TRUE CRAFT SCORE
The True Craft Method

The True Craft
Score™

One number that tells you how ready, and how risky, a property is before you commit a dollar.

What it is

Your site assessment, in one number.

Every LIHTC rehab needs a Capital Needs Assessment: a thick report on what's broken and what it costs. Useful, but it won't tell you whether to bid, or how this deal compares to the last one.

The True Craft Score will. We take the same field work, score it across six pillars, and boil it down to one number from 0 to 100 with three clear bands. One page, comparable across every deal, and every point backed by a published rubric.

82 / 100
Build-Ready
How it's calculated

Built on the standards the industry already trusts.

Every score starts from the same field work a Capital Needs Assessment requires: a walk-through aligned to ASTM E2018, a document review, and a full systems evaluation. We score each pillar against a published rubric, weight it by its impact on the deal, then deduct by severity using the same “Life-Threatening / Severe / Moderate / Low” language HUD's NSPIRE inspections use. The result is one number, three bands, and six bars that show exactly where it came from.

01

Assess

ASTM E2018 walk-through, CNA-grade systems review, and accessibility audit on site.

02

Score

Each of six pillars rated 0–100 against the rubric, then weighted into the headline number.

03

Band

The score lands in one of three bands: a clear go, caution, or reposition signal.

04

Bid

The scorecard ships with your scope of work, ready for the bid table and your lender.

The six pillars

Every pillar traces to a recognized standard.

No black box. Each pillar measures something an agency, lender, or investor already cares about, and carries a fixed weight in the final score.

  • 25%

    Physical Condition & Systems

    Roof, envelope, HVAC, plumbing and electrical, plus the remaining useful life of each.

    CNA · ASTM E2018
  • 20%

    Code & Accessibility

    Compliance gaps and required critical repairs under fair-housing and accessibility law.

    FHA · UFAS · ADA · 504 · NSPIRE
  • 15%

    QAP Alignment

    State design standards, minimum per-unit rehab, and threshold requirements for the credit.

    State QAP
  • 20%

    Scope & Cost Certainty

    How fully the scope of work is defined and how much contingency risk remains in the bid.

    True Craft SOW
  • 10%

    Energy & Sustainability

    Efficiency baseline and upgrade upside against green standards and utility allowances.

    Enterprise Green Communities · LEED · NGBS
  • 10%

    Schedule & Constructability

    Feasibility of the 9–12 month turnaround, phasing, and tenant-in-place complexity.

    True Craft Delivery
Reading the score

Three bands, one clear signal.

80–100

Build-Ready

Strong fundamentals. Scope and risk are well understood. Move to bid with confidence.

60–79

Conditional

Viable with attention. Specific pillars carry cost or compliance risk worth pricing in early.

Below 60

Reposition

Significant physical, compliance, or scope risk. Re-underwrite or restructure before bidding.

A sample scorecard

What you actually receive.

One page, delivered with your scope of work: the number, the band, and the six bars behind it.

82 / 100
Build-Ready

Sample Property

96 units · built 1974 · acquisition-rehab · 4% LIHTC + tax-exempt bonds

  • Physical Condition & Systems80
  • Code & Accessibility71
  • QAP Alignment92
  • Scope & Cost Certainty85
  • Energy & Sustainability79
  • Schedule & Constructability90

Wondering what your property would score?

Send us the address. We'll walk the site, run the rubric, and hand you a True Craft Score with your scope of work.

Get Your Property Scored