Making a big purchase such as that of a home can be very overwhelming. There are a multitude of different factors to consider: The cost, the size, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the neighborhood. It’s a never-ending list, but a list where each piece is important in the decision making process. Not to mention the amount of houses you actually see before you decide to make an official offer. It’s a lot to handle. Weighing out different priorities can also be challenging. The cost of the home is typically the most significant factor when considering homes. Aside from price, there are several other pieces that can make a big difference in your decision. Do you want a big yard? Does parking matter to you? What about the neighborhood? Do you need a bank nearby, or do you need to be close to public transportation? These are only a few factors that also make a big impact when considering which house to go with. Allow this template to gather all of that information, helping you weigh out the pros and the cons of each house. Using the House Search template can make your decision be as informed as possible with minimal organizational stress. Although making a very big purchase requires plenty of consideration, it shouldn’t feel like a complete burden exploring the home buying journey. Having an easy database or template where you can just punch in all of the information without having to structure anything yourself can help alleviate some of the mental responsibility of coming up with a plan. Allow yourself to enjoy the process, pay more attention to the inside of the homes, the things you like, the areas that need improvement. Jot everything down in the template itself from the start instead of trying to rummage through endless papers to find the one paper that had the realtor’s phone number on it scribbled in the corner. Plug the notes in the template, and allow your mind to begin decorating the interior of the home during your tours. Buying a home enables you to start a new chapter in a new location. Starting your journey by taking the right steps, stay organized and informed. Starting off on the right food can make a decision like this more exciting and pleasant. Making that jump is scary enough, so anything you can do to make the journey more relaxing and efficient is ideal to make you feel more comfortable and at ease. Here are a few template features and highlights, by table:

Houses

This table includes all of the details about each individual house. These details are important when making a decision for which home you’d like to make an offer on. This table is very helpful when comparing houses, their features, and the prices.

Fields

• MLS listing. This field contains MLS listing.
• Address. This field links to the Applications table, and it lists the address of the particular home.
• Picture. A picture of the specific house.
• # of bedrooms. The number of bedrooms the house has.
• # of bathrooms. The number of bathrooms the house has. you can use decimals for half baths.
• Size. The size of the house measured in square meters.
• Price per sq m. A formula field calculating the asking price of the house divided by the size of the house.
• Asking price. The price the sellers are listing.
• Down payment. This is a formula field that calculates the cost of the down payment assuming the rate is 20% down.
• Principal. This is a formula field that calculates the amount of money that would be taken out in the form of a loan. It subtracts the down payment from the asking price.
• Interest. The interest rate offered from the lender.
• HOA fee. The home owners association fees due every month.
• Property taxes. The estimated property taxes for the home.
• Insurance. Estimated Insurance rates for the house.
• Rating. Your personal rating of the house on a scale of 1-5. Is this your ideal house or are there other places that pique your interest? This field can help narrow your search.
• Features. This field includes a variety of commonly desired features for the home such as a big yard, parking, and many more. It is a drop down multiple select field. Pick as many apply to the home!
• Notes. This field allows for additional notes about the home you’d like to include whether they are things that will need more fixing, or if they are things that you love about the design.
• Open houses. This field links to the Open houses table, displaying the open house schedule.

Views

• All houses. Displays all of houses that are currently under consideration sorted by lowest price to highest price.
• Within budget. Displays houses that cost less than $500,000. The houses are sorted by the lowest price to the highest asking price.
• Minimum 2bd/2ba. Displays houses that have a least 2 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, although it includes those houses that have even more. The houses are sorted by the lowest price to the highest asking price.
• Highest rated. Displays only houses that received the rating of “Ideal house.” The houses are sorted by the lowest price to the highest asking price.
• Pet friendly. Displays houses that have the big yard selected as a feature/amenity of the home and houses are bigger than 13,000 square meters. The houses are sorted by the largest in size to the smallest.
• Parking space. Displays houses that have the parking spot selected as a feature of the home. The houses are sorted by the lowest price to the highest asking price.
• Spacious. Displays houses that are over 13,000 square meters in size. The houses are organized by the size in square meters.
• Gallery: All houses. Displays all houses in a gallery view, sorted in ascending order by asking price.
• By rating. Displays houses in a kanban view, stacked by rating.

Applications

This table allows you to track how far along you are with each individual application. It groups together information from different tables that is pertinent to the application and scheduling a showing for the home.

Fields

• Address. This field includes the address of each house.
• Status. This field is a drop down single select menu of where you are with the application.
• MLS listing. This field links to the Houses table, allowing you to view the URL to the original listing of the home.
• Open houses visited. This field links to the Open houses table, which displays all the open houses that were visited for each particular application.
• Contacts. This field links to the Contacts **table, indicating which particular agent has been handling the showings for the property in question.
• Looking to sell by. This field lists the date that the owners are looking to sell the property by.
• Additional notes. This field allows you to include more notes on the application or the process.

