Web Based Software For Estate Agents

Estate Agency Database Framework

OnlineWD™ EADF is a web based database framework for estate agents. Many companies offering software for estate agents use licensed database systems, for example Microsoft SQL. Those using Microsoft SQL must charge a high fee to cover the cost of their license. An alternative is MySQL which is a free open source software solution, used by more than 90% of website developers including some big names like Yahoo!, Alcatel-Lucent, Google, Nokia, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Booking.com.

MySQL is installed by a host as well as several other software solutions. So instead of paying for software "off the shelf", you would pay OnlineWD™ for EADF. There is absolutely no difference between a MySQL database and a licensed database, both can be accessed through the internet and both can be managed locally i.e. worked on offline.

Test and try out OnlineWD™ EADF (demonstration can be accessed and tested by anyone).

Here is a brief overview of what OnlineWD™ EADF entails:

• Management of both properties to buy and properties to let

  The properties that are added as website pages are also used for administration through the use of roles and permissions. After logging in you'll be able to see a lot of content which was previously hidden from you as an anonymous visitor. Property pages are a also used for brochures, after logging in you're redirected to the Website System And Help page which has a Printing section (currently only supported for Firefox 3.5+). The beauty of this system is that the user only ever has to do anything once. After adding a property to the system, brochures and window displays are automatically created without further input from the user.

  Rooms are attached to property pages, as are the administrative sections through the use of references (please read Website System And Help for explanation of how references work). Image sizes are handled automatically by the system, simply upload a reasonably large (800px wide) and the system automatically creates the varying image sizes for both the main property pages and overview pages.

  Google maps implementation, the form for creating a property includes a section for attaching a Google map to the property page. Simply add address details and a Google map is automatically attached to the property.

• Portal feeds for all properties

  A feed quieries data from your EADF database and transforms it into a portal language. For example a google maps feed is a XLM file which is the same format used for creating RSS feeds. Rightmove uses it's own unique language, the code for creating a Rightmove feed is very complex which is why the Rightmove feed costs more than the Google Maps feed. The Rightmove feed format is used by most portal systems, Zoopla use the Rightmove format as do The Digital Property Group (FindaProperty). More than likely purchasing a Rightmove feed would be suitable for most portal systems and small tweaks can be made freely if need be.

  All feeds are 100% automated and updated on a daily basis. Your website is your central control point, adding a new property on your website today will result in that same property being listed on your chosen portals tomorrow! This is an extremely time saving and affordable feature. There is only a single one off payment for each feed and your feeds will run indefinitely so long as biannual payment continue to be made. OnlineWD™ is also able to develop new feeds, the cost for creating a different type of feed depends entirely on the amount of time it takes to create the feed.

  Rowan Properties are currently using the OnlineWD™ EADF Rightmove feed at Zoopla and TDPG. Their feed contains the two main property images, property description, room images, room dimensions, room descriptions, EPC pdf file and EPC image. Each feed is customised to suit each agent.

• Management of contacts

  Be those of type applicant, business, vendor, landlord, solicitor or surveyor. Once a contact has been added to the database they become selectable at different sections. For example after adding a contact of type Vendor, you'll be able to select that vendor when creating or editing a property. After creating a contact a printing label template is automatically created and a link to the printing label attached to the contact page after saving.

• Sale records

  A sale record is created whenever an offer is made, this type of system is often referred to as a sales pipeline. OnlineWD™ EADF handles prices and dates.

• Events

  Courtesy call, Marketing notice, Miscellaneous, Photos and measurements and Valuation events can be created relating to a property and/or a contact.

• Letters and letter templates

  Letters and letter templates can be created. To use a letter template simply create a letter template then when creating a letter select the letter template you just created. A very useful and time saving feature. There are also several hard coded letter templates which take data from property, contact and sale record pages meaning that it takes literally two clicks to create a letter. Hard coded letters can of course be customised.

  The following are hard coded letters created via contact pages.

  • Matching properties letter

  The following are hard coded letters created via property pages.

  • Appreciation letter

  • Invoice letter (Landlord)

  • Marketing instructions letter

  • Valuation letter

  The following are hard coded letters created via sale record pages.

  • Offer accepted letter

  • Offer acceptable letter

  • Offer not acceptable letter

  • Sale letter

  • Memorandum of agreed sale letter

  • Invoice letter

  Another time saving feature are the Sale record letters, for example after creating a sale letter to the purchaser, all other corresponding sale letters are automatically created and attached to the corresponding sale record. The "Create content" section explains what needs doing before certain letters can be created. To understand this more clearly, create a sale record and then read the "Create content" help text.

• Calendar

  Any content which includes a specified date is automatically added to the calendar. Navigating through the calendar is extremely easy; there are options to jump to the previous and next month and a year view with options to jump to the previous and next year. Also the year view allows a particular month within a year to be selected.

