Custom Software for individuals and small business: Home Improvement Small Business

This application was created for the owner of a hardwood flooring business, but has the potential to increase the competitive advantage of any home improvement related business. The secret of this application is recording what properties are for sale and to then detect when they are removed from the selling listings. Trying to do this manually was a tedious and very time consuming job. The proprietor would spend hours and hours going through the local newspaper ads and estate agents shop windows looking for the 'sold subject to contract' notices that estate agents sometimes post on an existing advert when a property is under a sale offer. Once the following application was developed for his business it surpassed his expectations and he now claims a 30% increase in turn over.

Property search

The proprietor's primary information source for his property search is carried out on the www.rightmove.co.uk website. The required area and price range can be entered and a listing of properties can be created and stored.

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Import Property Details

Once a list of potential target properties have been identified they can then be imported into the application's database for future reference and post sale removal detection.

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Listing Removal Detection

Once a list of potential target properties has been created and stored then any property that is then removed from the seller's listings can be identified immediately. Properties are sold on a daily basis so there are more potential target properties than you would at first think. Once a removed property has been identified useful information required by any home improvement business can be used for advantage because this information was stored before the property was removed. For example floor plans provided by the seller can now be studied to determine numbers and types of rooms and if your companies services apply to this property. Floorings (Hardwood, carpet, lino etc.) by room type and size and furniture (kitchen, bedroom, fitted or non fitted) by room type and size.

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Images

Once a sold property is identified the seller's external and internal photos can be viewed even after the property has been removed from listings because they were stored by the application previously. These photos can provide valuable information on condition of the house so the service provider can identify if their services will be required. A look at the example photo shows clearly that this property is going to require extensive remodeling and so the appropriate businesses would have clear commercial advantage over rivals with the knowledge that the property's new owners are in the market for all manner of home improvement services.

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Locate the Property

A free service called Google maps is used to identify the exact location and address of the property. When the application records the property's information it records all the location information provided by the seller. This information in association with the images provided by the seller can be used to identify the exact property. Google provides in association with google maps a service called google street view this can also be used to identify the sold property.

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Google Street View

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