COCIE News

By Catherine Erney
Xceligent
April 2007 In Contract

As we promised last month, this month's topic is searching in the CDX. Using "The Search" in the CDX is a simple, five-step process. And, just as we learned last month, when using the Universal (or Google) search _ Less is always More. In other words, it's always better to put in just a few basic criteria and sort through a bunch of properties than to be too specific and have just a few choices turn up in your result set.

You will start your property search by clicking "The Search" in your Quick Links. This is the screen that will pop up:

As you can see, searching is a simple, quick, intuitive, five-step process. In Step One, you tell the database which property type you are looking for. This basic decision influences the choices available to you in future steps. For example, once you select Industrial properties, you have the option of specifying clear heights or the number of dock doors. Should you have selected office properties, you would be able to choose parking ratio or building Class.

Step Two is already set to search for "For Lease" properties, but you can also select "For Sale," "For Sale or Lease" or "All Properties." Nine times out of ten, our clients are searching for properties available for lease, that's why it's the default search. However, if you were going to calculate vacancy rates, or run any sort of market statistics, you would always select "All Properties." And, of course, there are agents who want for sale properties or business opportunities. Note that if you want to look at Business Opportunities, just select "For Sale" in Step Two and then you will see Sale Type pop up in Step Five. You don't have to specify a property type, as Business Opportunities cross all property type boundaries.

In Step Three, plug in the amount of available space your client needs if you are searching for property to lease. It's better to put in a range, such as 2,000 -- 4,000 SF for a user who needs 3,000 SF. If you were searching for a sale building, you would put in the building square footage. Again, in Step 3, Less is More. You can be very specific with searched in the CDX, but you might miss an appropriate property because an agent didn't fill in all of the data, rather than because that specific property doesn't meet your requirements.

Step Four is the most fun -- Geographic Requirements. The geographic criteria are very straightforward; City, Zip Code, Submarket and so on. Here, you have the option of searching the Columbus data -- or any of our other active markets -- any way you like. Once you click into any of the six geographic search areas, look for the blue underlined "Change Metro" link -- that's where you can search data in any of our other markets. When you Click into In Market/Submarket, you can check out our submarket maps (the big orange button) if you have any questions about submarket boundaries. Double click to select any submarket or hold down the control key to select a set of submarkets at once. Once they're highlighted, be sure to add them to the "Selected Submarkets" column on the right side of the screen. Under City, you can search for available property in a specific city. Under Zip codes, you can select a specific zip code -- or several separated by commas.

Finally, the map search can be the most useful tool in your repertoire, second in value only to your own market knowledge. To do a map search, click on the map icon. There, you will see a map of the Greater Columbus Area. You can use the zoom tool to hone in on a particular area or move out to a bigger geographic target. When you are in the general vicinity of your target area, you can search up to four radii or four polygons at the same time. So, for example, if you had a retail  client who wanted to be near a busy freeway  exit ramp, your map might look like  this:

If you were searching the Rte 315 corridor, which doesn't readily lend itself to a submarket or zip code search, your map might look like this:

One caveat: you have to be sure that the final line of your polygon meets back up with the beginning line. You'll know it's worked when the encircled area turns bright blue. Finally, if your resulting polygon is close but not quite perfect, you can grab any of the corner points and drag it into shape. When you've drawn the polygon(s) or radii to your satisfaction, click OK, and move on to Step Five.

Step Five includes the most commonly used search terms that relate to the property and availability types selected in Steps One and Two. If All done? Push one of the two orange "Perform Search" buttons. BUT, be sure to check out the new "Show Results on a Map" Feature -- you will see your results on the same fully customizable triple stacked grid that you're used to seeing-- as well as on a hot linked, numbered map. You can move quickly and easily back and forth between the search results, the property data and the map.

You can further sharpen your results by selecting the "Additional" tab at the top of the page. Here, you can select a particular leasing company -- or even a specific agent. Finally, the Admin Tab allows you to select the Xceligent "Tracked Set" properties -- or even listings that have been pulled as leased, sold or expired. Once you have gone through the steps once or twice, you will find The Search to be simple, intuitive and quick; the easiest way to slice through masses of data and find the answers your clients need.

While "The Search" is the most valuable gadget in your CDX tackle box, occasionally there are times that "Property/Listing" search functions better. To get to "Property/Listing" click on Searches at the black tool bar at the top of your Home page. Property/Listing is the second option. Unlike, The Search, Property Listing will allow you to select more than one geographic criteria at a time. So, if I wanted to calculate the vacancy rate for retail properties on High Street downtown, I would use the Property/Listing search. I would choose "Retail" property type, make sure I was searching for "Property" rather than available properties, insert :High" in the street name field and "43215" in the zip code. (If you're interested, I found 23 properties with a current vacancy rate of 12.6%)

In addition, I find it speedier to pull listings for an entire company or a particular agent through the Property/Listing search. I also use Property/Listing to check out properties that have been sold, leased or pulled off market.

Those are the three most common searches: The Search, Property/Listing Search and the Universal (Google) Search. Always remember: Less is More in any of them. I hope you've found this information to be helpful. Next month, we'll take a look at reporting.