About
The homebuying reference that shows its work
CandidCost turns public government data into consumer homebuying tools — with every number sourced and every claim receipted. This page is who we are, how the numbers are made, and why we can afford to be neutral.
Every number has a source
Each figure traces to a public government dataset — HMDA, FRED, Census, NAIC, FEMA, Fannie Mae — with the publisher, vintage, and a link shown on the page.
Every claim has a receipt
Data ingests and methodology versions are written to an append-only, externally anchored ledger. Anyone can verify a figure has not been changed since publication.
Education only, never advice
We explain the math and the benchmarks. We never tell a specific person what to do — no directives, no verdicts, no individualized recommendations.
No lender money, ever
We earn no lender revenue, take no referral or placement fees, and transmit no consumer contact information to lenders. That is what lets our numbers stay neutral.
Who operates CandidCost
CandidCost is a product of Vaspera Capital, an AI product studio founded by Ryan Colkitt. Despite the name, Vaspera Capital is a technology and research firm — it builds process-traceable software and is not a lender, broker, or mortgage company. CandidCost is the consumer-facing proof of the studio’s thesis: that data and software can show their work and let anyone verify it.
We say this plainly because transparency about who stands behind a money-related site is part of earning trust. There is no lender, no advertiser, and no referral partner in the room when a CandidCost number is produced.
How the numbers are made
Every figure on the site is computed from public U.S. government data and labeled with its source, methodology version, and the date it was retrieved. Benchmarks suppress thin samples rather than publish a shaky number. Calculations are governed by versioned, published methodologies and pinned by tests, so the math is reproducible.
Each data ingest and methodology change is recorded on an append-only, externally anchored ledger. The How We Know page details the source hierarchy, the ledger, and the independent verifier.
Corrections & contact
We publish corrections as corrections. Because the ledger is append-only, nothing is quietly edited — a fix is a new, dated entry, and the history stays intact. If you spot a figure that looks wrong, tell us and we will trace it to its source and correct it in the open.