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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. 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, About us.