• Matching system

  While creating a contact of type applicant, property matching criteria may be specified; if specified links are created on contact pages which open relevant matching properties. A "Matching applicants" link is also automatically added to property pages. Unlike most other systems, OnlineWD™ EADF automatically stretches the margins for matching applicants to properties. For example a property costing £100.000 would have a matching price of £85.000. The matching system uses the match price instead of the actual price so that border line matches are included from which negotiations may take place; perhaps the applicant may be willing to increase their max price or the vendor willing to lower their price.

  The matching system also allows you to set the match status and letter status of a particular match. Match status consists of three options namely green, amber and red. All new matches are automatically set to green which means no action has been taken with regards to a match, amber means action has been taken yet match remains inconclusive and may require further action and red means action has been taken, match is conclusive and no further action is required. You can refer to applicant's contact page to find out what actions have taken place and you can click a traffic light icon to edit match status and letter status. Letter status is a single checkbox option, if ticked then referenced property has been included in matching properties letter and matching properties letter has been sent. The "Create content" section on a contact page includes a link to create a matching properties letter. If for example an applicant has 21 matches, simply print off the first page of a brochure for each property, add a tick to letter status for each match result and then send the 21 properties and the matching properties letter to the applicant. After editing a match you're automatically taken back to the applicant's match results so that if you wish, you may deal with the remaining matches. The matching system is again an extremely time saving feature as it prevents staff from having to log their actions and communicate their actions with other staff members. Any staff member can go to the match results for any applicant and see immediately what has been done and what may need doing.

• Comments

  Threaded conversations in the form of comments are attached to contact, event, sale record and viewing pages. Also in the Staff menu there is a Search comments link which loads all comments into a table. This functionality is extremely useful as it allows different staff members to see what comments other staff members have been making.

• Search

  There are several links in the staff menu for searching particular content. These search pages make finding and managing particular content very easy. Particularly useful is the Search comments page which immediately shows any new comments that the current user has not yet seen.

• Dynamic content

  Events, letters, viewings and sale records are dynamically attached to both property pages and contact pages. For example Valuation letter(A) references Contact(H) and Property(E), therefore Valuation letter(A) is attached to both Contact(H) and Property(E). In effect, doing only thing might in fact result in several things being done. This dynamic system saves a lot of time and creates a history of sorts for both properties and contacts.

You might also require additional functionality or wish to extend existing functionality. The beauty of OnlineWD™ EADF is that it is very flexible, additional functionality can easily be implemented and existing functionality easily customised. For example you may wish to implement an additional role for managing staff, this role could gain access to reports containing information about staff. The OnlineWD™ EADF demonstration has only one role called "staff", users are then assigned to roles and different roles can have different permissions for example the staff role grants permission to access the Staff Menu.

OnlineWD™ EADF is very much a hands on type system, it's also a system which adopts a "limited choice" approach. A good analogy would be a cash machine, before using the cash machine you know that at the end of it you will get cash even if you've never used that particular cash machine before. The steps are broken down and there is limited choice for each step. Such systems are intuitive to learn and use. Having said that, OnlineWD™ offers free support and training for those who are new to the system.

There is also the possibility to convert an existing database to OnlineWD™ EADF. A lot depends on the language adopted by the database. Don't hesitate to get in touch using the form below if you're interested in coverting an existing database to OnlineWD™ EADF.

Pricing

Payments are made by direct money transfers or PayPal. PayPal invoices can be paid with a credit card, debit card or straight from a PayPal account. First time credit card transactions through PayPal are limited to £2500, thereafter strict limits apply until an account is verified. After making your first transaction a PayPal account is created for you.

Verifying your PayPal account is extremely easy, click here for more information.

Any functionality added on to OnlineWD™ EADF incurs a one off fee which varies depending on the amount of time taken to implement additional functionality. Thereafter the biannual fee applies.

* OnlineWD™ EADF includes website hosting, domain registration, SEO, maintenance and support. Please note that OnlineWD™ EADF cannot be purchased on it's own, website MUST be purchased along with OnlineWD™ EADF. Initial payment is 30% of cost for whatever services you choose to purchase. For example if you choose to purchase only OnlineWD™ EADF and a website the cost is (£440.00 + £235.00 x 0.3 = £202.50), another 30% is payable during the build and the remaining 40% (£270) is payable when work is complete and site is ready to go live. First six month period begins when site goes live. No additional fees per office or per user. Minimum term is 12 months, a small fee for website hosting and domain registration applies if OnlineWD™ EADF services are terminated.

* WAMP installation and setup at your location on one PC. WAMP is a Windows based web server for Apache, MySQL and PHP. Having a WAMP server means that you can access your database offline which may only be necessary in an emergency, for example if there is a problem connecting to the internet. Also includes tuition and an automated backup system which sends you a new backup of your database every day.

* Hourly rate for revision work and for adding additional functionality.