The HomeScore methodology
A HomeScore is not a black box. These are the exact categories, the exact weights, and the rules the engine follows.
The ten categories and their weights
Every category is scored out of 100, then combined using the fixed weights below. The weights sum to 1.00.
| Category | Weight | Driven by |
|---|---|---|
| Location | 0.12 | Travel time to schools, hospitals, markets and main roads, plus the locality itself and noise levels. |
| Construction | 0.12 | Structure type, visible defects, walls, flooring, plumbing, waterproofing and age. |
| Legal & documents | 0.12 | Verified documentation status. Held at a provisional value until a real review happens. |
| Value | 0.11 | Asking price measured against the estimated fair range for comparable homes. |
| Connectivity | 0.10 | Station, employment hubs, public transport and airport access. |
| Interior | 0.09 | Kitchen, bathrooms, storage, paint and fittings. |
| Amenities | 0.09 | Weighted coverage of parking, lift, power backup, water, security, park and more. |
| Safety | 0.09 | Neighbourhood safety plus security guard, CCTV, gated access and fire provisions. |
| Society | 0.08 | Maintenance, cleanliness and common areas. |
| Future potential | 0.08 | Locality development trend, connectivity and access to work. |
HomeScore = the sum of each category score multiplied by its weight. The engine is versioned (currently v1.0) and every result stores the version that produced it, so improving the algorithm never rewrites history.
Grades
The score maps to a grade: 90+ Exceptional, 82–89 Excellent, 74–81 Very Good, 66–73 Good, 55–65 Fair, below 55 Needs Work. Reports also show where a home sits relative to other assessed homes.
Confidence is a separate number
Confidence reflects how much of the picture is actually filled in: how many questions were answered, how many documents were declared, and how many photos were provided. It moves independently of the HomeScore.
The rule that matters: supplying more self-declared information raises Confidence and never raises the HomeScore. If uploading more could lift the score itself, the score would be gameable and therefore meaningless. This is enforced in the engine and covered by its unit tests.
The Legal and documents category follows the same logic. Ticking that a document exists does not raise it; the category holds a provisional value until a real verification with a stated method, evidence and a reviewer takes place.
How the fair price range is estimated
Homtly estimates a range from the locality rate per square foot, the carpet area, the age of the property, its condition across walls, flooring, kitchen and bathrooms, its amenity coverage and its property type. The asking price is then positioned against that range as below it, within it, or above it by an approximate percentage.
This is an estimate, not a valuation. It is designed to tell you whether a price looks reasonable. It is not a certified valuation and should not be relied on for a loan, a legal process or a transaction.
The Verification Shield
Rather than one meaningless "verified" badge, Homtly uses explicit levels:
- Homtly Listed — basic information submitted.
- Homtly Profiled — property information and photos analysed.
- Homtly Document Verified — specified documents reviewed.
- Homtly Inspection Verified — physical inspection completed.
- Homtly Fully Verified — meets the complete verification protocol.
A self-serve assessment can reach Profiled. Every level beyond that requires a Homtly review with a method, evidence, a reviewer and a review date, and is never granted automatically.
Evidence provenance
Reports keep categories of evidence strictly separate: user provided, data source, AI inferred, professionally verified and official source. They are never blended, because merging a homeowner's opinion with a surveyor's finding is precisely how property claims become untrustworthy.
What the HomeScore does not claim
- It is not a guarantee of title, ownership or legal standing.
- It is not a structural or safety certificate.
- It is not a certified valuation and makes no promise about future prices or returns.
- Visual and AI assessment is informational only.