Methodology

How these reports are built, and what they cannot tell you.

A working note on sources, dates and arithmetic for the Cleveland pilot. It describes the method that produced the two sample reports — it does not claim checks that have not been completed for a specific property.

Method note, 20 October 2026Cleveland / Cuyahoga County pilotNo county record retrieved for the samples yet

Source hierarchy

Three tiers, and the lowest one is ours.

Every statement in a report is tied to one of these tiers. Where the top tier is missing, the report says the item is outstanding instead of dressing a lower tier up as an official record.

01

Official county or city record

Highest weight — but only where a record was actually accessed. A county parcel, tax or transfer record, or a municipal registration record, outranks everything else. In the two sample reports no county record has been retrieved yet, so those details are shown as unverified rather than assumed.

  • County parcel and transfer records
  • Municipal registration and lead records
  • Retrieved, or stated as outstanding
02

Listing portals

Treated as claims and leads, not facts. A portal page shows what a listing asserted on a given day: asking price, stated configuration, stated rent, sale history. Useful for a dated price trail; not proof of title, condition, tax or tenancy.

  • Dated asking price and changes
  • Stated size, year and configuration
  • Never proof of condition or tenancy
03

Models and estimates

Our own arithmetic sits at the bottom of the hierarchy. Rent and expense scenarios are illustrations built from stated inputs and labelled assumptions. They are never presented as achieved performance or as a value.

  • Scenario rent and vacancy inputs
  • Illustrative expense categories
  • Never a valuation or forecast

Related portals are not independent verification. Zillow and Trulia draw on related data feeds, so two pages agreeing on a price is one source shown twice, not two confirmations. The same applies to a portal and a reposted listing sheet.

Dates

Access date is not source date.

Each reference carries the date we opened it. The date a record states about itself — a sale date, a price-change date, a tax year — is kept separate and never refreshed by our access date.

Access date

When we looked

For both sample reports, pages were opened on 20 October 2026. That is the date attached to each source. No page was re-checked afterwards, and no figure is presented as a live feed.

Source date

What the record says

A sale dated 14 November 2025, a price change dated 30 September 2026, a rent quoted for 2025: each stays at its own date. Reading it on 20 October 2026 does not make it current.

Portals may serve cached pages. A displayed status of Active is not proof that a property is available today, and a displayed price is not an executable offer. Availability and price must be confirmed directly, and that confirmation is not part of these samples.

Comparables

Screen first. Adjust only if the set can be defended.

A sale is only a comparable if it is similar on the things that drive price. Screening is written down so you can disagree with it.

  • Property type and unit configuration — a single-family house is not screened against a duplex.
  • Size — reported living area, and whether an extra room is permitted habitable area.
  • Sale date — recent enough that the market conditions are still recognisable.
  • Location — proximity and block-level differences, not just the same ZIP code.
  • Condition — renovated, dated or distressed, where that can be evidenced at all.
  • Transaction terms — arms-length, financed or cash, and whether any concession was involved.

Weak matches are excluded, not softened. In both samples, 10724 Gooding Ave is recorded for context and excluded as a direct pricing match because it is materially larger with a different unit configuration. It is not averaged in.

If the surviving set cannot carry a documented adjustment, no fair value and no ARV is produced. That is the outcome for both samples: a screening list and an open question list, not a number.

Rent

Asking rent is not achieved income.

A rent quoted in a listing is a marketing position. Income requires evidence of what a tenant actually agreed and paid.

  • Asking rent: what a listing or agent hoped to obtain, on the date stated.
  • Achieved rent: what an executed lease, rent roll or payment record shows.
  • In the samples, $1,395 (March 2026, Gooding) and $1,200 (2025, Bryant) are asking positions. Neither is treated as collected rent, and neither is used as a starting point for a return claim.
  • No lease, rent roll or payment history was reviewed for either property.

Scenario formula

The arithmetic, written out.

