work more efficiently, meaning they don’t want to have to do a ton of administrative legwork to come up with the data,” Mosher said.
The hidden cost of juggling one-off tools
Many brokers build their research process from a patchwork of separate tools: one for ownership records, another for comps, another for lease information, plus spreadsheets or a CRM to tie it all together. Each tool may work fine on its own, but switching between them adds time to every deal.
Mosher says the tools brokers rely on today are “typically more manual, more bespoke, more one-off tools that are there to perform one particular function.”
“We want them to be able to use one tool that allows them to do everything more efficiently,” he said.
By combining several data streams into one place, Mosher says brokers can spend less time collecting information and more time deciding which deals are worth pursuing.
“If they can use DealGround to discover the data faster, that means that they can still do twice the work, but in the same amount of time that they’ve always done,” Mosher said.
Bringing property data into the AI tools brokers already use
Another shift Mosher sees is how quickly brokers have adopted AI assistants for their own research. Rather than asking brokers to leave those tools, DealGround recently added a connector, known as an MCP, that links its data directly to AI models such as Claude and ChatGPT.
“People are using Claude, they’re using ChatGPT to do their own research, and now they can connect into DealGround and benefit from all of the rich data that we have on every property,” Mosher said.
Mosher says the value comes from the data the AI can now access. A general AI model working from public information cannot see what a property actually rents for or what debt is on it.
“The DealGround database has data that’s not publicly available, particularly the rents and the lease terms and the debt that’s in an instrument,” Mosher said.
That combination can help a broker find creative solutions in a tight market, such as identifying owners who may be open to selling now. Brokers can ask questions in plain language inside the AI tool they already use and get answers based on property-level data. Brokers are looking for selling signals and DealGround’s data provides them.
What brokers can do now
For brokers trying to keep up with a heavier workload, Mosher’s advice points to a few practical steps. Audit how many separate tools and manual steps go into evaluating a single property. Look for places where data collection can be consolidated. And if AI assistants are already part of the daily routine, connect them to reliable property data instead of relying on public information alone.
The goal is not to work longer hours. It is to evaluate more opportunities in the time brokers already have. Brokers comparing the cost of several single-purpose tools against one platform can review DealGround’s pricing page.
About DealGround
DealGround is the AI-native intelligence command center built for how brokers actually work; turning property, tenant, ownership, and market data into faster, more informed deal decisions. To see it in action, request a demo at www.dealground.com.
This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed herein reflect those of the individuals quoted and do not represent an endorsement of any company, product, or service mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.
