Budget & condition
Weights for a first-time buyer
This is the Budget & condition preset. Price per foot and the age-based condition estimate are tied, so the cheapest house does not win on price alone. Schools stay in the ranking at 15 for a household that might need them.
Who this is for
The risk you are avoiding is a repair you cannot cash-flow, not a slightly longer drive or an older facade.
You want the score to leave room for a life that changes. Schools at 15 and the lot at 12 mean a house that is only a bargain because it has neither will not float to the top.
The weights
These are the Budget & condition numbers in the builder (budget-condition). They add up to 100. Nothing else is changed when you start from this page.
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| Value for moneyTied for first. A house at the stored reference price per foot scores 50. One at about two-thirds of that reference scores 100. The reference is a fixed town median divided by 1,500 square feet, not a broker’s comps. | 25 |
| Condition and systemsTied for first, against that bargain. A house of 50 years or more scores 45 here, and a house under 5 years scores 95. The gap is 12.5 points of the total at this weight. It is still not an inspection. A new roof on an old house does not raise it. | 25 |
| School qualityHigh enough to matter if the rating is on the listing, and not so high that a district premium wipes out a sound, cheaper house. If you already have a child in mind for a specific district, switch to the family preset. | 15 |
| Lot sizeA real yard helps and a missing lot does not get punished below 50. Do not read a mid score as a dark house. Light is not measured. | 12 |
| Commute accessA moderate pull toward a shorter stored average. It will not override a much sounder house a bit farther out. | 10 |
| Home ageLow, because condition already uses year built. Leaving both high would count the same birthday twice. | 8 |
| Community diversityOn the report. On the default engine it only separates the 20 stored cities. | 5 |
Change it before you save
- Set a maximum budget in the requirements step. This weight does not enforce a price cap. A house over your budget can still score well per foot.
- If you are buying a project on purpose, drop condition and raise value. This preset is built to refuse that trade.
- If the city is not on the stored list, value, schools, diversity, and commute often sit at 50 together. The weights will not rank those towns against each other. Lot, age, and condition still will, because they come from the listing.
Read the factors this profile leans on
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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