Help & Guide

What is Vasly and how does it help me choose a place?

Vasly is a scoring system for choosing where to live. You list the places you're considering, rate each one against the things that matter to you (kitchen, sound, location, commute, whatever), and Vasly does the maths - totaling your points, dividing by cost, and surfacing which place gives you the most for your money.

It's a tool for the moment when you've seen four places in a weekend and they've blurred together. Instead of relying on memory or gut feel, you score each feature on the spot, and a week later your shortlist still tells you exactly why one place beat another.

Vasly works for renters and buyers, solo or with a partner. Everything's stored in your account; you can come back to a unit you saved last month and see exactly how it compared.

How do I add my first unit?

Click + New Property in the toolbar on the Properties tab. You'll get a form for the basics: building name, unit number (optional), address, square footage, monthly rent (or purchase price if you're in buy mode), term length, free months, and any amenity fees. Address autocomplete drops a pin on the map so you can see the location at a glance.

The cost fields feed Vasly's value calculation, so the more accurate they are, the better your cost-per-point comparison will be. Don't worry about getting everything in one go - you can come back and edit any unit later.

After you save, the unit appears on the Properties list. Click into it again to score it against your rating categories. That's where the real work happens.

What's the difference between rent mode and buy mode?

Rent and buy are two different decision contexts, and Vasly tailors itself to each. In rent mode you're tracking gross rent, broker fees, free months, lease term, and amenities. In buy mode you're tracking purchase price, down payment, mortgage rate, HOA fees, property tax, and closing costs. The cost-per-point calculation uses whichever applies.

The category list also changes. Buy mode adds categories that only matter when you're buying - building financials, tax abatement, subletting policy, board approval, school district, resale potential. These are hidden in rent mode so they don't clutter your form.

You set your default mode during onboarding, but you can switch it per unit when adding a new one, and you can flip between rent-only and buy-only views on the Properties tab.

How do I score a unit (the 0/1/3 system)?

Open any unit and you'll see a list of rating categories. Each one gets one of three buttons: 0, 1, or 3. 0 means missing or a dealbreaker - there's no kitchen worth using, the building backs onto a freeway, the bedroom doesn't fit a bed. 1 means average - fine, nothing to write home about. 3 means great - this is what you'd hope for and then some.

Three buckets keeps you honest. A 1-to-10 scale tempts you to give everything a 7; the 0/1/3 system forces a real call. Hover any category for the scoring guide - most have one for what counts as a 1 vs a 3, and you can edit those guides in System Settings to match your standards.

The points add up, and your total is what Vasly uses to rank units. Skipping a category leaves it un-scored - Vasly will flag the unit with an amber pill so you remember to come back.

How does cost-per-point work, and why does it matter more than rent?

Cost-per-point is total monthly cost divided by total points scored. A place that scores 60 points and costs $4,800 a month works out to $80/point. A place that scores 30 points and costs $3,000 is $100/point - cheaper headline rent, but worse value for what you're actually getting.

Two places with the same rent often have wildly different cost-per-points because one is loaded with the things you care about and one isn't. The cheapest place isn't always the best deal; the most expensive isn't always the worst. Cost-per-point cuts through both biases.

You'll see it as a column on the Properties tab and as the Best value tile on the Compare tab compass. The unit with the lowest cost-per-point is usually the best objective choice - though that's only the value angle, and the Top pick tile (highest score) sits next to it for the "best on quality alone" view.

What's a dealbreaker and how does it affect ranking?

A dealbreaker is a category you've marked as non-negotiable. If a unit scores 0 on a dealbreaker - i.e. that thing is missing or unacceptable - Vasly flags the unit with a red icon on the Properties list. Its score still appears, but the flag tells you the unit is effectively disqualified, regardless of how high it scored on everything else.

You set dealbreakers in System SettingsRating Categories, by checking the dealbreaker checkbox next to any category. In houseshare mode, each rater can have their own dealbreakers - useful when one of you can't live without a dishwasher and the other won't tolerate street noise.

The flag is advisory, not enforcement: Vasly doesn't hide the unit, just warns you. You can still pick a flagged unit if you want - sometimes the rest of the package is good enough that you'll live with the dealbreaker. But you'll see the flag and know what you're trading.

How do I add a category that matters to me but isn't in the list?

Open System SettingsRating Categories and scroll to Add custom category at the bottom. Type the category name (e.g. "Coffee shop walk", "Dog park nearby", "School catchment", "In-law suite") and click Add.

Your new category shows up in every unit's rating form alongside the built-ins, with the same 0/1/3 scoring. You can also write your own scoring guide for it - the 1-point and 3-point descriptions that appear on hover - so other raters in a houseshare understand what counts as average vs great.

