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.PL 77 REAL ESTATE SYSTEM ------------------ USER MANUAL MicroServices Harborside, ME 04642 (207) 326-4847 Copyright 1984 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE ------- First of all, thank you for considering our products. We are committed to providing our customers with prompt answers to their questions and advice about the use of our products. We encourage you to call us. It has been our experience that people learn how to use new software products in many different ways. Factors such as prior computer experience, time constraints, availability of help, ease of product, etc. will probably effect how you will learn to use the Real Estate System. Keeping in mind these differences, we have developed this manual, as well as the entire system, so that you may choose from several different learning approaches. For example, if you have the time, you might choose to read the entire manual and then try the hands-on demonstration. Or you might feel that the hands-on demonstration is not worthwhile and immediately begin to use the system. Another approach would be to scan Sections A through D, read the first subsection of Section E and then either read through or try the hands-on demonstration. Since the functions described in Section E work virtually the same, you need only be familiar with one to understand the remainder. This approach is the fastest. Whatever approach you follow, we would recommend the following: - Don't skip Section D (HOW TO GET STARTED) - While reading Section E (HOW EACH REAL ESTATE SYSTEM FUNCTION WORKS), use Appendices D (SAMPLE REPORTS) and E (SAMPLE SCREENS) to help you visualize what is going on. - Call us for answers to your questions. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SECTION A. WHAT IS THE REAL ESTATE SYSTEM ? 1 SECTION B. DEFINITION OF TERMS 2-3 SECTION C. GENERAL OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS 4-5 SECTION D. HOW TO GET STARTED 6 SECTION E. HOW EACH REAL ESTATE SYSTEM FUNCTION WORKS 1. Property Listings 7-12 2. Record of Sale 13-16 3. Agent File 17-21 4. Reports 22-25 5. Year-End Processing 26 APPENDIX A. Hands-On Demonstration 27-32 B. Making a Periodic Backup of Your Master Files 33-34 C. Definition of Screen Fields 35-41 D. Sample Reports 42-47 E. Sample Screens 48-76 F. RES User Group 77 ii SECTION A. WHAT IS THE REAL ESTATE SYSTEM ? First off, let's refer to the Real Estate System as 'RES'. Now, just what is RES? RES is a computer software system developed to assist the "typical" real estate office to store and retrieve information about properties for sale, pending and closed sales as well as details about your agents. RES also provides a selection of reports that you will find helpful. BUT I'M NOT A TYPICAL REAL ESTATE OFFICE ! That's right, no one seems to be and that's the problem with most computer software systems. For example, if you are using a Multiple Listing Service, you might find it a bother to enter all the details of a property listing in RES. Does that mean RES isn't for you ? Quite the contrary. RES has been developed so that you can choose NOT to use all of its functions...only those that make sense for you. Other problems often encountered with software systems developed for the "typical" real estate office are that they may not store information in a manner that you like or provide reports that you need. In order to overcome such problems, MicroServices not only provides the tools needed by programmers to modify RES but also offers a low-cost service to customize RES to your exact needs. AM I TOO BIG (OR SMALL) TO USE RES ? Neither. The amount of information you plan to enter into RES will effect how much storage capacity you'll need. If you have a question about your specific needs, please contact us. WHAT TYPE OF COMPUTER EQUIPMENT DO I NEED TO RUN RES ? We recommend an IBM PC, XT or compatible with a hard disk and at least 256K of RAM, plus an 80 column printer. If you have another brand of computer, or a floppy disk system, please call and we'll discuss how you'll still be able to use RES. 1 SECTION B. DEFINITION OF TERMS Some terms will be introduced in this manual that may not be familiar to you. A brief explanation of each is provided below: BACKSPACE KEY - The BACKSPACE key is used to make your screen cursor skip backward on the screen. It is located on the top righthand side of your keyboard. It looks like a straight arrow pointing to the left (not to be confused with the slightly larger ENTER key just below). CURSOR - The cursor generally appears as a blinking underline character on your screen where you are to begin entering data or a command. On some computer systems, the cursor appears as a rectangle the size of an uppercase letter. DATA INPUT - Data is information. Data input refers to entering information into a computerized file by using your keyboard. ENTER KEY - The ENTER key is pressed when you want the computer to acknowledge your command or data input. The ENTER key is also known as the RETURN key. It's located on the righthand side of your keyboard. It looks like a straight arrow pointing to the left, bent upward at one end (not to be confused with the slight- ly smaller BACKSPACE key just above). FIELD - A field is a single piece of information about a specific topic. For example, address is a single piece of information about a property for sale. Therefore, we will refer to address as a field of a property listing. Other fields would be seller's name, sale price, etc. FILE - A file is a collection of records about a specific topic. For example, all your property listings can be collected and stored in a file cabinet as well as a computer file. FUNCTION - A function can be thought of as a task you need to perform. RES currently supports 5 functions to help you with your day-to-day tasks. Please refer to Section E for complete details. 2 HARDCOPY - Hardcopy is a printed report of a screen. For example, while looking at a property listing on your computer monitor you may request a hardcopy of the listing to be printed on your printer. MENU - A screen that lists functions that are available to you. RECORD - A record is a collection of fields that refer to a specific topic. For example, address, seller's name, sale price, etc. combine to form a record about a specific property listing. SCREEN - A screen refers to the video display you see on your computer monitor. 3 SECTION C. GENERAL OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS Whenever we attempt to use something new, it's a good practice to know how that something works. When you purchased your computer you hopefully received instructions as to how it worked. With each new piece of equipment and software product you've purchased, you also received operating instructions. Likewise, RES has a specific set of operating instructions that you should become familiar with. No, there's not alot to remember. In fact, as you use RES you'll find most of the following instructions are obvious and comfortable for you. OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS TO REMEMBER RES is a menu-based system. That means when you start RES a MASTER MENU SCREEN will be displayed on your monitor. The menu lists all the functions available to you. By entering the number corresponding to a function, RES will display another screen to carry out that function. In turn, many of these subsequent screens will ask you to choose WHAT you want to do. The choices will always appear at the bottom of your screen. They are activated by typing the letter in parentheses that corresponds to what you want to do. Note that the letter can be in upper or lower case, it doesn't matter. When entering the number or letter that corresponds to what you want to do, RES will immediately respond to your request...you are not required to press the ENTER key before RES responds. The above convention contrasts with how you move from one field to another on a RES screen. When you are adding or changing field information, you must press the ENTER key to 'skip' from one field to the next. The only exception is when you totally fill the field with information, in which case, RES will automatically move you to the next field. Certain fields will only accept numbers as data input. For example, all RES dates are expressed as MM/DD/YY. Therefore, a valid date would be 01/31/84 for January 31, 1984. If you attempt to enter any other character, RES will refuse to accept your entry. 4 Certain fields are designed to accept money values. Several rules apply: - Do not enter dollar signs ($) or commas...RES won't accept them. - If you need to enter an amount with cents, you must enter the decimal point...RES will accept decimal points. If RES ever displays asterisks in a money field (or a message at the bottom of the screen that reads NUMERIC FIELD OVERFLOW), that means you've entered an amount that is larger than RES can accept. This will happen if you ignore the decimal point and continue to enter a money value. For example, the LIST PRICE field on the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN is capable of accepting a number as large as 9999999.99. If you were to enter a number like 9999999999 (without a decimal point) you will either receive an error message or asterisks in the field. Help screens are available at critical points within RES. They appear as choices on the MASTER MENU SCREEN and several other screens. All screens will display messages at the bottom that prompt you to take an action. When RES detects a problem, a brief explanation will appear at the bottom of your screen. Occasionally, the explanation will call for an answer. Most of the time, you'll be told to press any key to continue the process. If you're ever confused by the explanations, please refer to Section E for additional details. The only true exit from RES can be found as the last choice on the MASTER MENU SCREEN. The exit choices you'll see in other parts of RES, if chosen, will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. In effect, the MASTER MENU SCREEN is a home base from which you venture to perform functions and always return when finished. 