# Review Methodology | DFW Real Estate Review

> The full scoring rubric we use to review DFW cash home buyers and selling services — weightings, sources, and how ranks are decided.

URL: https://dfwrealestatereview.com/review-methodology/

Methodology

# Review methodology

Every company review on this site is scored against a public rubric. Below is the full weighting, the criteria, the sources, and how ranks are decided. Last updated May 2026.

## Scoring rubric (2026)

1.  **Offer transparency — 25%.** Publishing offer ranges publicly, being clear about how offers are constructed, and not burying the price under adjustments.
2.  **Fee transparency — 25%.** Whether the service fee is published in clear numbers upfront and whether all deductions (repair adjustments, closing costs, concessions) are disclosed before signing.
3.  **Quote-to-close accuracy — 20%.** How closely the initial verbal or app offer matches the final signed contract price. Sourced from reader submissions and BBB complaint patterns.
4.  **Complaint signal — 15%.** Volume, severity, and pattern of complaints across BBB, Google Reviews, Yelp (local only), TrustPilot, and the Texas Attorney General complaint database.
5.  **Closing certainty — 15%.** Contract-fallout rate, on-time closing rate, and responsiveness. A company that ghosts a lead is a company that will ghost a signed contract.

## Sources we use

-   The company's own published fee schedule, offer terms, and disclosures
-   Reader submissions of actual contracts and closing statements (anonymized)
-   BBB complaint database
-   Google Reviews (weighted by volume and recency)
-   TrustPilot and Yelp (Yelp only for genuinely local operators)
-   Texas Attorney General consumer-complaint records
-   NTREIS transaction data where the company operates as a licensed party
-   Direct communication with the company (used, but flagged as company-provided)

## How we rank

We rank buyers _within their category_ — iBuyers ranked against iBuyers, direct cash buyers against direct cash buyers, wholesalers against wholesalers, marketplaces against marketplaces. Comparing across categories is a category error and produces misleading rankings.

Category composite scores go 0-100. Companies scoring above 75 are our top picks in their category, 60-75 are conditional recommendations, and under 60 are not recommended for most DFW sellers. The specific score for each company is published on their individual review page.

## Review cadence

-   Every review is reviewed for currency monthly.
-   Every review is re-scored quarterly.
-   Material changes to a company's fee structure, coverage, or complaint pattern trigger an out-of-cycle update within days.
-   Methodology-level changes (like our May 2026 update) trigger a re-score of every reviewed company and a note at the top of each review page.

## Correction policy

If a review is factually incorrect, 

tell us

[/contact/ →](/contact/)

. We correct with a dated note in the review. If we make a substantial correction that changes the verdict, we say so clearly at the top of the page.

## Version history

-   **May 2026:** Fee transparency raised from 15% to 25%. Added quote-to-close accuracy as a separate line. Added TX AG database and TrustPilot to sources. Dropped separate "responsiveness" line item.
-   **January 2024:** Initial published rubric.

Related: 

How we make money

[/how-we-make-money/ →](/how-we-make-money/)

, 

About us

[/about/ →](/about/)

.