Where the signals come from.
No one record means much. Read together they name the seller, months before a broker does.
An off-market commercial property leaves a trail in the public record before anyone lists it. We read that trail across all 50 states: who has held the asset, what is pressing on the title, how the debt is behaving, and how the building is running. HorizonsAI monitors more than $2 trillion of commercial real estate debt. That work has surfaced $4.2 billion of asset value and 2,800 opportunities, a median of 94 days before the listing.
Joey Stoddard, founder · Updated 19 October 2026
From the owner
Ownership & succession
- Held 20+ years
- Probate filing
- Estate or heirs on the deed
- Successor trustee
- Divorce filing
- Partnership dissolution
- Individual, not an entity
- Absentee owner
A hold of twenty years or more, a probate filing, heirs or an estate on the deed, a successor trustee, a divorce, or a partnership dissolution means the person who has owned the building may be ready to let it go. An owner who holds it as an individual, or who lives somewhere else, can be reached directly. When the deed is in an entity, the useful fact is the person behind it. These records name that person before a broker is hired.
From the courthouse
Pressure on title
- Lis pendens
- Notice of default
- Tax delinquency
- Tax lien
- Mechanic’s lien
- Code violation
- Receivership
- Bankruptcy
A lis pendens, notice of default, tax delinquency, tax lien, mechanic’s lien, code violation, receivership, or bankruptcy is filed at the courthouse and is public that day. The filing is the pressure. The listing is what happens after the owner or the lender decides to sell. Reading the docket is how a property shows up while it is still off market.
From the debt
Capital structure
- Maturity inside 24 months
- Fund hold period ending
- No mortgage of record
- Refinance gap
- DSCR decline
- Missed payment
- Servicer advances
- Special servicing
Debt signals show the capital structure failing before a sale is marketed. A maturity inside 24 months, a fund hold period ending, no mortgage of record, a refinance gap, a falling DSCR, a missed payment, servicer advances, or a move into special servicing each say the current loan is unlikely to roll over quietly. CMBS trusts publish a share of this on a schedule. Bank, life-company, and private debt show up through other filings. The listing comes last.
From the asset
Operations & market
- Occupancy decline
- Under-market rents
- Tenant reviews falling
- Deferred maintenance
- Failed listing
- Expired listing
- Repeated price cut
- Broker change
Occupancy falling, rents below the market, tenant reviews dropping, deferred maintenance, a failed or expired listing, repeated price cuts, or a change of broker describe the building itself. None of these is a sale on its own. Together with the ownership and debt records they explain why a sale is likely, and they are already public while the property is still unlisted.
The order signals arrive in
Ownership path
Debt path
Both paths end in the same place — a broker listing. We read them long before that.
Ownership path
Debt path
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