5 SECTION D. HOW TO GET STARTED Before we get started, please make backup copies of your original RES diskette. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to your DOS manual under the command COPY or DISKCOPY. RES has been designed to work on hard disk systems. If you have a floppy disk system, please call us to discuss the availability of RES for your system. HOW TO INSTALL RES ON YOUR HARD DISK SYSTEM ------------------------------------------- STEP 1. Create a subdirectory called RES on your hard disk. STEP 2. Place the RES diskette in your 'A' drive and close the diskette drive door. This diskette contains all the programs and master files that make RES work. STEP 3. Copy the contents of the diskette to your subdirectory with the following command: COPY A:*.* \RES STEP 4. Go to the subdirectory, type 'RES' and press the ENTER key. You will be presented with the RES logo screen. Press any key and the MASTER MENU SCREEN will be displayed. That's it ! You're now ready to put RES to the test. If this is the first time you've seen the MASTER MENU SCREEN, you may want to exit the screen by simply typing '7' so that you can review Section E as well as the Appendix. In fact, a complete hands-on, step-by-step demonstration of RES is presented in Appendix A. 6 SECTION E. HOW EACH REAL ESTATE SYSTEM FUNCTION WORKS As previously mentioned, RES was developed to assist in the storage and retrieval of information about properties for sale, pending and closed sales as well as details about your agents. RES also provides a selection of reports that you will find helpful. This section outlines the purpose of each RES function and how it works. Each function will be discussed in the order as presented on the MASTER MENU SCREEN. It may help to refer to the sample screens in Appendix E as you read the following. 1. PROPERTY LISTINGS PURPOSE ------- The Property Listings function is used to store information about local property listings. Once the information has been entered through your keyboard into RES, it is stored in a computerized file called SALE. Once stored, it can be recalled to the screen, changed, deleted or printed. The information acts as the basis for printed reports described under Subsection 4 Reports. HOW IT WORKS ------------ Upon choosing the Property Listings function from the MASTER MENU SCREEN, RES will display the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN. At the bottom of the screen you will be asked to choose what you want to do. Your choices will be to ADD a listing, SEARCH for a particular listing, seek HELP or to EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. HELP and EXIT work as their names imply. ADD and SEARCH work as follows: 7 A. ADD A LISTING Upon choosing to ADD a listing, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and your screen cursor will position itself just beyond the SELLER field near the top, lefthand corner of your screen. The message at the bottom of the screen prompts you to enter the seller's last name. As it states, you can press the ENTER key if you decide NOT to add a listing. By pressing the ENTER key, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. If you decide to go ahead and add a listing, you will be required to enter a seller's last name. The reason is that when you later search for a particular listing, you'll be searching by the seller's last name. Whether you choose to put details in any of the other fields is up to you. After you've entered the seller's last name, press the ENTER key and your screen cursor will 'skip' to the next field. To skip backward, remember to use the BACKSPACE key. Continue to enter the details of the listing until you've filled the entire screen. If you are not sure what a particular field means, all the fields are described in Appendix C. If the details of any particular field happen to take up all the available space, you'll note that your screen cursor will automatically skip to the next. Once you've entered details into the last field, press the ENTER key. A question will appear at the bottom of the screen in order to confirm that what you've just entered is correct. If you've made a mistake, enter 'N' and RES will return the screen cursor to SELLER. If, for example, you made a mistake in the spelling of the address, press the ENTER key until the screen cursor skips to the address field. Now enter the correct address. If there are other mistakes, press the ENTER key until you reach the bad field and enter the correct details. When all corrections have been made, either continue to press the ENTER key until the question about correctness again appears at the bottom of the screen or press Ctrl-W. To use Ctrl-W, hold down the Ctrl key on the left side of your keyboard and then press the 'W' key once. 8 Now enter 'Y' to confirm that the details are correct. RES will now take the details you've just entered and make an entry in the SALE master file except under the following condition: If the seller's last name already exists in the SALE master file, RES will display a message telling you so. You must then choose whether to allow RES to make an additional entry under the same name. A cautionary note, RES tells you of the duplicate so that you can avoid entering the same listing twice. If you do not receive the above message, rest assured that a new listing has been added to the SALE master file. After adding the new listing, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. 9 B. SEARCHING FOR A LISTING Upon choosing to SEARCH for a listing, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and your screen cursor will position itself just beyond the SELLER field near the top, lefthand corner of your screen. Again, the message at the bottom of your screen is prompting you to take an action. Proceed by either entering a seller's last name or pressing the ENTER key to exit. If you choose to continue the search, enter all or a portion of the seller's last name. The entry can be in upper or lower case. Once entered, press the ENTER key. RES will now attempt to find the name in the SALE master file. If it cannot be found, a message will appear at the bottom of the screen to let you know. It's up to you to research the correct spelling or whether the listing was ever entered. If the search is successful, RES will display all the details it contains about the first listing it finds that matches the name you entered. You should confirm that the listing is actually the one you want. For example, if you are searching for a listing under the name of 'SMITH' and RES has 2 listings under that name, the listing of the first 'SMITH' will be displayed. It may turn out that you actually want to see the second one. You may have entered only 'SM' (as a shortcut) and there are 2 listings under 'SMITH' and 1 under 'SMALLEY'. In this case RES will display the details of 'SMALLEY' while you might actually want to see the second 'SMITH'. RES provides the ability to skip forward and backward (to be covered shortly) to view listings should this occur to you. At the bottom of the screen you'll note your options as to what you can do next. Enter the letter that corresponds to what you would like to do. 10 If you choose to CHANGE the listing, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and RES will return the screen cursor to SELLER. Press the ENTER key until the screen cursor skips to the field(s) you want to change and enter the changes. When all corrections have been made, then continue to press the ENTER key until the question about correctness appears at the bottom of the screen or press Ctrl-W. Now enter 'Y' to confirm that the details are correct. RES will now take the details you've just entered and change the entry in the SALE master file except under the following condition: If you've blanked out the seller's last name, RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you that a seller's last name is required. If you do not receive such a message, rest assured that RES has changed the listing in the SALE master file. RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. If you choose to view the NEXT listing, RES will display the details of the next listing (alphabetically) within the SALE master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. If you inadvertently ask for the next listing while at the end of the SALE master file, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to view the PRIOR listing, RES will display the details of the prior listing (alphabetically) within the SALE master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. If you inadvertently ask for the prior listing while at the beginning of the SALE master file, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to DELETE the listing displayed on the screen, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen asking you to confirm your intention. If you decide not to delete the listing, enter 'N', otherwise, enter 'Y'. Depending upon your response, RES will either delete the listing from the SALE master file and return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN or leave the listing unchanged. 