Searching for properties is a key business tool. This Quick Start Guide’s focus is to show you how to do a basic search inside Paragon using the various field types commonly found in Paragon systems. In this guide, you may notice some differences in how the screens look due to Paragon’s compatibility with multiple browsers. See the Browser Support Quick Start Guide for more information on compatible browsers. Also, every Paragon is set up per Board/MLS rules, guidelines and the data of listings. Your Paragon may have some differences than you see in this guide.
From anywhere inside Paragon, click on the Search button to initiate a search. On the Search dashboard, select the type of search you want to perform. For this example, we will do a Residential Property search.
The Search Criteria screens have useful tools available directly on the screens.
1. Search Tabs - Paragon allows you to have open simultaneously 1 search tab for each property class and other multi – tasking capabilities per tabs.
2. Load Search – Load existing searches (Saved Searches, Last Search Criteria, your class default search)
3. Customize Search – Add and remove searchable fields to or from the available fields container (See Customizing Searches Quick Start Guide for more details)
4. Save Search – Save a new search, update an existing search, save search with a new name (see Saving Searches Quick Start Guide for more details)
5. Open All (all Search Criteria containers) – display all fields in up to 3 search containers
6. Close All (all Search Criteria containers) – collapse all search containers
7. Count – displays the number of matches your criteria has in your Paragon database
8. Search – run the search and display the results based on the search criteria
9. Criteria Summary – displays the search fields and their search values. Values are removed by clicking on the box with an “x” or edited by clicking on the box with a pencil.
10. Available Reports – All available reports are displayed on the right hand side of the Search Criteria.
Note: When searching in Paragon, an empty field means return results with any value (including no value) in this field. When you enter any value into a criteria field, Paragon will only return results that contain that specific value. Also, all criteria have the same importance. No data field has a higher priority or precedence above any other data field.
On the Search Criteria screen you have up to 3 different containers for searchable fields Primary Criteria, Secondary Criteria and Advance Criteria are only container names. It does not mean the fields in this container are “difficult to use” or “techie” fields. It only means that the fields listed in those different containers are set in priority of use decided by your MLS. You are not obligated to only use the fields that the MLS has set up for you by Default. See the Quick Start Guide on how to customize your search templates.
In your MLS, the way you enter data may be different than what we demonstrate here, even on fields with the same name.
Inline Auto-Complete: This is available on “Look Up Fields”. A look up field is a field when the data or value you want to search for is listed in a group of values set up by your Board/MLS. For instance, Status is almost always a look up field as your Board has set the rules on what statuses/values you have to chose throughout the lifetime of your listing. Any field where you see a magnifying glass icon at the end of the field box is a look up field. You can click on the icon and it will show you all the listed values for that field and let you select the ones you want for that search. Now, the inline auto complete part of a look up field means that you can start typing some letters of the value you want for that field, into the field box itself, and Paragon will show you a list of the values that have the same letter(s) that you typed. This makes it fast and easy to load data into that search field. You can click on a value, or when it is highlighted you can hit your “tab” key or hit your “enter” key.
Statuses (click on the magnifying glass on the right side of the field) are displayed in a window that contains a tree structure. Expand or collapse each Status Category by clicking of the arrowheads. By checking the numbered status, you select all of the sub-statuses for that category. By checking the box next to each sub-status, you can individually select any number of substatuses.
- Save will save your selections and close the tool.
- Cancel cancels your selections and closes the tool.
Area and other similar search fields allow you to search for specific criteria found in a dropdown box. In the field with the word “Search”, type in some or all of the value you expect in that field. Using the dropdown box to the right, tell Paragon if the criteria you are looking for either “Begins With” or “Contains” the value you typed. Check the box next to the criteria to add it to your search. Some fields have additional groupings of data for that field and can be found under the tabs above the actual field values.
High/Low or Min/Max Fields – Range Fields:
These fields are the simplest to use. Depending on your customer home preferences, you simply fill in the minimum amount that they are looking for. A high or max that they may give you then gives you the “range” of what they want for that particular field. Price is almost always a range field with the Low/High sides of a price range. Some fields, such as bedroom, bath, garage, etc, you may only need the minimum side to satisfy their criteria. If you use the same value for both min/max, you will only get that value in your search results.
Note: Your bed, bath, garage fields possibly may not be set up as a range field. This is due to the data for the house listings in your MLS area.
Feature Search:
Allows you to refine your search beyond bedrooms and bathrooms and focus on the esthetics of the buyers’ ideal property. Using a Feature Search filters your results to “high probability” buy properties. The results have the desire features without any of the undesirable features making the results ideal properties for your buyers. Using “Must have 1 or More” is recommended for Features like “Heating” if the buyers will accept either Gas or Electric or Heat Pump – “Show if property has at least 1” in the Feature Category.
Wild-Card Searches using the * or Asterisk:
In some fields (Remarks or Zip for example) where there are no specific set of criteria values/choices set for you, only information typed (text) into the box by the Listing Agent. Words in that text can be searched, even with just a partial spelling of the word you might be looking for. That is where the wild card comes into play.
Here is a scenario example:
Your customer wants a house with a fenced yard and let’s say for your MLS and this example, the only way to search for fence is maybe the Listing Agent typed something about fences in the Remarks field. Without knowing exactly what the Agent typed, how do you search the possible many forms of the word? That is where the * comes in. You could type into the Remarks field box, fenc*, and then Paragon would look for all forms of words that have the letter string fenc. It will look for fence, fences, fenced, fencing, etc. That is the “wild-card” action. You don’t have to type exactly what the Listing Agent typed to get results.
Here is another example using Zip:
Another field your MLS may have made available to you to search by is the Map field.
This field opens a map of your area, allows you to move/zoom the map to your needs, and then gives you a choice of drawing shapes around the area desired to search for listings that are within that area and also satisfy any other search criteria used. Please check out the Quick Start Guide or video on Map Searches for more detailed instructions.
To view your results:
With your search criteria entered, click on the Search button in the upper right hand corner of the Search Criteria screen. You can edit or remove search criteria using the “X” or pencil boxes next to each criteria in the Criteria Summary container. You can directly view your results in a specific report/brochure by selecting the report in the Available Reports container below the Criteria Summary container.
Clicking Search will bring up the results from your criteria in your MLS defined default report. It is usually a spreadsheet of the listings. From there you can view them in many different reports, agent and customer facing reports, and gives you a tool bar to do other things with these listings like print or email.
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