How We Score Properties
Every property gets a 0-100 opportunity score based on four weighted pillars. Stop guessing which deals to pursue — let data decide.
The Four Scoring Pillars
Each pillar captures a different dimension of deal quality. Together, they give you a single number that tells you where to focus.
Distress
How motivated is this owner to let the property go?
- Years tax delinquent — the single biggest factor in the score
- Tax owed as a share of property value
- Deceased owner, heir signals, IRS lien, code violations
- Bankruptcy history
Deal Economics
If you get it, is there money in it?
- Equity position — value against what is owed
- Estimated property value
- Property type and its buyer pool
- Legal description on file, so title work is possible
Acquisition Complexity
How hard is this deal to actually close? Simpler scores higher.
- Owner count — one owner is simplest
- An individual owner rather than an entity
- Clean title: no IRS lien, liens, judgments or code violations
- Heir situation already researched, and no bankruptcy block
Timeline Pressure
Is there a clock on it?
- Days until the tax sale — under 30 is maximum urgency
- How long the delinquency has been running
- Tax-sale-eligible status, even with no date set
A Worked Example
The pillars above are the theory. Here is one property carried all the way through the arithmetic, from raw county fields to a letter.
The property below is row 5 of the CSV import template we ship — the same file you can download here. It is sample data, not a real listing. Every score, weight and grade on this page is produced by the scoring function that grades your pipeline, run against those exact values, so you can check our arithmetic against your own row.
Step 1 — The property
- Address
- 555 Interstate Highway 35
- County
- Travis
- Owner
- Robert Johnson Estate
- Estimated value
- $410,000
- Tax owed
- $67,000
- Years delinquent
- 10
Step 2 — Score each pillar, then weight it
Each pillar is scored 0–100 on its own, then multiplied by its weight. The four weighted results are the composite.
| Pillar | Score | Weight | Points added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distress | 35 / 100 | × 35% | 12.25 |
| Deal Economics | 82 / 100 | × 30% | 24.60 |
| Acquisition Complexity | 57 / 100 | × 25% | 14.25 |
| Timeline Pressure | 30 / 100 | × 10% | 3.00 |
| Composite | 54.10 → 54 | ||
54 composite → grade A (High Priority). Scored at 50% confidence — a sample import row carries the county fields only, with none of the research results the scorer also reads, and the confidence figure reports that gap rather than hiding it.
Step 3 — What the scorer actually saw
These are the scorer’s own reasons, verbatim. A sample import row carries the county fields only, so where the file has no column to read the scorer records that it found nothing — which is not the same as having checked. Those lines are separated out below rather than listed as findings. The case detail screen breaks down the same four pillars, at the same weights, for every property in your pipeline. Signals that disqualify a deal outright are covered under Deal Breakers below rather than scored here.
Distress
35 / 100Tax delinquency depth, years owed, and amount
- 10 years tax delinquent
Deal Economics
82 / 100Equity signals and estimated property value
- Property valued at $410,000
- Good equity — taxes under 25% of value
- Legal description available — title work possible
Acquisition Complexity
57 / 100Heir signals, deceased owners, and title complexity
- Single owner — straightforward acquisition
- Entity owner — need to find decision-maker
Not checked in this file: heirship complications. The sample import carries the county fields only.
This pillar’s score also reflects a disqualifying-signal check covered under Deal Breakers below rather than listed here — so these bullets are not the whole of the 57.
Timeline Pressure
30 / 100Tax sale deadlines and foreclosure urgency
- 10 years delinquent — county action likely
Step 4 — Why this one and not that one
The weakest row in the same file, 789 County Road 100 in Bexar, comes out at 41 — grade C, 4 points below the next-grade threshold of 45. Here is where the 13-point gap comes from.
| Pillar | 555 Interstate Highway 35 | 789 County Road 100 | Composite points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distress (35%) | 35 | 5 | +10.5 |
| Timeline Pressure (10%) | 30 | 3 | +2.7 |
| Deal Economics (30%) | 82 | 81 | +0.3 |
| Acquisition Complexity (25%) | 57 | 57 | 0.0 |
Distress decides it. Distress is 30 points apart, and at a 35% weight that alone is 10.5 of the 13-point gap — every other pillar combined moves the composite by 3.0. That is what the grade is telling you to act on — tax delinquency depth, years owed, and amount — not which property photographs better.
Letter Grades
The composite score translates to a letter grade for instant visual prioritization. These are the exact cut-offs the scorer uses — the worked example above landed at 54:
Score 53–100 — High Priority
Pursue first. Strong signals across distress, economics and simplicity.
Score 45–52 — Good Opportunity
Worth regular outreach. Solid potential — read the breakdown to see which pillar is holding it back.
Score 0–44 — Worth Investigating
Lower priority, or not enough data yet. Scores move as enrichment fills in.
Deal Breakers
A deal breaker overrides the arithmetic. If one is present the property is graded C no matter how high the composite came out, because the deal cannot be closed on normal terms. These are the exact conditions, each with the wording the product itself uses when it raises one:
Active bankruptcy
Active bankruptcy — automatic stay prevents property transactions until resolved
The automatic stay bars acquiring, foreclosing on, or pressing the owner while the case is open. Until it resolves there is no deal to work, however good the numbers look.
Environmental contamination
Environmental contamination detected — high remediation risk
Superfund sites, brownfields and toxic releases carry remediation liability that can exceed the value of the parcel.
Government-owned property
Government-owned property — not acquirable through standard channels
Property held by a county, city, state or school district is not acquirable through the ordinary tax-sale channels.
Government or public entity owner
Government/public entity owner — not a typical acquisition target
Same outcome, caught from the owner name rather than the ownership type.
What's NOT a deal breaker: IRS liens and heir complications reduce the Acquisition Complexity score but don't kill the deal — experienced investors handle both regularly. The score reflects the added difficulty; deal breakers are reserved for situations that cannot be worked at all.
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