11 If you choose to create a HARDCOPY of the listing on the screen, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen asking you to confirm your intention. If you decide not to create the hardcopy, enter 'N', otherwise enter 'Y'. Depending upon your response, RES will either print the listing or return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. If you just want to view the property listing and then return to the MASTER MENU SCREEN, then you'll want to choose EXIT. 12 2. RECORD OF SALE PURPOSE ------- Once a property has been sold, you will want to record the details of its pending sale and, ultimately, the closing details. The Record of Sale function is used to store information about pending and closed sales. Once the information has been entered through your keyboard into RES, it is stored, along with the details of the property listing, in a computerized file called SALE. Once stored, it can be recalled to the screen, changed, deleted or printed. The information acts as the basis for printed reports described under Subsection 4 Reports. HOW IT WORKS ------------ Upon choosing the Record of Sale function from the MASTER MENU SCREEN, RES will display the RECORD OF SALE SCREEN. At the bottom of the screen you will be asked to choose what you want to do. Your choices will be to SEARCH for a particular property listing in order to add or change details of the pending or closed sale, seek HELP or to EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. HELP and EXIT work as their names imply. SEARCH works as follows: 13 A. SEARCHING FOR A LISTING Upon choosing to SEARCH for a listing, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will be displayed and your screen cursor will position itself just beyond the SELLER field near the top, lefthand corner of your screen. You may now be familiar with the message that appears at the bottom of your screen prompting you to take an action. Proceed by either entering a seller's last name or pressing the ENTER key to exit to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Enter all or a portion of the seller's last name for the sale details you are searching for. After you've made the entry, press the ENTER key. RES will now attempt to find the name in the SALE master file. If it cannot be found, a message will appear at the bottom of the screen to let you know. It's up to you to research the correct spelling or whether the property listing was ever entered. It's important to remember that you need to enter a property listing (MASTER MENU SCREEN #1) before you can enter details about its sale. If it's inconvenient for you to enter all the details for a listing, that's O.K. Just create a property listing with only the seller's name and address so that RES can make an entry in the SALE master file. If the search is successful, RES will display the details it contains about the property and its sale. If the listing is not the correct one, you may use the NEXT or PRIOR options to locate the correct listing. At the bottom of the screen you'll note your options as to what you can do next. Enter the letter that corresponds to what you would like to do. If you choose to CHANGE the details of the sale, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and RES will return the screen cursor to BUYER. 14 Begin entering the details of the sale or press the ENTER key until the screen cursor skips to the field(s) you want to add information to or change. Use the BACKSPACE key to skip backward. All fields displayed on the screen are described in Appendix C. When all entries have been made, either continue to press the ENTER key until the question about correctness appears at the bottom of the screen or press Ctrl-W. SPECIAL NOTE - Notice that the screen cursor does not begin with the details about the seller, address, etc. If you need to change these details, please do so by using the Property Listings function. Now enter 'Y' to confirm that the details are correct. RES will now take the details you've just entered and change the entry in the SALE master file except under the following conditions: If you've blanked out the buyer's last name or neglected to enter a last name, RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you that a buyer's name is required. If you're adding details of a sale for the first time, you must change the status from open to either pending (P) or closed (C). RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you if you don't change the status. If you do not receive either of the above messages, rest assured that RES has changed the sale details in the SALE master file. RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. If you choose to view the NEXT listing, RES will display the details of the next listing and its sale (alphabetically) within the SALE master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. If you inadvertently ask for the next listing while at the end of the SALE master file, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to view the PRIOR listing, RES will display details of the prior listing and its sale (alphabetically) within the SALE master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. 15 If you inadvertently ask for the prior listing while at the beginning of the SALE master file, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to DELETE the details of sale on the screen, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen asking you to confirm your intention. If you decide not to delete the sale, enter 'N', otherwise, enter 'Y'. Depending upon your response, RES will either delete the details of the sale (but not the entire listing) from the SALE master file and return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN or leave the record of sale unchanged. If you choose to create a HARDCOPY of sale on the screen, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen asking you to confirm your intention. If you decide not to print the sale, enter 'N', otherwise, enter 'Y'. Depending upon your response, RES will either print the details of the sale or return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. If you just want to view the property listing sale details and then return to the MASTER MENU SCREEN, then you'll want to choose EXIT. 16 3. AGENT FILE PURPOSE ------- The Agent File function is used to store information about your agents. Once the information has been entered through your keyboard into RES, it is stored in a computerized file called AGENT. Once stored, it can be recalled to the screen, changed or deleted. The information acts as the basis for printed reports described under Subsection 4 Reports. Please note that RES will work just fine even if you never use the Agent File function. It's up to you whether it serves a useful purpose. HOW IT WORKS ------------ Upon choosing the Agent File function from the MASTER MENU SCREEN, RES will display the AGENT FILE SCREEN. You will be asked to choose what you want to do. Your choices will be to ADD an agent, SEARCH for a particular agent, seek HELP or to EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. HELP and EXIT work as their names imply. ADD and SEARCH work as follows: 17 A. ADD AN AGENT Upon choosing to ADD an agent, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and your screen cursor will position itself just beyond the NAME field near the top, lefthand corner of your screen. The prompt message at the bottom of the screen will remind you to enter an agent's name or press the ENTER key to exit. To add an agent, you will be required to enter a last name. The reason is that when you later search for a particular agent you'll be searching by his or her last name. Whether you choose to put details in any of the other fields is up to you. After you've entered the agent's last name, press the ENTER key and your screen cursor will 'skip' to the next field. Continue to enter the agent details until you've filled the entire screen. All fields displayed on this screen are described in Appendix C. Once you've entered details into the last field, press the ENTER key. A question will appear at the bottom of the screen in order to confirm that what you've just entered is correct. If you've made a mistake, enter 'N' and RES will return the screen cursor to NAME. If, for example, you made a mistake in the spelling of the address, press the ENTER key until the screen cursor skips to the address field. Now enter the correct address. If there are other mistakes, press the ENTER key until you reach the bad field and enter the correct details. Remember to use the BACKSPACE key to skip backward. When all corrections have been made, either continue to press the ENTER key until the question about correctness again appears at the bottom of the screen or press Ctrl-W. 18 Now enter 'Y' to confirm that the details are correct. RES will now take the details you've just entered and make an entry into the AGENT master file except under the following conditions: If you've blanked out the agent's last name or neglected to enter a last name, RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you that an agent's name is re- quired. If the agent's last name already exists in the AGENT master file, RES will display a message telling you so. You must then choose whether to allow RES to make an additional entry under the same name. A cautionary note, RES tells you of the duplicate so that you can avoid entering the same agent twice. If you do not receive either of the above messages, rest assured that your new agent has been added to the AGENT master file. After adding the new agent, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. 