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What Re-lo's Deal Score actually measures

April 28, 2026 · 6 min read · Re-lo Editorial

Every Re-lo listing page shows a Deal Score from 0 to 10. Here's what's actually under the number.

The eight axes

1. Financial (1.4× weight) — Price-per-sqft vs. local median, adjusted by strategy. Wholesale gets a discount bonus because off-market inventory typically trades 10–20% below comp. 2. Financing flex (1.3×) — How flexible the acquisition structure is. Subject-to and assumable score highest (lock in below-market rates). Conventional scores lowest (you're at today's rates with no special advantage). 3. Location (1.2×) — A-tier metros (Tampa, Miami, Orlando) score higher than B-tier (Jacksonville, Naples, Sarasota, Ft. Lauderdale) by ~1.2 points. Within metro, we'll add neighborhood granularity once enough sold-comp data backs it up. 4. Safety (1.1×) — Inverse-risk. Assumable loans (formal lender approval, no due-on-sale exposure) score highest. Wholesale (as-is sale, tight inspection windows, distressed-seller variability) scores lowest. 5. Lifestyle (1.0×) — Walkability and amenity-proximity proxy. Drawn from OpenStreetMap data; will become AI-narrative once Phase D ships. 6. Family (1.0×) — Bedroom count + lot frontage as family-fit signal. 3+ beds in a sub-100-ft lot scores best for in-town families; 4+ in a 100+-ft lot scores best for outer-ring families. 7. Rental potential (1.0×) — Gross monthly rent / purchase price. We benchmark against the "1% rule" (1% of price = monthly rent) as the strong-yield threshold. Florida averages 0.55–0.7% gross monthly. 8. Data confidence (0.6×) — How well-documented is the listing. Number of populated feature fields + presence of mortgage data. Low-confidence listings get a small penalty so users know "this number is noisier than the score implies."

What we don't score (yet)

  • Climate risk. Florida hurricane exposure varies enormously block-to-block. We'd rather link to First Street's free tools than fake a number.
  • HOA quality. HOA-related drama is one of the biggest post-purchase regret drivers in Florida. We don't have good data on HOA dysfunction yet; the Costs panel surfaces dues, not governance.
  • School quality at granular level. GreatSchools API would change this; we're evaluating cost vs. coverage.
  • Crime. We've intentionally avoided this for two reasons: (1) reliable longitudinal crime data is hard to get accurately, and (2) crime data has well-documented fairness issues. We'll surface it when we can do it responsibly.

Bands

  • 8.6+ Elite opportunity — strong on most axes, no fatal weakness. Top 8% of inventory.
  • 7.6–8.5 Strong fit — clear positives, minor weaknesses. Most "great deal" listings.
  • 6.6–7.5 Solid — average for the market, no red flags.
  • 5.6–6.5 Watch carefully — at least one axis is weak; do extra due diligence.
  • Under 5.6 Below bar — we'd suggest looking at alternatives.

What it's NOT

The score is a heuristic. It's not investment advice. It's deliberately simple math against a small number of plausibly-causal axes. When the AI deal-memo generator ships in Phase D, the score will be paired with a written rationale and grounded against real sold-comp data; until then, treat the number as a rough triage signal, not a recommendation.