The categories Vasly ships with cover the obvious ground for most apartment hunts, but the things that actually decide for you are usually the personal ones. Custom categories are how Vasly stops being generic and starts being yours.

How do I add my partner or roommates as raters?

Open System SettingsRaters and switch the toggle from Solo to Houseshare. You'll then choose how many people are rating (2 to 5) and give each one a name - "You", "Sam", "Jordan", whoever.

Once you're in houseshare mode, every unit's rating form shows a column for each rater. You can score a unit for everyone in one sitting, or split it up and let each person fill in their own column on the same shared shortlist.

Your raters are personal preferences, not separate accounts - Vasly is a single account that holds everyone's views, not a multi-user invite system. Most couples and houseshares find this is exactly what they want: one shortlist, multiple opinions, all in one place.

How does Vasly show where raters disagree?

When you're in houseshare mode, the Compare tab shows a disagreement map: a row per category, a column per rater, and the cells colored by score. A row where everyone scored 3 lights up uniformly green. A row where one rater scored 0 and another scored 3 shows up as red-and-green next to each other - that's where the conversation needs to happen.

The compass card at the top of Compare also has a Biggest gap tile when you're in houseshare. It points at the single unit where you disagree most, measured by the spread between the highest- and lowest-rating people. That's the unit most worth a second viewing or a real conversation about trade-offs.

The point isn't to argue your way to consensus - it's to surface disagreements you'd otherwise miss until you'd already moved in. Catching them early is most of the value.

What does the Compare tab show, and what's the compass?

Compare is where Vasly stops listing units and starts helping you decide. The top of the tab is the compass - three sticky tiles that summarise your shortlist from three angles: Top pick (highest score), Best value (lowest cost-per-point), and either Biggest gap (houseshare disagreement) or Just added (most recent). Each tile is clickable and opens that unit.

Below the compass, the tab shows your shortlist side by side: ratings, costs, dealbreaker flags. Use it to answer "if I had to pick today, which one and why?" - the compass gives you the headline, the rest of the page lets you sanity-check it.

The compass stays sticky as you scroll, so the answer is always one click away no matter how deep into the page you've gone.

What's the difference between Standard and Plus?

Both plans are monthly subscriptions and cover the core Vasly features - the rating system, houseshare mode, custom categories, dealbreakers, the Compare and Map tabs, sharing, all of it. They differ in how many units you can track, how many photos you can add per unit, and whether you get the AI tools.

Standard is $4.99/month and lets you track up to 10 units with up to 5 photos per unit. That's plenty for most apartment hunts - you typically narrow down before that anyway.

Plus is $14.99/month and lets you track up to 25 units with up to 10 photos per unit, and it unlocks the AI tools - virtual staging, listing import by URL, floor-plan analysis, and AI scoring insights. Worth it if you're house-hunting in a competitive market, comparing across multiple neighborhoods, or running a slow long-list (e.g. for an investment search where you're tracking the market over months).

You can switch between Standard and Plus at any time through Manage subscription in your account menu - on the web Stripe handles the proration so you only pay the difference. Canceling either plan keeps your data intact; you'll just be capped at the free limit (2 units) until you re-subscribe.

How do follow-up reminders work?

Open any unit, set a follow-up date in the Status section, and save. On iOS and Android, the Vasly app will send your phone a notification at your chosen reminder time on that date - even if the app is closed. Tap the notification to jump back into Vasly and act on the follow-up (add notes, schedule another visit, update status).

The first time you set a follow-up date, your phone asks for notification permission. If you tap "Don't Allow" you won't get reminders; you can re-enable it later in iOS SettingsVaslyNotifications. On the web there are no native notifications - the follow-up flag still shows in the Properties list, just without a phone alert.

Reminders fire in your local time. Updating the date on a unit reschedules the notification; clearing the date cancels it.

How do I change which notifications I get and when?

Open SettingsNotifications. You'll see three toggles and a reminder-time picker.

• Follow-up reminders - on by default. Turn off to stop receiving follow-up date notifications. Existing scheduled reminders are cancelled when you turn this off.
• Co-rater activity - on by default. Will notify you when a partner scores a unit you both rate. Activates in a future update; visible now so you can opt out in advance.
• Product updates and tips - off by default. We'll only email you about new features if you opt in. Required emails (verification, MFA, password reset, payment failed, account changes) are always sent regardless of this setting.

The Reminder time picker controls what hour of the day follow-up notifications fire. Default is 09:00. Switch between 24-hour (09:00) and 12-hour (9:00 AM) display using the toggle next to the picker - the actual time you pick is the same either way, it's purely how it's shown to you.

How do I delete some of my data without deleting my account?