19 B. SEARCHING FOR AN AGENT Upon choosing to SEARCH for an agent, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and your screen cursor will position itself just beyond the NAME field near the top, lefthand corner of your screen. Proceed by either entering an agent's last name or pressing the ENTER key to exit to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. RES will now attempt to find the name in the AGENT master file. If it cannot be found, a message will appear at the bottom of the screen to let you know. It's up to you to research the correct spelling or whether the agent was ever entered. If the search is successful, RES will display all the details it contains about the agent. If the agent is not the correct one, use the NEXT or PRIOR options to locate the correct one. At the bottom of the screen you'll note your options as to what you can do next. Enter the letter that corresponds to what you would like to do. If you choose to CHANGE the agent details, the screen name will change, a message at the bottom of the screen will appear and RES will return the screen cursor to NAME. Press the ENTER key until the screen cursor skips to the field(s) you want to change and enter the changes. When all corrections have been made, either continue to press the ENTER key until the question about correctness appears at the bottom of the screen or press Ctrl-W. Now enter 'Y' to confirm that the details are correct. RES will now take the details you've just entered and change the entry in the AGENT master file except under the following condition: If you've blanked out the agent's last name, RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you that an agent's last name is required. If you do not receive the above message, rest assured that RES has changed the agent details in the AGENT master file. RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. 20 If you choose to view the NEXT agent, RES will display the details of the next agent (alphabetically) within the AGENT master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. If you inadvertently ask for the next agent while at the end of the AGENT master file, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to view the PRIOR agent, RES will display the details of the prior agent (alphabetically) within the AGENT master file. Once displayed, you will have the same options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. If you inadvertently ask for the prior agent while at the beginning of the AGENT master file,a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you so. If you choose to DELETE the agent details displayed on the screen, a message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen asking you to confirm your intention. If you decide not to delete the agent details, enter 'N', otherwise, enter "Y". Depending upon your response, RES will either delete the details from the AGENT master file and return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN or leave the details unchanged. If you just want to view the agent details and then return to the MASTER MENU SCREEN, then you'll want to choose EXIT. 21 4. REPORTS PURPOSE ------- The Report function is used to create a variety of reports about your property listings, pending and closed sales as well as commissions. HOW IT WORKS ------------ Upon choosing the Report function from the MASTER MENU SCREEN, RES will display the REPORT MENU SCREEN. You will be asked to choose which report you want to create. Your choices are presented below in detail. When requesting any of the following reports, RES will display another screen reminding you to turn your printer on and to align your paper. Depending upon the report, you may be asked to provide additional details. You will also be given the chance to exit and not print the report. Examples of the following reports are included in Appendix D. It may be helpful to look at them as you're reading the following descriptions. 22 AGENT COMMISSIONS The Agent Commissions report will show each of your agent's listing commissions, sales commissions and a total of both for your fiscal year. This information is derived from the AGENT file, therefore, if you want this report you must make entries in the file first. The agent's will be printed in alphabeti- cal order. OFFICE COMMISSIONS The Office Commissions report will show your total office commissions (exclusive of agent commissions) for your fiscal year. The report is derived from your closed sales, in other words, from your sales that have a status of (C)losed (See Appendix C for further details about STATUS). The report shows seller, property address, passing date and commission amount. The details of the report are printed in order by the passing date. When requesting this report, you will be asked to wait while the SALE file is sorted. If you have a large number of closed sales, be prepared to wait several minutes for the sorting to take place. PROJECTED INCOME The Projected Income report will show your expected commissions (exclusive of agent commissions) from your pending sales (Status equal 'P'). The report shows seller, property address, passing date and commission amount. The details of the report are printed in order by the passing date. When requesting this report, you will be asked to wait while the Sales file is sorted. 23 PENDING SALES The Pending Sales report will show relevant details from your pending sales (Status equal 'P'). The report shows seller, MLS #, property address, listing price, listing date and office, buyer name and address, sale price, sale date, sales agent #1 and #2, deposit and estimated net. The details of the report are printed in alphabetical order by seller's name. CLOSED SALES The Closed Sales report will show relevant details from your closed sales (Status equal 'C'). The report shows seller, MLS #, property address, listing price, listing date and office, buyer name and address, sale price, sale date, sales agent #1 and #2, deposit, estimated net, pass date, pass net, office commission, agent #1 and #2 commissions, cobroker and cobroker commission. The details of the report are printed in alphabetical order by seller's name. PROPERTY LISTINGS The Property Listing report will show details of all open property listings (Status equal 'O'). When requesting the report, you will be asked whether the report should be placed in order by area, price or type (Refer to Appendix C for de- tails about these screen fields). The report will display MLS #, status, type, source, area, seller, property address, bedrooms, baths, age, sq. ft., financing, features, list price, listing date and office, contract date, expiration date and listing agents #1 and #2. 24 REPORT DESCRIPTIONS If you choose Report Descriptions, RES will display a screen that contains a brief description of the report options. EXIT If you decide that you don't want to create a report, use the EXIT option to return to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PRINTING REPORTS... RES has been developed to print your reports on most major types of printers. If you should experience any difficulties with printing your reports, please contact us first. 25 5. YEAR-END PROCESSING PURPOSE ------- Year-End Processing performs 2 tasks. First, it automatically purges all details of your closed sales (Status equal 'C') from your SALE master file. Second, it automatically moves current year commissions in the AGENT master file to previous year commissions. You may want to do this at the end of your fiscal year. If you don't use a fiscal year-end, you may want to periodically do the year-end processing anyway. Basically, all this process really does for you is to recoup storage space on your master files and avoid the possibility of continually reporting outdated closed sales. HOW IT WORKS ------------ Upon choosing this option, RES will display the YEAR-END PROCESSING SCREEN. It tells you what's doing to happen and gives you a chance to exit (perhaps to print a Closed Sales or Agent Commissions report before proceeding). If you decide to allow the process to take place, RES will automatically purge closed sales from your SALE master file and move agent current year commissions to previous year commissions. If you don't use the Agent File function, RES will bypass the last task. 26 APPENDIX A. HANDS-ON DEMONSTRATION The purpose of this section is to give you a brief, hands-on demonstration of how to use RES. We'll experience each of its functions and how they work. You'll also get a chance to see all RES menus and most screens in action. HOW TO BEGIN ------------ Go to the RES subdirectory, enter the command 'RES' followed by pressing the ENTER key. You should now be looking at the RES logo screen. Press any key to display the MASTER MENU SCREEN. THE DEMONSTRATION ----------------- Let's pretend that you've used RES for months now. On this particular day you need to do the following: 1. Add details about a new property listing 2. Record the details of a sale 3. Add a new agent 4. Create a report about pending sales The following steps will show you how to accomplish the above. We encourage you to follow these steps as presented to avoid confusion. After you are comfortable with how RES works, don't hesitate to experiment. 