Help & Guide
Complete reference for all HomeFinder features
What is HomeFinder?
HomeFinder aggregates listings from Zillow and Realtor.com, scores every property against your personal criteria using 17 weighted factors, and provides AI-powered deal analysis. Unlike listing sites that serve both buyers and sellers, HomeFinder works exclusively for the buyer — including negotiation advice, suggested opening offers, and honest assessments no listing portal would ever give you.
Features
Deal Scoring
Every listing gets a composite score (0–100) based on 17 factors you control: price, size, yard, flood risk, year built, single story, HOA, days on market, and more.
AI Deal Analyst
Click 'Analyze This Deal' on any listing. Claude writes a buyer-focused brief: strengths, concerns, negotiation leverage, and a specific dollar opening offer.
Map View
All listings on an interactive map with color-coded score markers. Click any pin for a photo, price, and link to the detail page.
Listing Data / Digest NEW
Full tabular view of all listings with every data field — sortable, filterable by flag or area, and exportable to CSV for your own analysis.
Favorites & Flags
Flag listings as ⭐ Favorite, 🤔 Maybe, or 🙈 Hidden. Filter the dashboard and table by your flags.
Notes & Visit Tracking NEW
On any listing's detail page, write private notes and check off visit status: Scheduled, Visited, Not Interested, or Made an Offer.
Tour Planner NEW
Check the houses you want to visit, tap 'Open in Google Maps,' and get a multi-stop navigation route instantly — built for phone use on driving days.
Preferences
Set your price range, must-have features, target areas, zip codes, and importance weights for all 17 scoring factors.
Understanding Deal Scores
Each listing is scored 0–100. The composite is a weighted average of 17 factor scores.
Core Factors
- Price — Lower within your range scores higher
- House Size — Larger square footage
- Yard Size — Bigger lot = higher score
- Features — Garage, porch, patio, beds, baths
- Flood Risk — Above flood plain = 100
Property Condition
- Year Built — Newer = less maintenance risk
- Single Story — One-level preferred for retirement
- Price/Sqft — Value-for-money metric
Deal Opportunity
- Days on Market — 90+ days = motivated seller
- Price Trend — Dropping price = leverage
- HOA Fee — None or low scores highest
- Property Tax — Lower annual tax = better
Location & Lifestyle
- Near Medical — Hospital/urgent care proximity
- Near Grocery — Shopping convenience
- Community Pool — Pool/clubhouse access
- Lot Ratio — Yard vs. house footprint
- Walkability — Sidewalks & walkable area
Control weights on the Preferences page. Set any factor to 0 to ignore it entirely.
AI Deal Analyst
Requires a free account. On any listing's detail page click "Analyze This Deal". The AI reads all listing data against your criteria and produces a Deal Brief:
Portfolio Analysis — filter to Favorites, then click "Analyze Favorites." The AI ranks them, finds cross-listing patterns, and picks a dark horse.
Preferences Coach — on the Preferences page, click "Analyze My Setup." Gets Charleston-specific feedback on your scoring configuration before you save.
Notes, Visit Tracking & Tour Planner NEW
My Notes (Detail Page)
Every listing has a private notes section — up to 3,000 characters. Notes autosave when you click away. Check off your visit status:
- 📅 Scheduled a Visit
- 🏠 Visited
- ✗ Not Interested After Visit
- 💰 Made an Offer
Tour Planner
Available from the Tour nav link (logged-in users). Shows all favorites and maybes with their visit status.
- Check the houses you want to visit today
- Enter your starting address (optional)
- Tap Open Route in Google Maps
- Navigate with all stops pre-loaded
Listing Data Table NEW
The Digest page is now a full spreadsheet-style view of all listings. Every data field appears as a sortable column.
- Click any column header to sort ascending/descending
- Use the flag buttons (All, New, Favorites, Maybes, Hidden) to filter rows
- Use the area buttons to filter by neighborhood
- Type in the filter box to search by address or area
- Click Export CSV to download the current filtered view for Excel/Sheets analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
Tips
- Use the Map view to find clusters of listings near your target areas.
- The DOM column in the data table is your best friend — sort by it descending to find the most motivated sellers.
- Use Export CSV after filtering to Favorites for a clean spreadsheet of just the houses you're serious about.
- Hidden listings 🙈 stay in the database — filter for them to recover anything you hid by mistake.
- Run the AI Analyst before calling your agent about a listing — the negotiation section gives you a prepared position.
- On driving days, pre-check your tour stops in the Tour Planner the night before so the route is ready on your phone.
- The Preferences Coach gives Charleston-specific advice on your setup — run it once when you first configure your weights.