If you have been shopping for a new place to call home you may have noticed that times have changed. It used to be that you would view a few photos, read the remarks and set up an appointment to see the house in person. Today, as a buyer, you can explore virtual tours, floor plans, flood maps, walkability scores, noise rankings and commute times before you ever set foot inside a home. Well, if that is not enough information, now you can explore how much sunlight a home gets during the day. We have all read the Realtor’s description of the home. They talk about how light and bright it is and how the home is flooded with natural light. Now you can verify that information. You can figure out the sun score and see if you think the home will work for you.

Where do I find sun scores?

When can you get this information? Redfin.com has launched the sun score to learn how much natural light a home received room by room and hour by hour using AI and geospatial data. To be fair, most buyer really do care about this. The amount of sunlight a home gets can impact the feel of a home. Sunlight preferences are subjective. Not everyone wants a light and bright home. Some people want a home with shade, cooler rooms, mature trees and a sense of privacy. The sun score can help these people find their perfect home too.

You can change the score

Some might say that this is going to cause buyers to over think things. You can change a homes sun score by trimming trees, opening blinds, repainting rooms to brighter colors and even improve lighting. All of these things can affect how light and bright a home is. Also, how much sunlight a home gets overall depends on a huge number of factors that have little to do with the home itself. The major factors are the climate, weather patterns, surrounding terrain, time of year and even the direction the home faces.

As a buyer today you have access to more data, rankings and scoring systems than ever before. Tools like this can be very useful, however, they might cause you to over think your decision. Make sure that you keep in mind the bigger priorities like the layout, affordability and overall fit of the home. Everyone will have preferences. The important thing to remember is no home is perfect. You can make it your own once you move in.