27 ADD DETAILS ABOUT A NEW PROPERTY LISTING Observing the MASTER MENU SCREEN you'll note the choices available to you. Since you need to add details about a new property listing, your choice is Property Listings. Please enter your choice by typing '1'. You are now looking at the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN. Notice the choices available to you at the bottom of the screen. You can ADD, SEARCH, seek HELP or EXIT back to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Since you want to add a property listing, enter your choice by typing 'A'. RES will respond by placing the screen cursor at SELLER. You may now enter the details of a new property listing. A reminder, RES stores your property listings by the seller's last name. For this reason, you'll be required to enter a name so that RES can create a property listing. Go ahead and enter a property listing using make-believe information. Please use 'TEST' as the seller's name. Skip the fields (by pressing the ENTER key) that you're unfamiliar with. For a complete discussion of all screen fields, please refer to Appendix C. Once you've entered information in the last field, RES will ask "IS THE ABOVE CORRECT ? (Y/N)". If you enter 'Y' RES will now add your new property listing to the SALE master file. If you enter 'N', RES will reposition the screen cursor at SELLER so that you may correct your entry. Please enter 'Y'. That's all there is to adding new property listings. For a complete discussion about the other options available when using Property Listings, please refer to Section E Property Listings. To continue the demonstration, please turn to the next page. To discontinue, enter '7' to exit RES. 28 RECORD THE DETAILS OF A SALE After adding a new property listing, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. You're now ready to record the details of a sale you've just made. In this case, you'll want to choose the second option on the screen, Record of Sale. Please enter your choice by typing '2'. You are now looking at the RECORD OF SALE SCREEN. Notice the choices available to you at the bottom of the screen. You can SEARCH, seek HELP or EXIT back to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Since you want to add details of a sale, shouldn't there be an option to add a sales record ? You'll be able to add the details of a sale, but first you must find the property listing that has been sold. Remember the property listing you previously added under the name TEST ? We'll assume that it's been sold and you're now entering details about the sale. Please note one of the few rules in using RES: A PROPERTY LISTING MUST EXIST BEFORE ENTERING DETAILS OF ITS SALE To illustrate this rule, let's search for the TEST property listing. Please enter 'S' to search. Notice that RES only lights-up the SELLER field. Enter the name TEST and press the ENTER key. RES will now search for your property listing and display the details. If the listing cannot be found, RES will present a message at the bottom of the screen telling you so. In that case, check your spelling and retry. Note the options available at the bottom of the screen. You can CHANGE the record, view the NEXT or PRIOR record, DELETE the record, request a HARDCOPY of the record or EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Since you want to add details about the sale of the property, you'll need to "change" the current details (which are currently blank). Please enter 'C'. Note that RES does not light-up all the data fields. Those fields that remain unlit are those you originally entered when creating the property listing. If you want to change any of these unlit fields you must do so under the Property Listing function. 29 RES does light-up all the fields that pertain to the sale of the property, beginning with the name of the buyer. Go ahead and enter make-believe information using a buyer's name of JONES and by entering 'P' (for pending sale) in the STATUS field. Skip the fields (by pressing the ENTER key) that you're unfamiliar with. For a complete discussion of all screen fields, please refer to Appendix C. Since you're entering information about a pending sale, some of the fields will remain empty. Why ? Because some of the details will not be known until the sale is closed. RES was designed so that you can add details, as they're known, at your convenience. Once you've entered information in the last field RES will ask "IS THE ABOVE CORRECT ? (Y/N)". If you enter 'Y' RES will now change your property listing by adding the details of the pending sale to the SALE master file. If you enter 'N' RES will reposit ion the screen cursor at BUYER so that you may correct your entry. Please enter 'Y'. That's all there is to adding details of a pending sale. Once the sale is closed, you would repeat the above steps to add the final details of the sale, changing the status to 'C'. For a complete discussion about the other options available when using Record of Sales, please refer to Section E. Record of Sale. To continue the demonstration, please turn to the next page. To discontinue, enter '7' to exit RES. 30 ADD A NEW AGENT After successfully adding the details of a pending sale, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Let's add the details of a new agent. Please enter '3' to enter the AGENT FILE. You are now looking at the AGENT FILE SCREEN. Your options are to ADD an agent, SEARCH for a particular agent, seek HELP or EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Please enter 'A' to add an agent. RES will place the screen cursor at NAME. Enter a make-believe agent by the name of 'TEST', skipping any fields you don't want to use or don't understand. For a complete discussion of screen fields, please refer to Appendix C. For example, if the agent has not earned any commissions, skip the current year and previous year commissions by pressing the ENTER key. By doing so, RES will enter the amount of zero in these fields, as well as the total commissions fields. When you have entered all the information, RES will display a message at the bottom of the screen that you should now be famil iar with. Please turn to the next page to continue the demon stration. To discontinue, enter '7' to exit RES. 31 CREATE A REPORT ABOUT PENDING SALES After successfully adding an agent, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. Let's complete the demonstration by creating a report about pending sales. To do so, you'll need to have a printer attached to your computer, turned on and loaded with paper. If a printer is not available, please enter '7' to exit RES. We want to create a report so please enter '4'. RES will display the REPORT MENU SCREEN, listing the reports you may request. We want to create a Pending Sales report, so please enter '4'. RES now displays the PENDING SALES REPORT SCREEN, advising you to turn your printer on and to align your paper. You are also advised that you can avoid creating the report by entering the word 'ABORT', whereby you will be returned to the REPORT MENU SCREEN. Please press the ENTER key to print the report. The Pending Sales report should now be printing. If it doesn't, check to see that your printer is working. When finished, RES will return you to the MASTER MENU SCREEN when you can choose to experiment further or choose to EXIT from RES. After you've become comfortable with the delete option in the Property Listings function, you may want to delete our demonstration record of TEST so that it doesn't appear in your future reports. Likewise, the delete option in the Agent File function will get rid of our TEST agent. 32 APPENDIX B. MAKING A PERIODIC BACKUP OF YOUR MASTER FILES Nothing lasts forever. To guard against the accidental loss of your valuable data, you should develop a habit of making a periodic backup of your master files. BUT I ALREADY MADE A BACKUP OF THE ORIGINAL RES DISKETTE ! True. And you needn't make another backup of the ORIGINAL. You will, however, be constantly adding new information to your master files (whether on a diskette or hard disk) which you cannot afford to lose. Therefore, you need to make a periodic backup of your master files. Please refer to your DOS manual for backup instructions. If you need help, please call us. HOW OFTEN TO BACKUP ------------------- It's really up to you. Keep in mind that if your RES MASTER FILES you use on a daily basis are damaged, you will lose only the data since the last backup. With this in mind, many of you will choose to perform backup after entering a large amount of data, so as not to take the chance of losing what's just been entered. Another approach is to peform a periodic backup on a given schedule, such as once a day at the end of the day, once a week, etc. WHAT SHOULD BE BACKED-UP ? -------------------------- You should backup all files appended with .DBF and .NTX. 33 SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT LARGE MASTER FILES ------------------------------------- For those of you with master files that are larger than can fit on one floppy diskette, you'll have to use IBM's BACKUP command to accomplish the above. If you have doubts as to how it works, please call us. One way to tell if your master files have grown too large for one floppy diskette, is to do the following: 1. List the directory of master files with the command... DIR *.DBF 2. Sum the size of each file. 3. List the directory of indices with the command... DIR *.NTX 4. Sum the size of each index and add to the earlier sum for master files. 