You can selectively delete data from Vasly without closing your account. The app gives you fine-grained control - delete a single photo, a single unit, all your visit notes, or your entire shortlist while keeping your account active.

What you can delete and how:

• A single unit: open the unitmenu (three dots)Delete. A 7-day soft-delete recovery window applies; after that the unit and all its data (ratings, photos, notes, visits, follow-up dates) are permanently erased.
• All units at once: Properties tabbulk-selectDelete selected. Same 7-day recovery window.
• An individual photo: edit the unittap the photoDelete photo. Immediate, no recovery window.
• Notes or visit logs: edit the unitclear the relevant fieldSave.
• A co-rater's access and their ratings: SettingsRater linksRevoke. Removes that rater's access plus any ratings they contributed.
• Public share links you created: SettingsShare linksRevoke. Anyone with that link loses access.
• Notification preferences: SettingsNotificationstoggle off any category.
• Subscription: cancel via SettingsManage subscription. This routes to your Apple ID Subscriptions (iOS) or Google Play Subscriptions (Android). The subscription stops at the end of your current paid period; your account stays active but reverts to the free trial unit limit.

Before any large deletion, export your data: SettingsAccountExport data downloads a JSON file containing everything Vasly has on you. Save it somewhere, then delete what you need.

What happens to deleted data:

• Soft-deleted units (7-day recovery window): the data lives in a recoverable trash within your account. After 7 days, it's permanently erased.
• Deleted photos, notes, visit logs: immediately and irreversibly removed.
• Revoked rater / share links: the link is invalidated immediately; the recipient loses access immediately.
• Cancelled subscription: subscription record is retained for tax/accounting (anonymised after 30 days), but your account stays active with free-trial limits.

If you can't delete data through the app (e.g. you're locked out of your account, or you need bulk deletion that the UI doesn't support), email hello@vasly.app from the email address on your account. We respond within 1 business day to verify and process the request manually.

To delete your entire account instead of just some data, see How do I delete my Vasly account and all my data?

How do I delete my Vasly account and all my data?

You can delete your Vasly account at any time. Doing so permanently removes your account, every unit on your shortlist, all your ratings, all photos you uploaded, your visit logs, follow-up reminders, and any sharing links you created.

Self-service (recommended):

1. Sign in to Vasly on web (vasly.app/app) or in the iOS / Android app.
2. Open SettingsAccount.
3. Click Delete account.
4. Confirm by typing the requested confirmation phrase.

Deletion is immediate and irreversible. The next time you sign in, the email is treated as a fresh signup - your prior data cannot be recovered.

If you can't sign in: Email hello@vasly.app from the address associated with your account. We respond within 1 business day to verify your identity and process the deletion manually.

What is deleted: your name, email, account ID, every unit you added, all ratings (yours and any co-raters' ratings on your units), all photos, all notes, all visit logs, all follow-up dates, all share links you generated, your notification preferences, your subscription status, and your push notification token.

What is retained, and for how long:

• Audit log entries for security and fraud prevention (sign-in events, premium grants, IAP receipts) - retained for 90 days, then automatically purged.
• Anonymised purchase records (tier purchased, amount, date - with no personally-identifying fields) - retained indefinitely for tax compliance and accounting. These cannot be linked back to you.
• Server logs and visitor analytics (IP-derived country code, page hit counts) - these are not linked to your account in the first place, so they are not affected by account deletion. Logs naturally roll over after 30 days.

What is NOT retained: your name, email, your unit data, your ratings, your photos, your subscription identity, or any data that could be used to re-identify you.

How do I turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)?

Go to Settings → Two-factor authentication and tap Set up authenticator app. Add the shown key to an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, etc.), enter the 6-digit code it generates to confirm, then save the one-time backup codes somewhere safe.

After that, when you sign in you can enter the code from your authenticator instead of waiting for the emailed code. The emailed code always still works too, so a lost or reset phone can never lock you out - and each backup code works once if you need it.

To turn it off, return to the same screen and enter a current authenticator or backup code. If you lose access entirely, contact support and an admin can reset it for you (you keep email sign-in either way).

What are API keys and how do I create one?

API keys let you reach your Vasly data programmatically - from a script, a spreadsheet tool, or an integration - without signing in through the app each time. They live under Settings → API & Developer.

Tap New API key and name it. You'll get a Key ID (like a username) and a Secret (like a password) - copy the secret immediately, as it's shown only once. Use them together as keyId:secret in the X-Api-Key header, for example GET /api/v1/orgs/<your-org-id>/properties. Your organisation id is shown on the same screen.

A key carries the same access as your account, so keep the secret private. You can revoke a key any time from the list - anything using it stops working immediately.