Navigation:  Customizing Jade Property Suite > Customize the Drop-down Menus

 

The drop-down menus used to enter data in a property record are based on master records that you can edit.  These lists should contain your own business terminology.

 

To change the lists used in menus:

Cautionary note:

If you delete an item in a list, this field will become blank in every property that has it selected.

So, if you spot a typing error in one of the master records, do not be tempted to delete the item. Instead, correct the error by renaming it.

 

Advice and Tips for customizing the Master Records

 

1. The Status list

Knowing the current status of a property is critical for effective use of the database. The status is also displayed on web pages, brochures, flyers, window cards and reports.

 

There are 4 essential stages in the life cycle of a property transaction that you should reflect in the Status list:

 

Each property must have a status. So, your list should include at least 1 appropriate status for each of these 4 stages.

 

The default list (before you change it) is as follows:

For Sale

Sale Agreed

Provisional

Off Market

Sold

To Rent

 

Example of a customized Status list:

For Sale

For Rent

For Lease

Under Offer

Contract Pending

Sold

Rented

Leased

To Be Confirmed

Withdrawn

Expired

 

 

2. The Markets list

This is where you define the markets that you serve. Obviously, your main market is the real estate sector.  Within that sector, you serve certain segments. The most usual segmentation is into Residential and Commercial.  If your business is highly specialized, you may need to segment in more detail.  However, for the majority of agencies, a simple, two or three-way split is the best approach.  Every agency is different.  The best way to decide on the market is to ask yourself, "how do I currently segment my customers?".

 

The default list (before you change it) is as follows:

Residential

Commercial

Land & Sites

 

When you search for a property, you will frequently use the Market along with other fields. For example, to find all residential property currently for sale in Newtown, your search would look like this:

 

Status: For Sale

Market: Residential

Location: Newtown

 

Example of a customized Markets list:

In this example, the agency has a significant market for investment properties.  With a large number of people looking for derelict properties to renovate, these customers are worth treating as a separate segment.

 

Residential

Commercial

Land and Sites

Investment

 

A typical search for investment properties for sale in Newtown would look like this:

 

Status: For Sale

Market  Investment

Location: Newtown

 

Note: A common error is to put the market value into the Property Type.  For example, it would be wrong to create a list of property types for investment properties e.g. derelict house, derelict ranch, derelict villa etc.  Instead, 'house', 'ranch' and 'villa' should appear in the Property Types list.  The Markets list should have an item called 'Investment' or 'Derelict' or 'Renovation'.  This will allow you to classify any property by combining the two:

 

Market: Investment

Type: House

 

 

3. Changing the Floors list

The naming convention for Floors (stories in a building) changes from country to country. Check that the floor level matches the description for your locality.

 

For instance, what is known as the 'Ground Floor' (level 0) in one country is called the 'First Floor' in another. The floor level is used in brochures to automatically group rooms by floor.

 

4. Changing the Image Subjects list

'Image Subjects' are used to classify property photos and graphics.  It is generally best to leave this list intact.

 

5. Changing the Closing Events list

This is your list of milestones or stages for closing a property transaction. The default list is long and should be edited to reflect the information you normally record about closing.

 

Example of a customized Closing Events list:

Listing Contract Signed

Closing Date set

Title Search Complete

Contracts Exchanged

Sale Closed

 

6. Changing the Price Types list:

This list is used to describe the value in the price field.  Each property can have its own price type.  The price type for a particular property is displayed on the default web pages and many of the printed materials e.g. Price: 200,000 or Guide Price: 200,000 etc.

 

The default list (before you change it) is as follows:

Asking Price

Guide Price

Offered At

Offers Above

Price

Price Region

Rent

Rent (Monthly)

Rent (Quarterly)

Rent (Yearly)

 

Example of a customized Price Types list:

Guide Price

Offers Above

Price

 

 

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