5. If the sum of master files and indices is approaching 360,000, you are at or near the limit of 1 floppy diskette. 34 APPENDIX C. DEFINITION OF SCREEN FIELDS In this section we'll review all the fields you will encounter in the Property Listings, Record of Sale and Agent File functions. Again a 'field' can be thought of as a single piece of information. The definitions of most of these fields are self- evident. Several have particular definitions that are important to the proper use of RES. The fields will be presented by function, giving its name, size (how long it can be), type (numeric only or any combination of alphabetic and numeric) and definition. Whenever you see the word 'optional' it means that you can choose whether to use the field. PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN FIELDS FIELD NAME SIZE TYPE DEFINITION ---------- ---- ---- ---------- SELLER 20 AN Seller's last name. If you want to include the first name initial, enter the last name followed by a comma and then the initial. You must enter a seller's name to create a property listing. The name can be entered in upper or lower case. RES will convert all names to upper case. When searching for a particular seller, you can enter all or a portion of the name. ADDRESS 20 AN The seller's address. Also used as the property listing address. Option- al. CITY 15 AN The seller's city. Optional. STATE 2 AN Abbreviated code for seller's state. Optional. ZIP 5 NUM Seller's postal zip code. Optional. PHONE 15 AN Seller's phone number. Large enough to hold an area code and extension. Optional. 35 MLS # 10 AN Can be used to store your local Multiple Listing Service number for the property or a customized office listing number. The field can be any combination of letters and numbers. Optional. STATUS 1 AN Denotes whether the listing is open (no pending sales activity), a pending sale or a closed sale. The acceptable input is 'O' (open list- ing), 'P' (pending) or 'C' (closed). When adding a property listing, an 'O' is automatically placed on the screen for you. To change the status, you must use the Record of Sale function. TYPE 5 AN Denotes the type or style of the listing. For example, CONDO, SFR, etc. You can design codes that are meaningful to you. Optional. SOURCE 10 AN Denotes an individual (other than a listing agent) or office who was responsible for obtaining the listing. Optional. AREA 5 AN If you break down your sales area into territories, you can enter your customized area code. Optional. BEDROOMS 2 NUM Number of bedrooms. Optional. BATHS 1 NUM Number of baths. Optional. SQ FT 5 NUM Square footage of property. Optional. AGE 3 NUM Age of the property. Optional. FINANCING 3 AN Type of financing available. You can customize your own codes. Optional. FEATURES 50 AN Use this field as a memo pad to record unique features of the property. Optional. LIST PRICE 10 NUM Listing price of property. Optional. LISTING OFFICE 10 AN Listing office. Optional. LIST DATE 6 NUM Date property was listed. Optional. CONTRACT DAYS 3 NUM Number of days the listing is contracted for. Optional. 36 EXPIRES 6 NUM Date the listing contract expires. Optional. AGNT 1 10 AN Name of the agent responsible for the listing. Optional. LIST COM 8 NUM The commission for the listing agent. Optional. AGNT 2 10 AN If the listing is split, enter the second agent's name. Optional. LIST COM 8 NUM The commission for the second listing agent. Optional. 37 RECORD OF SALE SCREEN FIELDS The fields denoted as 'display only' are those fields you originally input when you created a Property Listing. They are displayed on the RECORD OF SALE SCREENS but can only be changed in the Property Listing function. FIELD NAME SIZE TYPE DEFINITION ---------- ---- ---- ---------- SELLER 20 AN Seller's name. Display only. ADDRESS 20 AN Seller's address. Display only. CITY 15 AN Seller's city. Display only. STATE 2 AN Seller's state. Display only. ZIP 5 NUM Seller's zip code. Display only. PHONE 15 AN Seller's phone number. Display only. AREA 5 AN Area designation of property. Display only. MLS # 10 AN Local Multiple Listing Service number. Display only. LIST PRICE 10 NUM Listing price of property. Display only. LISTING OFFICE 10 AN Listing office. Display only. LIST DATE 6 NUM Date property was listed. Display only. BUYER 20 AN Buyer's name. This is a required field. RES will not create a Record of Sale without a buyer's name. STATUS 1 AN Property status. See additional description under Property Listing function. This is a required field. If the sale is pending, input 'P'. If the sale is closed, input 'C'. ADDRESS 20 AN Buyer's address. Optional. CITY 15 AN Buyer's city. Optional. 38 STATE 2 AN Buyer's state. Optional. ZIP 5 NUM Buyer's zip code. Optional. PHONE 15 AN Buyer's phone number. Optional. SALE PRICE 10 NUM Purchase price of the property. Optional. SALE DATE 6 NUM Date property was sold. Optional. AGENT 1 10 AN Agent's name responsible for the sale. Optional. COMM 8 NUM Sales agent commission. Optional. AGENT 2 10 AN For split sales, the name of the second agent. Optional. COMM 8 NUM Second sale agent commission. Optional. DEPOSIT 10 NUM Amount of deposit made by buyer. Optional. EST NET 8 NUM The estimated net profit expected from sale. Optional. PASS DATE 6 NUM Date set for passing papers (close of escrow). Optional. PASS NET 8 NUM The net profit at time of passing papers. Optional. OFFICE COMM 8 NUM Net commission to your office at time of passing papers. Optional. CO-BROKER 10 AN Name of cobroker, if any. Optional. COMM 8 NUM Cobroker commission. Optional. 39 AGENT FILE SCREEN FIELDS FIELD NAME SIZE TYPE DEFINITION ---------- ---- ---- ---------- NAME 20 AN Agent's name. This is a required field. It is suggested that you use last names. If you want to record a first initial, input the last name, followed by a comma and then the initial. ADDRESS 20 AN Agent's address. Optional. CITY 15 AN Agent's city. Optional. STATE 2 AN Agent's state. Optional. ZIP 5 NUM Agent's zip code. Optional. PHONE 15 AN Agent's phone number. Optional. SALES 9 NUM This years total commissions from sales. If you choose to use the Agent File function, you will want to update this field ( and the next when appropriate) each time a sale has been closed. During Year-End Processing, this field (and the next 2) are automatically moved to the corresponding previous year fields. Optional. LISTINGS 9 NUM This years total commissions from listings. Optional. TOTAL 9 NUM This years total commissions (sales + commissions). RES will automatically calculate this field by summing current sales plus current listings. SALES 9 NUM Last years total commissions from sales. Will be automatically updated if Year-End Processing is performed. Optional. LISTINGS 9 NUM Last years total commissions from listings. Will be automatically up- dated if Year-End Processing is per- formed. Optional. 40 TOTAL 9 NUM Total last years commissions (sales + listings). Will be automatically up- dated if Year-End Processing is per- formed. Optional. 41 APPENDIX D. SAMPLE REPORTS AGENT COMMISSIONS REPORT SAMPLE AGENTS COMMISSIONS LISTING SALES TOTAL AGENT COMMISSIONS COMMISSIONS COMMISSIONS ADAMS, S 3475.00 12490.00 15965.00 HARRIS, L 2045.00 9460.00 11505.00 NELSON, H 5500.00 8250.00 13750.00 SWEAT, M 2275.00 6050.00 8325.00 42 OFFICE COMMISSIONS SAMPLE REPORT OFFICE COMMISSIONS (Closed Sales) SELLER PROPERTY PASS DATE AMOUNT HOLTON, B 7806 Anise Ave 3/14/84 2100.00 ABBOTT, J 114 Richdale Road 3/17/84 1800.00 JOHNSTON, M 17 Great Plain Ave 4/01/84 3725.00 FEENEY, A 230 Maple Road 4/11/84 1145.00 --------- TOTAL 8770.00 43 PROJECTED INCOME SAMPLE REPORT PROJECTED INCOME (Pending Sales) SELLER PROPERTY PASS DATE AMOUNT MORTON, A 1102 Centre St 5/11/84 1475.00 BENSON, M 1 Ashburton Center 5/13/84 3240.00 PETERSON, L 1400 Pleasant Ave 5/21/84 2380.00 HARRISON, G 11447 Bexley Dr 5/22/84 1350.00 --------- TOTAL 8445.00 44 PENDING SALES SAMPLE REPORT PENDING SALES SELLER: BENSON, M MLS: A-1000 ADDRESS: 1 Ashburton Boston, MA 02134 LIST PRICE: 159000.00 LIST DATE: 2/21/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: JOHNSTON, P ADDRESS: 80 Clancy St Boston, MA 02134 SALE PRICE: 157500.00 SALE DATE: 4/10/84 AGENT 1: MACKLIN, M AGENT 2: SMITH, L DEPOSIT: 15000.00 EST. NET: 4500.00 SELLER: HARRISON, G MLS: A-1102 ADDRESS: 11447 Bexley Drive Natick, MA 02167 LIST PRICE: 124500.00 LIST DATE: 1/04/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: WALSH, D ADDRESS: 1102 Lexington Ave Newton, MA 02455 SALE PRICE: 120000.00 SALE DATE: 4/14/84 AGENT 1: MAHLEN, H AGENT 2: DEPOSIT: 12000.00 EST. NET: 4100.00 SELLER: MORTON, A MLS: A-1074 ADDRESS: 1102 Centre St Newton, MA 02455 LIST PRICE: 211000.00 LIST DATE: 12/12/83 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: SKALNY, F ADDRESS: 120 Richdale Rd Needham, MA 02194 SALE PRICE: 200000.00 SALE DATE: 4/02/84 AGENT 1: BERGIN, I AGENT 2: DEPOSIT: 25000.00 EST. NET: 7000.00 SELLER: PETERSON, L MLS: A-1024 ADDRESS: 1400 Pleasant Ave Needham MA 02192 LIST PRICE: 175500.00 LIST DATE: 3/15/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: GRAY, V ADDRESS: 45 Harbor St. Wellesley, MA 02122 SALE PRICE: 172000.00 SALE DATE: 4/21/84 AGENT 1: SNOW, H AGENT 2: DEPOSIT: 15000.00 EST. NET: 5000.00 45 CLOSED SALES SAMPLE REPORT