Views

• All applications. Displays all applications. The applications are organized by the earliest ideal sell date to the latest ideal sell date.
• Scheduled visits Displays the houses that have a tour scheduled as suggested by the application status.
• Looking to sell in November. Displays only houses where the owners want to finalize the sale by the end of November. The applications are organized by the earliest ideal sell date to the latest ideal sell date.
• To reach out. Displays properties that still require action on your part in order to schedule a viewing for the home.
• By status. Displays all applications in a kanban view stacked by the application’s status.

Contacts

When you’re emailing back and forth with several contacts, keeping track of which realtor is associated with which property requires impressive memory. This table identifies each realtor, the company they represent, and highlights of your interactions in case you have more questions or would like to follow up with them. The contacts are sorted in alphabetical order.

Fields

• Name. This field lists the name of each of the contacts.
• Title. This field indicates whether the contact is a real estate agent or a broker.
• Company name. This field links to the Brokerages table, allowing you to select which particular brokerage the contact works at.
• Online rating. This field includes a rating from a drop down single select option indicating the online ratings.
• Phone number. The phone number of the contact.
• Email address. The email of the contact.
• Last contacted on. This date field indicates the last time you have been in contact with the agent.
• In reference to. This table links to the Applications table, allowing you to view the particular property the agent has been assisting you with.
• Open houses ran. This field links to the Open houses table, indicating the dates and times that this agent ran open houses for.
• Additional notes. This field allows you to jot down extra notes for anything else you’d like.

Views

• All contacts. Displays all of the contacts sorted in alphabetical order.
• Contacts @ Sotheby's. Displays only the contacts representing Sotheby’s sorted in alphabetical order.
• Contacts @ Berkshire. Displays only the contacts representing Berkshire sorted in alphabetical order.
• Contacts @ Kendall Wood. Displays only the contacts representing Kendall Wood sorted in alphabetical order.
• Highest rated contacts. Displays the contacts that have the rating of “exceptional” sorted in alphabetical order.
• By online rating. Displays all contacts by online rating.

Neighborhoods

Location, location, location. This is one of the top—if not the top—factor when purchasing a home. The Houses table contains which neighborhood the house resides, but that information is tied to this Neighborhoods table, which entails all of the different details about that neighborhood. How far away are essential places like grocery stores and banks? This table gives you more background info on the neighborhood itself.

Fields

• Neighborhood. A list of the names of the different neighborhoods.
• Nearby grocery stores. A drop down multiple-select field that allows you to choose from a list of grocery stores located in the neighborhood.
• Banks nearby. A drop down multiple-select field that allows you to chose from a list of banks located in the neighborhood.
• Schools nearby. A single line field that allows you to type in the name of any schools in the neighborhood.
• Entertainment. This multiple select field identifies different forms of entertainment in the area.
• Noise level (1-10). This field allows you to enter an integer 1-10 that rates the noise level of the neighborhood. You may want to ask the contact about this one.
• Friends in area. In this field, you can checkmark whether you have friends located in the neighborhood or not. Socializing is important!
• Public transport (km). This field allows you to record the distance in km to the closest public transportation.
• Highway (km). This field allows you to record the distance in miles to the closest highway.
• Additional notes. This field allows you to jot down more notes on the neighborhood.

Views

• All neighborhoods. Displays all of the neighborhoods without any filter.
• Quiet neighborhoods. Displays only the neighborhoods that have a noise level of 5 or below.
• Close to public transport. Displays only the neighborhoods that are 1/2 a km or closer to a public transport station or bus stop. The neighborhoods are sorted by the closest to the furthest distance from public transport.
• Close to highway. Displays only the neighborhoods that are within 1.5 km to a highway entrance. The neighborhoods are sorted by the closest to the furthest distance from a highway entrance.
• Night life. Displays all neighborhoods that have bars and restaurants within a ten minute walk.

Open houses

There are so many open houses happening all around! This table allows you to keep track of upcoming open houses and the contact person for each of those. Don’t miss out on a chance to view some of the houses in person.

Fields

• Date and time. This field lists all of the individual dates and the scheduled time for each open house.
• Address. This field is linked to the Applications table, indicating which open house is linked to which specific address and application.
• MLS listing. This field is linked to the **Houses **table, displaying the MLS listing number associated with the property.
• Visited. This field allows you to checkmark off whether you have visited or did not visit the property on the open house date.
• Contact. This field links to the Contacts table, allowing you to select the point person that will be handling the open house.
• Notes. This field allows you to include any additional notes you may have at the open house.

Views

• All open houses. This view includes all of the dates for every single open house sorted by the earliest to the latest open house date.
• Open houses in October. This view narrows down the list of open houses to only include those happening in a specific month. The chosen month here is October. The houses are sorted by the soonest to the latest date.

Brokerages

This table contains a list of the different companies the contacts represent. Oftentimes, companies will have a multitude of different listings with different agents representing different homes. This table links the agents and the companies together. The different brokerages are sorted in alphabetical order.

Fields

• Name. The name of the company.
• Website. The company website’s URL.
• Phone number. The company’s primary phone number.
• Headquarters. The location of the company’s headquarters.
• Representatives. This field links to the Contacts table indicating which contact is associated with the company.

Views

• All companies. Displays all companies in the database sorted in alphabetical order.