What a strong deal score means on BidWise (and what not)

On BidWise, a strong deal means one specific thing: a deal score of 75 or higher. The score is a formula, and 75 is the point where the projected margin on a scored parcel is wide enough to absorb ordinary surprises. It is a signal about money, not a verdict on the title, the occupant, or the condition of the inside of the house.

The 75-point bar is a fixed line, not a mood

The scale runs from 0 to 100, and the strong-deal threshold sits at 75. It is the same number in all five covered counties: DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, and Richmond. Nothing about the label is relative to the rest of a cycle, so a thin list does not promote a 68 into a strong deal, and a crowded one does not demote an 80.

Two things follow from that.

• A score below 75 is not a bad parcel. It is a thinner projected margin, which usually means less room between your bid and the point where the deal stops working.
• A score at or above 75 is not permission to skip diligence. It says the money looks right on the inputs the formula had.

A score is also not produced for every line on a county list. BidWise analyzes each parcel it finds there, but only the homes it can price from comparable sales receive a score. Commercial and multi-family property, vacant land, homes with too few comparable sales, and parcels the guardrails screen out as NO BID show the county's own figures instead, so there is no 75 to clear in the first place.

What the 75 actually measures

The formula is arithmetic you can follow end to end. It starts from the after-repair value drawn from comparable sales, then subtracts estimated rehab, taken from square footage and the year the structure was built, plus legal and closing costs, carrying costs, and selling costs. What survives those subtractions is the projected margin, and the margin is what maps onto the 0-to-100 scale.

So a 75 is a statement about one spread: what the house could be worth repaired against what it costs to get there, your bid included.

A scored parcel also carries calculation notes and a confidence indicator. The confidence indicator answers a different question, which is how much comparable data stood behind the estimate. A high score built on thin comparable data is an instruction to verify, not a better buy than a 76 built on a deep set of sales. How to read your BidWise deal score walks through both readings.

What the bar deliberately does not measure

Every input in the formula is a price. None of them is a legal opinion. The 75 bar says nothing about:

• Title risk. A Georgia tax sale does not extinguish every interest in a property. Some liens and claims can survive the sale or carry their own redemption rules, and the formula does not read the chain of title. Title searching a tax deed property is the short version of the work the score cannot do for you.
• Occupancy and possession. During the redemption period the holder of a tax deed generally does not have the right to take possession, which stays with the owner or occupant. Who is in the house, and what it would take for that to change, sits outside the score. Ask a Georgia real-estate attorney about your parcel.
• The interior. Rehab is estimated from square footage and year built, not from a walkthrough. You will most likely never have been inside the house before you bid.
• Whether redemption happens. A tax deed has two ends: it is redeemed, and you receive what you paid at the sale plus the premium, or it is not, and you move toward barment and usually quiet title. The score does not predict which one you get.

Why a strong score still needs title work

Winning a parcel in Georgia hands you a redeemable tax deed, not finished title. The former owner, and other parties holding an interest in the property, have a 12-month right of redemption running from the date of the tax sale. If they redeem, they pay the amount paid at the sale plus a redemption premium of 20% of that amount for the first year or fraction of a year, and 10% for each additional year or fraction of a year. Taxes the purchaser pays after the sale, and certain allowed costs, are recoverable extras, though the exact items vary case by case.

The premium is flat rather than an interest rate: the same 20% whether redemption lands in the first week or the eleventh month. The redemption calculator runs that math for a given bid.

Until the right of redemption is barred, or title ripens by prescription, what you hold is a defeasible tax deed rather than insurable title. The formula does carry an allowance for legal and closing costs, which is not the same thing as a title search. An allowance is a budget line; the search is what tells you whether that budget is anywhere close to right. A 90 with an unexpected survivor on the chain can cost more than a 70 with a quiet one.

A strong deal is not a Top Deal

These are two labels, not one, and they are not interchangeable. A strong deal is the 75-or-higher bar described here. The Top Deal count shown on a county index is a different and stricter measure, so a county can carry more strong deals than Top Deals. Reading one number as the other will make a cycle look better or worse than it is. The Georgia tax sales hub lists each covered county with its own analyzed figures and the analysis date behind them.

How to use the bar on auction day

Treat 75 as a triage line.

1. Sort by score to decide where your limited diligence hours go, then read the calculation notes and the confidence indicator before trusting any single number.
2. Do the title work, or pay someone to do it. The score has no opinion on liens.
3. Set a walk-away number from your own figures and keep to it. How to set your max bid covers the discipline part, which is where strong deals are most often lost.
4. Re-check the parcel against the county's official notice before you bid. Counties amend their lists, the analysis is redone when they do, and the county page prints the analysis date it used.

Scored parcels are part of the paid analysis; plans and the 14-day free trial show what each tier includes.

Frequently asked questions

What score counts as a strong deal on BidWise?

A deal score of 75 or higher counts as a strong deal. The scale runs from 0 to 100 and the bar is fixed, so it does not move with the size or quality of a county cycle. A score under 75 is not a bad parcel; it signals a thinner projected margin between your bid and the point where the numbers stop working.

Is a strong deal the same as a Top Deal?

No. A strong deal is the 75-or-higher threshold. The Top Deal count that appears on a county index is a different and stricter measure, so a county can carry more strong deals than Top Deals. Treating the two as one number will make a cycle look better or worse than it actually is, so read each label for what it measures.

Does a strong deal score mean the title is good?

No. The score is priced arithmetic: after-repair value from comparable sales, minus rehab, legal and closing costs, carrying costs, and selling costs. It does not read the chain of title. A Georgia tax sale does not extinguish every interest, and some liens and claims can survive it, so title work and a Georgia real-estate attorney remain your job.

Which parcels get a deal score and which do not?

Only the homes that can be priced from comparable sales receive a score. Commercial and multi-family property, vacant land, homes with too few comparable sales, and parcels the guardrails screen out as NO BID show the county's own figures instead. That is deliberate: a score built without enough comparable sales behind it would look precise while telling you very little.

What happens to a strong deal if the owner redeems?

You get money rather than a property. The former owner, and other parties holding an interest, have a 12-month right of redemption from the date of the tax sale. A redeeming party pays the amount paid at the sale plus a flat premium of 20% for the first year or fraction of a year, and 10% for each additional year or fraction of a year, plus certain recoverable extras.

Georgia tax sales convey a redeemable tax deed, not clear title. Every figure in BidWise is an estimate produced from public records and comparable sales — not an appraisal, and not investment, legal, or tax advice. Confirm every parcel against the county's official notice, and talk to a Georgia real-estate attorney before you bid.