From anywhere inside Paragon, click on the Search menu to initiate a search. On the search dashboard, select the type of search you want to perform. The following guide displays a Residential property search.

Your search workspace contains the following sections:

1. Search Tabs – Paragon allows you to have open 1 search tab for each property class and other multi-tasking capabilities per tab, such as multi-search options. The highlighted tab is the tab you are currently on.
2. Search Navigation – Allows you to navigate between the Search Criteria, Map Search and Run Search. After running the search, this changes to the spreadsheet or report name you were on.
3. Multi-Search Tabs – Similar to the multi-tasking tabs in Paragon, you can also Multi-Search per Class without losing any of your results between searches. No more wasted time when a customers’ request makes you choose between searches while on Paragon. You can have three search tabs per class. Click New Search to open a new search tab. 
4. Action Bar –The Action Bar contains useful tools to help you search for properties, such as loading your last search, customizing fields and saving as a search template. 
5. Search Criteria Screen – Displays the fields and containers in the search. Enter your search criteria here. 
6. Criteria Summary – Displays the search fields and their search values. Values are removed by clicking on the box with an “x” or edited by clicking on the box with a pencil.
7. Available Reports – All available reports are displayed on the right-hand side of the Search Criteria.

Search Action Bar

The Action Bar contains useful tools to help you search for properties.

Load Search – Hover and click Load Saved Search to load an existing search template or click Load Default Search to revert to the classes default search criteria screen.

Last Search – Hover to view your last 10 searches. Click on the criteria you want to load into the search

Customize – Hover and click Fields to add and/or remove fields on the search screen or click Containers, to sort the fields into search containers on the search criteria screen.

Save Search – Hover and click Save Search to update the existing search with any changes and click Save Search As to save a new search or save the search with a new name. (see Saving Searches Quick Start Guide for more details)

Open All – Click to display all fields in up to three search containers.

Close All – Click to collapse all search containers.

Count – Displays the number of matches to your search criteria. It will display a light grey background until a change is made to the search or you click the count button.

Search – run the search and display the results based on the search criteria

Search Criteria Screen

When searching in Paragon, an empty field means return results with any value (including no value) in this field. When you enter any value into a criteria field, Paragon only returns results that contain that specific value. Also, all criteria have the same importance. No data field has a higher priority or precedence than any other data field.

Search Field Types

Auto-Complete

Auto-Complete is a tool to help you enter values into a field from a predetermined list of values.  A magnifying glass designates fields in Paragon that allow Auto-Complete.  There are three ways to use an Auto-Complete field.

1. Type in Field – with your cursor in the field, start typing part of the data value or the description.  Paragon finds some of the values that have the alphanumeric characters you have typed into the field.  The more characters you enter, the more refined your search results. You can click on the value, or when the value you want is highlighted, you can press tab or enter.
2. Double Click in Field – when you double click in a field, Paragon displays a partial list of values available for the field.
3. Click on the Magnifying Glass – clicking on the magnifying glass opens a pop-up window with a search tool.  In the Search field, start typing part of the data value or description for the value you are looking for.  Check the boxes for the values you want to enter into the field and click Save.  The tool filters the results by Contains (default option) or Begins With.

For example, start to type the community description “mck”, Paragon starts filling McKenzie Lake in your input field. Press tab to auto-populate McKenzie Lake. This feature is a real-time saver.

Feature (Multi-Select) Search

Allows you to refine your search beyond bedrooms and bathrooms and focus on the aesthetics of the buyers’ ideal property. Using a Feature (Multi-Select) Search filters your results to “high probability” buy properties. The results have the desired features without any of the undesirable features making the results ideal properties for your buyers. Using “Must have 1 or More” is recommended for Features like “Heating” if the buyers want either Gas or Electric or Heat Pump – “Show if the property has at least 1” in the Feature Category.

Status

Statuses (click on the magnifying glass on the right side of the field) display in a pop-up window that contains a tree structure. Expand or collapse each Status Category by clicking the arrowheads. By checking the numbered status, you select all of the sub-status for that category. By checking the box next to each sub-status, you can individually select any number of sub-statuses.

Click Save to save your selections and close the tool.

Close cancels your selections and closes the tool.

Area Fields

Area and other similar search fields allow you to search for specific criteria found in a dropdown box. In the field with the word Search, type in some or all of the value you expect in that field. Using the dropdown box to the right, tell Paragon if the criteria you are looking for are either “Begins With” or “Contains” the value you typed. Check the box next to the criteria to add it to your search. Some fields have additional groupings of data for that field and can be found under the tabs above the actual field’s values.

Tip: Paragon may automatically limit the available options based on your previous selections. For example, the sub-areas field shows all options until you select an area, then it only shows values specific to the area.

Tip: Community is a context-sensitive field when you choose an area. For example, if you enter the area of Edmonton, the community list only shows Edmonton communities.

High/Low or Min/Max Fields – Range Fields

These fields are the simplest to use. Depending on your client's home preferences, fill in the minimum amount that they are looking for. A high or max that they may give you then gives you the “range” of what they want for that particular field.

Price is always a range field with the Low/High sides of a price range.

In some fields, such as bedroom, bath, and year built, you may only need the minimum side to satisfy their criteria. If you use the same value for both min/maxes, you get that exact value in your search results.

Wild-Card Searches using the * or Asterisk:

In some fields (Remarks or Directions, for example) where there is no specific set of criteria values/options set for you, only information is typed into the box by the Listing Agent. Words in that text can be searched, even with just a partial spelling of the word you might be looking for. That is where the wild card comes into play.

Here is a scenario example:  Your customer wants a house with a fenced yard and let’s say for this example, the only way to search for a fence is maybe the Listing Agent typed something about fences in the Remarks field. Without knowing precisely what the Agent typed, how do you search the many possible forms of the word? That is where the * comes in. You could type into the Remarks field box, fenc* and then Paragon would look for all forms of words that have the lettering string fenc. It looks for fence, fences, fenced, fencing, etc. That is the “wild-card” action. You don’t have to type what the Listing Agent typed to get results.

Map Search

This field opens a map of your area, allows you to move/zoom the map to your needs, and then gives you a choice of drawing shapes around the area desired to search for listings that are within that area and also satisfy any other search criteria used.

Search Options

Search Options allows you to change the search operators such as Equals or Not Equals. For example, if your clients don’t want to buy a house that has a roof with cedar or pine shakes, enter Cedar Shakes and Pine Shakes in the field and change the search option to Not Equals. The results will now not include any properties with one of those options selected.

Date Fields

To search date fields, you can type in the date, use a calendar to pick from or use the Date Range search option. The Begin and End dates work similar to the Min and Max fields.

Calendar

To use the Calendar, click on the calendar beside the begin or end date.

Date Range Search Option

If you quickly need to go only some days or months back or maybe you want to look for anything in the current year, click on Date Range and select one of the options. This Date Range search option is especially handy when you are doing a CMA and looking for comparables only a few months back.