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HOW IT WORKS · THE SIX-STEP RUN

One research run, six honest steps.

From the packet you send to the watch rules that stay on after delivery — this is exactly what happens to a site inside RealClear, stage for stage. No step is decorative, and every step can stop the memo.

STATION · THE RUN

What happens to a site, stage for stage.

STEP 1 OF 6
THE PACKET
You give us the site.

An address, a parcel number, coordinates, a dropped pin — or the boundary you draw, with live acreage as you draw it. An address is a point; a drawn boundary is a site.

Add the intended use and the scale in your vertical's own units — megawatts for a data center, units for multifamily, square feet for retail — plus whatever is already in the deal file. Everything else is derived from the public record.

STEP 2 OF 6
THE PULL
We pull the public record.

First, the jurisdiction resolves. A jurisdiction we haven't deep-mapped yet is never rejected — an unmatched address triggers its own dedicated research run before anything is written.

Then five research layers read the record in parallel — a zoning reader, a pathway mapper, a community sentinel, a comparable analyst, and a report writer — with live research from the open web, plus a geographic scan of the overlays that govern the site itself.

ORDINANCE · zoning codes + use tablesMINUTES · agendas + hearing minutesDOC · staff reportsPRESS · local reportingCOMPARABLES · researched fights
STEP 3 OF 6
THE REGISTER
Every claim gets a source — or gets held.

Findings land in a risk register where every row is source-linked. The citation gate is mechanical: a claim without a cited source is blocked from delivery, and the claims the recommendation leans on are re-verified against their sources.

A gap in the record is flagged, never guessed. And if a load-bearing check fails, the memo is held, not shipped — the honest hold is the feature, not the failure.

STEP 4 OF 6
THE MATH
The finding is priced.

Market benchmarks are sourced and cited, then the deal arithmetic is computed deterministically — finding → calendar → carry — with a sensitivity band for when the same finding surfaces later.

Grounded figures cite their source. Anything ungrounded is labeled illustrative — the exhibit says so on its face.

STEP 5 OF 6
THE BAND
The recommendation is computed, last.

Advance, Monitor, Hold, or Kill — computed from the cited risk register, with a guard that keeps the score and the recommendation consistent. It is never written first and justified after.

The band leads; the score is subordinate. Read the band, not the number.

STEP 6 OF 6
THE WATCH
The record keeps moving. We keep watching it.

When separately contracted, configured-source review follows the sources, cadence, review policy, and delivery channels in the order form.

WATCH · agendas + minutesWATCH · notices + staff reportsWATCH · ordinance changesWATCH · local news + litigationWATCH · comparablesWATCH · utility filings (data centers)
STATION · THE MEMO, ANNOTATED

Claim → citation → the paper itself.

What you're looking atOne claim from the worked example, traced from the sentence to its citation to the shelf of paper behind it — every claim in a delivered memo carries this anatomy.
The claim — one sentence in the memo

“The parcel sits inside a discretionary CUP district — a conditional-use permit path, not by-right.”

The citation — attached to the sentence
↗ Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance · district map + permitted-use table
THE SOURCE SHELF · BEHIND THE CITATION
ORDINANCE · zoning district + use tableMINUTES · two recent hearingsUTILITY · service territory filingGAP · available MW — flagged, not guessed
SOURCE REGISTER · SHOWING 12 OF 47 — THE FULL REGISTER RIDES WITH THE MEMOGAPS FLAGGED, NEVER FILLED IN

✳ analyst's note — the memo tells you it is showing 12 of 47 sources — the depth is disclosed, not implied.

STATION · THE HOLD

Sometimes the memo doesn't ship. That's the feature.

A research tool that always answers is a research tool you cannot trust.

A memo that cannot stand behind its band is held, not shipped — missing controlling evidence, an uncited claim, or a failed load-bearing check — each one stops delivery on its own. You are told the memo is held and why; a confident-sounding guess never leaves the building.

STATION · QUESTIONS

Asked before the first packet, answered on the record.

How do I give you the site?

Five ways, all live: an address, a parcel number (APN), coordinates, a dropped pin, or a boundary you draw on the map with live acreage. Add the intended use and the scale in your vertical's own units — megawatts for a data center, units for multifamily, square feet for retail — and whatever is already in the deal file.

How fast does the memo arrive?

After access approval and property submission, the site-memo queue targets 24 hours. Delivery timing and notification channels are confirmed during onboarding.

What does the memo include?

A recommendation band (Advance, Monitor, Hold, or Kill) with a subordinate feasibility score, a source-linked risk register, the entitlement path with its veto points, community posture from the local record, comparable outcomes, deal arithmetic, the source register, and the watch rules provisioned at delivery.

What if my jurisdiction isn't deeply mapped yet?

It is never a rejection. An unmatched address triggers its own dedicated research run before the memo is written, and all 50 states are already covered at the state and federal layer. See The Record for the full coverage story.

How do you keep the claims honest?

Mechanically. A claim without a cited source is blocked from delivery; the claims the recommendation leans on are re-verified against their sources; and a memo that cannot stand behind its band is held, not shipped. Five gates in total — each one can hold the memo on its own, documented on The Record.

Does this replace my attorneys and consultants?

No — and it is not legal advice. The memo is the decision gate before deep diligence: it hands counsel, civil, utility, and the local team a cited head start and names the exact questions each lane still has to answer. Verify independently before making investment decisions.

What happens after the memo is delivered?

Configured-source monitoring can be separately contracted after delivery. Its sources, cadence, review, and delivery channels are fixed in the order form.

Six steps. One cited memo.

After access approval and property submission, the site-memo queue targets 24 hours.