Scoring factor
How to weight value for money
This factor asks whether the house is cheap or expensive for its size against a reference price. It does not ask whether you can afford it, and it does not price the house from sold comparables.
How hard to weight it
Put it first, around 25 to 35, when price is the constraint: a first purchase, or a buy where the return is the point. The investor preset uses 35. The first-time preset ties it with condition at 25.
Keep it in the teens when you will pay up for one thing and still want a ridiculous outlier to lose. At 15, a house that scores 100 on value against one that scores 50 contributes 7.5 extra points. That loses to a 30-weight school gap of the same size.
Do not drop it near zero to “ignore price.” The budget belongs in your requirements as a maximum. The weight is how hard a bad price-per-foot should pull a house down after it has already passed that maximum.
What the weight does to the total
A house at the reference price per foot scores 50. A house at about two-thirds of that reference scores 100. The gap is 50 points.
| Weight | Effect on the total |
|---|---|
| Weight 35 | 17.5-point gap. Price per foot can override schools and commute. |
| Weight 15 | 7.5-point gap. A single priority you weighted at 30 still wins. |
| Weight 5 | 2.5-point gap. Only an extreme price moves the ranking. |
The property score is the weighted sum: each factor score times its weight, divided by 100. Weights are scaled to add up to 100 before that sum.
What the score uses
By default an analysis uses the formulas in “What the score uses.” The new scoring engine runs only when FEATURE_USE_NEW_SCORING_ENGINE is on, or when a rollout percentage includes that account. Where that engine differs, it is called out separately. A missing input scores 50. That is a neutral, not a zero, and it can outrank a known weak result.
The default formula needs a price and a living area. Price per square foot is price ÷ living area. The reference price per square foot is a fixed median stored for the city, divided by 1,500. It is not the median of recent sales, even though the methodology page describes comparables. The code does not pull comps for this factor.
The ratio is reference ÷ this house. Cheaper than the reference scores higher. The score is (ratio − 0.5) × 100, clamped between 0 and 100. Equal to the reference (ratio 1) scores 50. Ratio 1.5, which is a house at two-thirds the reference price per foot, scores 100. Ratio 0.5, a house at twice the reference, scores 0.
The stored medians cover the same short city list as schools. A $1,200,000 figure is stored for Lexington, so the reference is $800 per square foot. Waltham is stored at $550,000, so the reference is about $367 per square foot. Those numbers do not update with the market. A city that is not on the list scores 50 whenever price and size are present, which means a bargain and a bad buy look identical.
Missing price or living area also scores 50. A house with no square footage is not treated as a poor value.
price per sqft = price ÷ living area
reference per sqft = stored town median ÷ 1,500
score = clamp( (reference ÷ price per sqft − 0.5) × 100 )
No price, no living area, or no listed city → 50
When the new engine is on
When the new engine is on and census housing data is present, the reference is the tract’s median home value divided by 1,500, and the score is 50 + (ratio − 1) × 80. Equal to the census reference still scores 50. The house reaches 100 at a ratio of 1.625, and 0 at 0.375. Without a census median, the factor still scores 50. It still does not use sold comps.
The public overview is the methodology page. Where that page says comparables, orientation, or documented updates, the formulas on this page are the ones that run.
Tradeoffs against the other factors
- School quality
The cities stored with the strongest school ratings are stored with the highest medians. A heavy value weight will prefer the cheaper listing inside a town, and it will also prefer cheaper towns. If the district is the point, do not let value sit above schools.
- Condition
The cheapest house per foot is often the one that needs work, and condition is only an age estimate. The investor and first-time presets put condition next to value so a low price cannot hide an old house by itself.
- Lot size
Value uses living area, not the lot. A small house on a large lot can look like a bargain per foot and still fail the yard you wanted. Weight the lot separately if outdoor space is why you are looking.
Mistakes that move the ranking
- Reading a high value score as “this is underpriced.” It means the asking price per foot is below a fixed reference, which may itself be years off the market.
- Using the weight as a budget. A house over your maximum can still score well on value if its price per foot beats the reference. Set the maximum in requirements.
- Comparing towns that are not on the city list. Both score 50, so the weight adds the same number to every house and does not rank them.
Profiles that lean on this
The other six factors
Set the weight yourself
The builder opens on an even split, or on the platform default if one is saved. It does not assume this factor. If you want a whole profile filled in, start from a buyer preset.
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