Methodology

A Custom RAAM score is a weighted roll-up of seven factor sub-scores, where the weights come from your profile and the sub-scores come from underlying data the site catalogues. This page explains each factor, where its data comes from, and how the final number is assembled.

The seven factors

Each factor is independent and scored 0–100. The overall score is a weighted average — your profile decides which factor counts how much.

1. School Quality — local public school performance, rated on a normalized scale across districts.
2. Value for Money — price relative to comparable properties in the same town and market. Accounts for beds, baths, living area, lot, and condition.
3. Lot Size & Light — outdoor space, lot shape, sun exposure through typical day and year.
4. Home Age — age profile of the property and the surrounding housing stock. Newer isn't automatically better; it reflects your profile's preference.
5. Condition & Systems — typical condition of the property and its mechanical systems (HVAC, roof, electrical, plumbing) given age, listing signals, and neighborhood patterns.
6. Community Diversity — a read on how mixed and varied the local community is, across several demographic dimensions.
7. Commute Access — ease of getting to the destination you named during Build, by car and by public transit where applicable.

How the overall score is assembled

Given a property and your profile:

1. Each factor is independently scored 0–100 against the underlying data.
2. Each factor score is multiplied by your profile's weight for that factor (weights sum to 100).
3. The weighted products are summed into a single 0–100 overall.

That's it — no hidden bonuses, no penalties you can't see. Any requirements miss (budget, beds, etc.) is flagged separately; it does not auto-adjust the score.

Score bands

Used site-wide — on property reports, rankings, neighborhoods, and any scored output:

• 80+ — strong fit. Acting on it is reasonable if the context supports it.
• 60–79 — solid. Worth comparing against alternatives before deciding.
• 40–59 — mixed. Read the factor breakdown; usually one or two factors are pulling the number down.
• Below 40 — not a fit against the current profile. Either the property is genuinely off, or your profile's weights don't reflect what you actually want (rarer, but worth checking).

Data sources

Each factor pulls from a different mix of sources. At a high level:

• School Quality — public school performance data aggregated from state-level reporting and normalized across districts.
• Value for Money — listing prices, recent sales data, and comparable-property statistics for the local market.
• Lot Size & Light — parcel data and aerial information for lot geometry and orientation.
• Home Age — tax-record and listing data for year built.
• Condition & Systems — listing signals, age distributions, and typical maintenance patterns for the market.
• Community Diversity — census-level demographic statistics aggregated to the neighborhood.
• Commute Access — road networks and transit schedules, with live-style estimates for typical rush-hour windows.

Data freshness varies by source. Property-specific signals reflect the listing at the time of analysis; town-level signals update on a regular cadence measured in weeks, not days.

Glossary

Terms that come up across the site and mean something specific here:

• Profile — your saved set of weights, requirements, and preferences. See Building your profile.
• Weights — the seven numbers that sum to 100 defining how much each factor counts in your scoring.
• Requirements — hard constraints (minimum beds, maximum budget, etc.). Flagged on reports when missed, not auto-disqualifying.
• Overall score — weighted 0–100 summary for a property against a profile.
• Factor sub-score — one of the seven independent 0–100 signals.
• Custom RAAM score — same thing as overall score, emphasizing that it's your-profile-specific.

What the score isn't

• Not an appraisal. Value for Money reflects price-vs- comparables, not a formal valuation.
• Not an inspection. Condition & Systems uses statistical proxies, not a physical walk-through.
• Not a recommendation. It's a structured fit summary. The decision belongs to you.

Common questions

• Can I add a factor? Not today — the factor set is fixed at seven. Tell us via the feedback widget if you have a strong case for an eighth.
• Why these seven? They cover the dimensions most buyers actually trade off between. Beyond seven, weight-setting gets confusing faster than the additional granularity helps.
• What affects accuracy most? Your weights. If they don't reflect your real priorities, the score won't either — revise them in Build.

Related

• Custom RAAM Valuation — the tool this methodology drives
• Building your profile — where the weights in this methodology come from
• Property Reports — how a scored property's factor breakdown shows up

Last reviewed: 2026-04-14