The Affinity Index: matching the right home to the right person

A buyer visits an average of around ten properties before signing. Ten viewings, ten journeys, ten moments of hope and sometimes disappointment. That figure is not inevitable: it is above all the symptom of poorly calibrated selection, where what looks appealing in a photograph is confused with what genuinely suits a person's life. The Affinity Index was born from a simple observation: the relevance of a property cannot be read in its square metres, but in the relationship between that property and the person considering living in or buying it.

Alexandre designed the Affinity Index to answer that question differently. Not to replace the viewing — nothing replaces stepping into a hallway and hearing a home resonate — but to ensure the viewing happens at the right moment, with the right property.

What the Affinity Index is

The Affinity Index is a score out of 100. For a given buyer, it expresses how well a specific property corresponds to their situation. It is not a quality score for the property: a flat can be excellent and still show a low affinity because it simply does not match that particular buyer's circumstances.

The calculation proceeds in two stages. First, barriers: non-negotiable criteria that, if not met, exclude the property from the outset. A budget, a geographical area, a minimum size, a legal constraint. If any one of these barriers is not cleared, the property receives no score and is not put forward. This first filter prevents the buyer from being overwhelmed by results that do not belong to them.

Then, for properties that clear the barriers, five weighted pillars come into play. Their precise nature and respective weighting form part of the in-house method: Alexandre does not disclose the detail, for the same reason that a doctor does not walk through every parameter of a diagnosis before seeing you. What matters is that the result is legible, reasoned, and opens a conversation rather than closing one.

What the Affinity Index is not

The Affinity Index is not a recommendation algorithm of the kind used by the major property portals. Those work by similarity: "you looked at this, here are similar listings." They optimise time spent on the platform, not relevance to your situation.

Nor does the Affinity Index replace human judgement. Alexandre calculates it, interprets it, and above all discusses it with the buyer. A score of sixty-eight out of a hundred only makes sense when explained: which pillar carries less weight, and why, and does that actually matter to this person at this point in their life? Sometimes the pillar dragging the score down is precisely the one the buyer is willing to sacrifice. The tool reveals; the advisor illuminates.

Finally, the Affinity Index is not a promise of a quick sale or a guarantee of love at first sight. It is a precision instrument in the service of a decision that commits you for years.

What it changes for the buyer

Consider a couple: two incomes, a young child, a second one being considered. They are looking to buy between Pully and Lutry, with a tight budget and a mobility constraint — one of them does not drive. On the portals, they find forty-two listings matching their stated criteria. Forty-two potential viewings.

With the Affinity Index, the barriers first eliminate properties outside the real budget — not the figure they had in mind, but the verified budget established through the Buyer Passport, the financing capacity confirmed with documentation before any viewing. The five pillars then weight what remains, taking into account proximity to public transport, the layout of the property, and the environment of the building. Perhaps six properties remain with an index above seventy. Six useful viewings rather than forty-two approximate ones.

This takes nothing away from the emotion of discovery. It simply gives that emotion a better chance of arriving in the right place.

What it changes for the seller

A vendor putting their property on the market does not want dozens of curious visitors. They want serious buyers, financially qualified, whose plans are coherent with what is being sold. Fewer viewings, but viewings that lead somewhere.

The Affinity Index serves that goal as well. When Alexandre presents a property to the buyers in his network, he can identify those for whom the index is high and contact them first. The property is not exposed to everyone at once: it is offered first to those for whom it makes sense. This is one of the reasons why certain transactions are concluded discreetly, before a public listing ever appears.

For the seller, this presupposes one thing: that the property is priced correctly. An overpriced property will produce low affinity scores on the financial pillar for almost every buyer, regardless of how suitable the home may otherwise be. This is why the Affinity Index works best when it rests on La Juste Mesure, the detailed valuation with comparable sales listed line by line and a reasoned confidence range.

Artificial intelligence and human trust

Affinités Immobilier describes itself as the augmented agency: artificial intelligence for evidence and speed, a broker for trust. The Affinity Index illustrates that formula without exhausting it.

Computational power makes it possible to process data that the human eye cannot cross-reference as quickly: actual distances to public transport, cadastral characteristics, the history of transactions in the area. But it is Alexandre who asks the right questions at the outset — which barriers, which pillars, what weighting for this person — and who interprets the result in light of what he knows about the buyer and the local market. The tool has no sensitivity. The broker does.

Nor is this a claim of absolute neutrality. Every model reflects the choices of the person who built it. What can be guaranteed is transparency: when Alexandre presents an index, he explains what it is made of and what can make it vary depending on the situation. Not a black box, but an instrument you can hold in your hands.

The Affinity Index does not say which property is the best: it says which property fits this person best, at this moment, in this situation.

If you are looking to buy and wondering how to refine your search before organising any viewings, or if you are selling and want to understand which buyers your property genuinely suits, that is precisely the starting point Alexandre proposes to explore together. The answer depends on your situation — budget, timeline, life constraints — and that is exactly what a first conversation allows you to clarify.