CLOSED SALES SELLER: ABBOTT, J MLS: A-841 ADDRESS: 114 Richdale Road Needham MA 02194 LIST PRICE: 149950.00 LIST DATE: 1/15/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: Pembroke, H ADDRESS: 60 State St. Holliston, MA 02876 SALE PRICE: 149950.00 SALE DATE: 2/14/84 AGENT 1: LEWIS, K AGENT 2: DEPOSIT: 12500.00 EST. NET: 4500.00 PASS DATE: 3/1/84 PASS NET: 4500.00 OFFICE COMM: 1500.00 AGENT 1 COMM: 3000.00 AGENT 2 COMM: COBROKER: COBROKER COMM: SELLER: FEENEY, A MLS: A-817 ADDRESS: 230 Maple Road, Needham MA 02192 LIST PRICE: 134000.00 LIST DATE: 1/07/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: LANSED, L ADDRESS: 100 Corvette, Newton, MA 02155 SALE PRICE: 127000.00 SALE DATE: 3/10/84 AGENT 1: MARKLEY, G AGENT 2: PIERSON, S DEPOSIT: 7000.00 EST. NET: 3700.00 PASS DATE: 4/1/84 PASS NET: 3700.00 OFFICE COMM: 1200.00 AGENT 1 COMM: 2500.00 AGENT 2 COMM: COBROKER: COBROKER COMM: SELLER: HOLTON, B MLS: A-911 ADDRESS: 7806 Anise Ave Needham MA 02192 LIST PRICE: 220000.00 LIST DATE: 3/01/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB BUYER: BEDELL, P ADDRESS: 76 Old Town Road Millis, MA 02712 SALE PRICE: 211000.00 SALE DATE: 3/11/84 AGENT 1: AKERS, S AGENT 2: DEPOSIT: 25000.00 EST. NET: 7800.00 PASS DATE: 4/1/84 PASS NET: 7800.00 OFFICE COMM: 2500.00 AGENT 1 COMM: 3000.00 AGENT 2 COMM: 2300.00 COBROKER: COBROKER COMM: 46 PROPERTY LISTINGS SAMPLE REPORT PROPERTY LIST BY AREA MLS: A-1234 STATUS: O TYPE: SFD SOURCE: ABBB AREA: 1 SELLER: ROBERTS, L ADDRESS: 70 Cooney Place, Natick, MA 02455 BEDROOMS: 4 BATHS: 2 AGE: 75+ SQ FT: 2400 FINANCING: CONV FEATURES: Older Cape, good landscaping, excellant condition LIST PRICE: 127500.00 LIST DATE: 4/21/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB CONTRACT DAYS: 90 EXPIRES: 7/21/84 AGENT 1: ARNOLD, P AGENT 2: MLS: A-1178 STATUS: O TYPE: SFD SOURCE: ABBB AREA: 3 SELLER: KELLEY, K ADDRESS: 68 Oak Street, Needham, MA 02194 BEDROOMS: 3 BATHS: 1.5 AGE: 24 SQ FT: 1800 FINANCING: CONV FEATURES: Split, inground pool, Mitchell school LIST PRICE: 134000.00 LIST DATE: 5/14/84 LISTING OFFICE: ABBB CONTRACT DAYS: 90 EXPIRES: 8/14/84 AGENT 1: BERGIN, J AGENT 2: 47 APPENDIX E. SAMPLE SCREENS The following screen will be displayed when you begin each RES session: MASTER MENU SCREEN 1. Property Listings 2. Record of Sale 3. Agent File 4. Reports 5. Year-End Processing 6. HELP 7. EXIT PLEASE ENTER CHOICE 48 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the Property Listing function on the MASTER MENU SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN SELLER MLS # STATUS SOURCE ADDRESS TYPE AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE BEDROOMS BATHS AGE SQ FT FINANCING FEATURES LIST PRICE LIST DATE LISTING OFFICE CONTRACT DAYS EXPIRES AGNT 1 LIST COM AGNT 2 LIST COM PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHOICE (A)dd (S)earch (H)ELP (E)XIT 49 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the ADD option on the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS ADD SCREEN SELLER MLS # STATUS SOURCE ADDRESS TYPE AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE BEDROOMS BATHS AGE SQ FT FINANCING FEATURES LIST PRICE LIST DATE LISTING OFFICE CONTRACT DAYS EXPIRES AGNT 1 LIST COM AGNT 2 LIST COM PLEASE ENTER THE SELLER'S NAME OR PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO EXIT. 50 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the SEARCH option on the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS SEARCH SCREEN SELLER MLS # STATUS SOURCE ADDRESS TYPE AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE BEDROOMS BATHS AGE SQ FT FINANCING FEATURES LIST PRICE LIST DATE LISTING OFFICE CONTRACT DAYS EXPIRES AGNT 1 LIST COM AGNT 2 LIST COM PLEASE ENTER ALL OR A PORTION OF SELLER'S NAME OR PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO EXIT. 51 The following screen will be displayed when your search for a property listing is successful. The screen will also contain the details of the listing. PROPERTY LISTINGS SEARCH SCREEN SELLER MLS # STATUS SOURCE ADDRESS TYPE AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE BEDROOMS BATHS AGE SQ FT FINANCING FEATURES LIST PRICE LIST DATE LISTING OFFICE CONTRACT DAYS EXPIRES AGNT 1 LIST COM AGNT 2 LIST COM PLEASE ENTER (C)hange (N)ext (P)rior (D)elete (H)ardcopy (E)XIT 52 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to CHANGE the property listing displayed on the PROPERTY LISTINGS SEARCH SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS CHANGE SCREEN SELLER MLS # STATUS SOURCE ADDRESS TYPE AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE BEDROOMS BATHS AGE SQ FT FINANCING FEATURES LIST PRICE LIST DATE LISTING OFFICE CONTRACT DAYS EXPIRES AGNT 1 LIST COM AGNT 2 LIST COM PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHANGES. 53 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the HELP option on the PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS HELP SCREEN PURPOSE The PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN may be used to keep a record of residential properties that are for sale. The listing details are available for quick reference and form the basis of numerous reports. FUNCTION The PROPERTY LISTINGS SCREEN will allow you to ADD a new property listing or SEARCH for a particular listing already in the file. Enter 'A' to ADD. When adding a listing you are required to enter a seller name. If the name is already in the file, you will be informed by a message on the screen. At that point, you'll have to decide whether to add another listing or exit. Enter 'S' to SEARCH. If the name you are searching for cannot be found, a message will appear. When your search is successful, you will be given the option to CHANGE the record, view the NEXT or PRIOR record, DELETE the record, request a HARDCOPY of the record or EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. press any key to continue... 54 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the Record of Sale function on the MASTER MENU SCREEN: RECORD OF SALE SCREEN SELLER MLS # ADDRESS AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE LISTING OFFICE LIST PRICE LIST DATE BUYER STATUS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE SALE PRICE SALE DATE EST NET PASS DATE PASS NET DEPOSIT AGENT 1 COMM AGENT 2 COMM CO-BROKER COMM OFFICE COMM PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHOICE (S)earch (H)ELP (E)XIT 55 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the SEARCH option on the RECORD OF SALE SCREEN: RECORD OF SALE SEARCH SCREEN SELLER MLS # ADDRESS AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE LISTING OFFICE LIST PRICE LIST DATE BUYER STATUS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE SALE PRICE SALE DATE EST NET PASS DATE PASS NET DEPOSIT AGENT 1 COMM AGENT 2 COMM CO-BROKER COMM OFFICE COMM PLEASE ENTER ALL OR A PORTION OF SELLER'S NAME OR PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO EXIT. 56 The following screen will be displayed when your search for a property listing is successful. The screen will also contain the details of the listing. RECORD OF SALE SEARCH SCREEN SELLER MLS # ADDRESS AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE LISTING OFFICE LIST PRICE LIST DATE BUYER STATUS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE SALE PRICE SALE DATE EST NET PASS DATE PASS NET DEPOSIT AGENT 1 COMM AGENT 2 COMM CO-BROKER COMM OFFICE COMM PLEASE ENTER (C)hange (N)ext (P)rior (D)elete (H)ardcopy (E)XIT 57 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to CHANGE the sales details of a property listing: RECORD OF SALE CHANGE SCREEN SELLER MLS # ADDRESS AREA CITY STATE ZIP PHONE LISTING OFFICE LIST PRICE LIST DATE BUYER STATUS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE SALE PRICE SALE DATE EST NET PASS DATE PASS NET DEPOSIT AGENT 1 COMM AGENT 2 COMM CO-BROKER COMM OFFICE COMM PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHANGES. 58 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the HELP option on the RECORD OF SALE SCREEN: RECORD OF SALE HELP SCREEN PURPOSE The RECORD OF SALE SCREEN may be used to keep a record of pending and closed property sales. When a sale has been made you will want to record information about the buyer and other details. Once papers have been passed, the remaining details may be entered. The information is available for quick review and forms the basis for numerous reports. FUNCTION The RECORD OF SALE SCREEN will only allow you to SEARCH for a listed property. Remember, any or all of the seller's name may be searched. If the search is unsuccessful, that means you will have to enter the property listing (MASTER MENU SCREEN #1) before proceeding. Once the search is successful, you will be given the option to CHANGE the record, view the NEXT or PRIOR record as well as DELETE the record, request a HARDCOPY of the record or EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. press any key to continue... 