How to Use SmartSearch

Requirements / Recommendations

For best results, we recommend that you use the latest version of either Microsoft ® Internet Explorer or Netscape ® Navigator. To be able to view the custom ViaSearch reports, you will need to have Microsoft ® Excel 97, or newer, installed on your computer. If you do not have Excel and do not wish to have it on your computer. Microsoft has a free viewer program that will allow you to read Excel files while not taking up too much space on your hard drive. You may download this viewer for free (PC only) from Microsoft by clicking here (3.81 MB).

For optimum results, you can configure your browser to open Excel automatically when you download the ViaSearch Report. To do this, see your browser instructions.

Search Tips - ViaSearch New Home Buyer Survey

Logging in to the ViaSearch Buyer reports will bring you to a query screen. You may then choose a county (required) and any other criteria you wish. Do not enter commas in the min-price and max-price fields. Note that the more criteria you use, the smaller the result will be. As a general rule, if you get back less than about 20, go back and widen the search, unless you are searching for a specific subdivision. If you would like to see the actual subdivisions that make up the report you may choose to show records.

After you push submit(please push it only once!), it will take between 20 and 40 seconds for the program to complete the search. Click on the link to download the actual report. (If you choose to show records, the report link will be at the end of the records). As the Excel file is downloading, you will be asked if you want to enable or disable the macros. As we are a trusted source, you can feel free to enable the macros. (Disabling the macros will not affect the report)

That is it! You can choose to print the report, save to disk or push the back button on your browser to do another search.

Search Tips - Atlanta Closings

After logging into the Atlanta Closings database, you will be taken to the query screen. There are three ways to search Atlanta's closings running down the page. The first way is Builder/ Subdivision Ranking and Market Share. Just select the time period, county, the number you want to rank and Subdivision or Builder and you will get an absorption and market share for the entire county, or absolute market share. Put in a price range or single or multiple zip codes to get a more specific or relative market share. Also you may chose to include or exclude condos/townhomes under "Type". When the ranking program brings back either a list of Subdivisions or Builders, click on the name of the Sub/Builder to get more detail.

The next way to search is the General Search. You may search by county, zip, subdivision, land lot, city,builder, price, and date. You may choose single family, multi family, or both. And you may choose to show actual records or just the statistics from your query. The standard set of statistics will show high price, low price, average price, and spread, as well as the number of records that match your search criteria. Sales will also be shown by price points and you can choose a distribution of 10K, 25K or 50K.

The last way to search is Sales By Month. You can compare up to three Subs or leave the Sub field blank to bring back total sales by month for the entire county.

Every effort has been made to standardize the subdivision names in order to increase accuracy and aid in searching. If you know the exact name of a subdivision, then chose 'exact' in the matching pull down menu. If you are unsure concerning spelling or structure of multiple part subdivision names choose 'like' in the matching pull down menu. This will pull back all sales that contain whatever you type. For example, typing "brook" in the subdivision field will return any subdivision containing brook in any part of the name, like Brookstone, Brook Mill, Saddlebrook, etc. Then you can scroll to find the right one and go back to do an exact search.

The search field for builder is set for 'exact' matches. To search for a builder, run a Ranking Query to see how it is spelled in the database, and then either copy and paste it into the General Search screen or type it exactly as we have it in the Ranking Search.