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RAAM

Downsizing

Weights for downsizers

This is the Downsizing preset. Condition leads, because the move is away from projects. Commute is next, for errands and people rather than a school run. Schools and a large yard stay on the report and do not pick the house.

Who this is for

You are leaving a house that is more building, more stairs, or more yard than you want, and the next one should not hand you a roof, a boiler, and a half acre.

The empty-nester card in the builder points at this preset. Opening the builder from this page fills the same numbers. The ordinary builder, with no preset in the link, still starts from the even split or the platform default.

The weights

These are the Downsizing numbers in the builder (downsizer). They add up to 100. Nothing else is changed when you start from this page.

Downsizing weights
FactorWeight
Condition and systemsFirst, at a higher weight than the investor preset. The widest age band is a 14-point swing on the total. You are buying the absence of a project. Book the inspection, because the score only knows the year.28
Commute accessSecond. Daily life is the grocery store, a clinic, a friend, not a downtown office. A 15-minute versus 45-minute gap is 11 points here. The default number is a city average, so confirm the actual errand before you trust a short-commute city.22
Value for moneyYou should not overpay per foot, and you are not hunting the cheapest house in the county. Sixteen points lets a stretched price lose without turning the search into a bargain hunt.16
Home ageA moderate preference for newer, separate from condition so a 100-year historic bump on the age factor cannot sneak an old house into first place by itself. At 14, that century jump against a 99-year-old house is 7 points, and condition will still be scoring the old house at 45.14
Lot sizeA small yard can tie-break. A lot you would need help to mow should not lead. Eight points means the jump from no lot data to a maxed ratio is 4 points.8
Community diversityYou are joining a place, not a school district. Eight points keeps the stored index visible. Off the city list the factor is 50 for every house.8
School qualityFour points. A great district adds about 1.6 points over a weak one. That is intentional. If a grandchild’s schools are the reason for the town, use the family preset instead.4

Change it before you save

  • If you want a walkable main street and the census commute is not that street, lower this weight and judge access in person. The formula cannot see a sidewalk.
  • If you are keeping the old house as a rental, score that purchase with the investor preset. This one is for the place you will live.
  • If stairs, a first-floor bedroom, or a single level matter, they are not factors. Put them in your notes and in the showing. No weight will find them.

Other profiles

Start with this preset

The button opens the builder with these weights filled in. You still enter your details and requirements. The weights are waiting on the weights step, and Reset puts back the usual default. A builder link with no preset is unchanged.

Start with this preset