Both sample reports use the same formula and the same assumption set, so the only difference between the two properties is the rent input and the historic tax figure.

scheduled annual rent = 12 × monthly rent

collected rent = scheduled × (1 − 8% vacancy)

management = 10% of collected rent

maintenance = 5% of collected rent

operating surplus = collected − management − maintenance − historic tax − 1,500 − 600 − 300

capex reserve = 5% of collected rent

annual cash before financing and income tax = operating surplus − capex reserve

The result is labelled an operating surplus before financing and before any capital replacement beyond the 5% reserve. It is not a verified NOI. Every figure except the historic tax is an assumption and not a quote: insurance $1,500, owner-paid utilities $600 and compliance reserve $300 are illustrative only, and the historic tax itself is a portal figure rather than a county confirmation.

Excluded entirely: debt service, closing and acquisition costs, tax reassessment, initial or extraordinary repairs beyond any stated allowance, lease-up and tenant-placement fees, capital replacement beyond the reserve, and income tax. An unknown item is not zero.

Unknowns

Unknown is not the same as passed.

Anything not checked is written down as open. A report that lists fewer checks but is honest about them is more useful than one that implies everything was verified.

  • Distance, condition and transaction terms for each sold candidate.
  • Whether a displayed status of Active reflects today or a cached page.
  • Whether any stated rent was ever collected under an executed lease.
  • Whether a sale would trigger reassessment, or whether arrears exist.
  • Whether a bonus room is legal and permitted habitable area.
  • Whether insurance can be bound at the illustrative amount.

What the samples do not contain

  • No seller, agent or tenant was contacted for either sample.
  • No inspection, walk-through or contractor assessment was performed.
  • No lease, rent roll or payment record was reviewed, so no rent is shown as achieved.
  • No insurance quotation was obtained; insurance is an illustrative figure.
  • No county parcel, tax, arrears or transfer record was confirmed.
  • No municipal rental registration, lead-safe certificate or exemption was checked.
  • No comparable was inspected, and no arms-length terms were verified for any sale.

No market value, cap rate, guaranteed income, investment suitability or buy/sell conclusion is expressed in either sample. No compensation was received from any seller, agent or portal referenced.

Corrections

If a source is wrong, write it down.

Corrections are handled in writing, with the source and the date so the change can be traced rather than argued.

  • Send the record you rely on, including its link and the date you saw it.
  • Say which statement in the report the source contradicts.
  • Where a correction is accepted, the report is amended and the change is dated.

Written corrections: contact@lumenat.io. Please include the address and the date you saw the source.

Scope note

An informational pilot, not a regulated service.

What this is, plainly stated, including what still needs review before it is offered commercially.

  • No licence exemption is claimed. Nothing here is presented as an exempt regulated activity, and no regulated activity is being carried out.
  • Informational only. Not brokerage, appraisal, title, legal, tax or investment advice, and not a valuation or a buy recommendation.
  • The precise operating model, and the tax treatment of the service, require a launch review before it is marketed commercially.
  • Condition, title, zoning, taxes, insurance and occupancy must be verified by qualified local professionals.

Read the samples

Two reports, same method, different problems.

Each sample is a full owner-review document with a snapshot, an illustrative scenario, a stress test, comparable screening, a source register and the checks that remain open.

10728 Gooding Ave

Cleveland, OH 44108

Screening sample

Reviewed 20 Oct 2026 | Not a valuation

  • Displayed at $90,000, 3 bed / 1 bath, 1,534 sq ft, built 1920.
  • Historic asking rent of $1,395, which is not achieved income.
  • Historic annual tax of $836 is a portal figure, not county-verified.

Open the Gooding report

10617 Bryant Ave

Cleveland, OH 44108

Screening sample

Reviewed 20 Oct 2026 | Not a valuation

  • $99,500 after a price change dated 30 Sep 2026; an older card shows $106,500.
  • 2025 asking rent of $1,200 was never shown as achieved income.
  • A bonus room is not a verified fourth bedroom.

Open the Bryant report

Back to the research overview, or send a property brief to contact@lumenat.io.