Hard criteria exclude
Budget, transaction type, area and minimum capacity are often real boundaries. A property outside them should not rank highly because a text model finds similar words.
Hard criteria are therefore assessed separately and protect candidate quality.
Soft preferences add nuance
Light, character, a quiet street, outdoor space or room to work are rarely binary. They should influence without eliminating an otherwise strong match.
Semantic signals help as long as the broker can see which profile and property details created the link.
Intent changes priority
Two identical profiles can have different urgency. A lost offer, imminent move or recent response may deserve different follow-up from a dormant profile.
Intent may prioritise the list, but should not silently rewrite housing criteria.
Feedback improves the system
The broker must be able to reject with a useful reason: budget too tight, wrong neighbourhood, no appetite for renovation or stale timing. That feedback refines future proposals.
The score is not the decision. It is a compact entry point to the reason, uncertainty and next human action.