59 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the Agent File function on the MASTER MENU SCREEN: AGENT FILE SCREEN NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE CURRENT YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHOICE (A)dd (S)earch (H)ELP (E)XIT 60 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the ADD option on the AGENT FILE SCREEN: AGENT FILE ADD SCREEN NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE CURRENT YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PLEASE ENTER THE AGENT'S NAME OR PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO EXIT. 61 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the SEARCH option on the AGENT FILE SCREEN: AGENT FILE SEARCH SCREEN NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE CURRENT YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PLEASE ENTER ALL OR A PORTION OF AGENT'S NAME OR PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO EXIT. 62 The following screen will be displayed when your search for an agent is successful. The screen will also contain details about the agent. AGENT FILE SEARCH SCREEN NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE CURRENT YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PLEASE ENTER (C)hange (N)ext (P)rior (D)elete (E)XIT 63 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to CHANGE the agent record: AGENT FILE CHANGE SCREEN NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE CURRENT YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR COMMISSIONS SALES LISTINGS TOTAL PLEASE ENTER YOUR CHANGES. 64 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the HELP option on the AGENT FILE SCREEN: AGENT FILE HELP SCREEN PURPOSE The AGENT FILE SCREEN may be used to keep a record of your agent addresses and telephone numbers. Additionally, it may be used to track their current year and previous year commissions for sales and listings. Once a sale has been closed, you will want to to update the current listing and sales commission fields. RES will automatically update the total commission field for you. The previous year commission fields are automatically updated during YEAR-END PROCESSING. FUNCTION The AGENT FILE SCREEN will allow you to ADD a new agent to your computerized file or SEARCH for an agent who is already in the file. Enter 'A' to ADD or 'S' to SEARCH. Remember, all or a portion of a name may be searched. If your search is successful, the agent record will be displayed. You will then be prompted to CHANGE, view the NEXT or PRIOR record, DELETE the record or EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. press any key to continue... 65 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the Reports function on the MASTER MENU SCREEN: REPORT MENU SCREEN 1. Agent Commissions 2. Office Commissions 3. Projected Income 4. Pending Sales 5. Closed Sales 6. Property Listings 7. REPORT DESCRIPTIONS 8. EXIT PLEASE ENTER CHOICE 66 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Agent Commissions report on the REPORT MENU SCREEN: AGENT COMMISSIONS SCREEN Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you want a report on a particular agent, please enter his or her name. If you want a report on all your agents, press the ENTER key. If you decide not to print the report, enter 'ABORT'. 67 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Office Commissions report from the REPORT MENU SCREEN: OFFICE COMMISSIONS SCREEN Please stand by while the Sales File is sorted... (After the file is sorted...) Thanks for waiting. The Sales File has been sorted and the Office Commissions report can now be printed. Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you decide not to print the report, enter 'ABORT', otherwise, press the ENTER key. 68 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Projected Income report from the REPORT MENU SCREEN: PROJECTED INCOME SCREEN Please stand by while the Sales File is sorted... (After the file is sorted...) Thanks for waiting. The Sales File has been sorted and the Projected Income report can now be printed. Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you decide not to print the report, enter 'ABORT', otherwise, press the ENTER key. 69 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Pending Sales report from the REPORT MENU SCREEN: PENDING SALES REPORT SCREEN Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you decide not to print the report, enter 'ABORT', otherwise press the ENTER key. 70 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Closed Sales report from the REPORT MENU SCREEN: CLOSED SALES REPORT SCREEN Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you decide not to print the Closed Sales report, enter 'ABORT' otherwise, press the ENTER key. 71 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to create the Property Listings report from the REPORT MENU SCREEN: PROPERTY LISTINGS REPORT SCREEN Would you like the PROPERTY LISTINGS REPORT sorted by: (A)rea, (P)rice or (T)ype ? (After entering your choice...) Please stand by while the Property File is sorted... (After the file is sorted...) Thanks for waiting. The Property File has been sorted by (Area, Price or Type) and the Property Listings report can now be printed. Please turn your printer on and make sure your paper is aligned. If you decide not to print the report, enter 'ABORT', otherwise, press the ENTER key. 72 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the REPORT DESCRIPTIONS option on the REPORT MENU SCREEN: REPORT DESCRIPTION SCREEN AGENT COMMISSIONS - Show the total commissions earned (closed sales + listing commissions) for your agents. You will be asked whether the report is to cover all agents or just an individual. OFFICE COMMISSIONS - Show the total commissions earned by your office. PROJECTED INCOME - Show your pending sale activities. The buyer, seller, property address, pass date and amount will be displayed. PENDING SALES - Show all details relevant to pending sales. The report is alphabetical by seller name. CLOSED SALES - Show all details relevant to closed sales. The report is alphabetical by seller name. PROPERTY LISTINGS - Depending upon your choice, unsold properties will be displayed by area, price or type. press any key to continue... 73 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the Year- End Processing function from the MASTER MENU SCREEN: YEAR-END PROCESSING SCREEN The purpose of Year-End Processing is to perform several tasks in preparation for beginning a new year. You may decide when the new year begins...it can be a calendar or fiscal new year. Whatever you decide, the following tasks will be performed: - All closed sale records are purged from the system. - Current year commissions are moved to prior year commissions. In the event that you want to postpone the Year-End Processing for the moment (perhaps to generate a year-end Closed Sales report or an Agent Commissions report) simply type 'ABORT'. If you are ready to perform Year-End Processing press the ENTER key. 74 The following screen will be displayed when you choose the HELP option on the MASTER MENU SCREEN: MASTER MENU HELP SCREEN Welcome to your new computerized Real Estate System, or 'RES' for short. RES provides 5 basic functions which you may find helpful on a day-to-day basis. Briefly, these functions are: - PROPERTY LISTINGS where you'll be able to add, view or update details of local properties that are for sale. - RECORD OF SALE where the details of pending/closed sales are recorded. - AGENT FILE where information pertaining to your agents may be kept. - REPORTS where you'll be able to ask for and receive numerous reports. - YEAR-END PROCESSING where year-end housekeeping is performed. The MASTER MENU SCREEN is your directory to all of the functions available within RES. You'll notice that each function is presented to you with a preceding number. So, for example, if you want to add a property listing or just look at one, you can simple enter a '1'. RES will immediately present a new screen for adding or finding the desired listing. The other options work in the same manner. If you're still learning how to use RES, enter 'Y' for more helpful pointers. Otherwise, press any other key to return to the MASTER MENU. 75 The following screen will be displayed when you choose to view the helpful pointers at the end of the MASTER MENU HELP SCREEN: GENERAL INFORMATION HELP SCREEN The following pointers will help you to be more comfortable with RES. When using the PROPERTY LISTINGS and AGENT FILE functions, you will be asked if you want to ADD a new record or SEARCH for a particular record. If you decide to search, RES will prompt you for a name. If the search is successful, the record will be displayed and you'll be able to do any of the following: CHANGE the contents of the screen. Show the NEXT or PRIOR record. DELETE the record appearing on the screen. EXIT to the MASTER MENU SCREEN. The RECORD OF SALE function works the same except that you do not have an ADD capability. This is because a property listing must already exist before the details of a pending or closed sale are entered. When using the REPORT function, a menu (much the same as the MASTER MENU SCREEN) will be displayed. Simply enter your choice. Subsequent screens will be displayed to assist you in printing your report. press any key to continue... 76 APPENDIX F. RES USER GROUP As a member of the RES User Group, you will be eligable to receive: - Free telephone support for a period of 3 months. After that time, you will be billed on a per-call basis. Telephone support will consist of answering only RES-related questions. - Free consultation time to discuss modifications to RES that you may require. If you decide to incorporate the modificat ions, we will either do the work for you and charge you a low fee or send you the source code (for a fee) so that a program mer of your choosing can do the work. HOW TO BECOME A RES USER GROUP MEMBER ? You will automatically become a RES User Group member upon receipt of the contribution mentioned on the RES logo screen. 77