From leif@cs.washington.edu Thu Nov 6 23:46:11 1997 Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 19:48:50 -0800 (PST) From: Leif Kirchoff To: Martin Dickey Subject: Database Proposals Proposal One: A Real Estate COMPS Database ------------------------------------------- The COMPS database is a database to aid real estate appraisers in finding comparable properties. The database could also be adapted to be used for Realtors to find properties to show their clients. In fact, the project could go either way, depending on group interests - only the user interface would be different. In real estate valuation, the appraiser must find property that is comparable to the subject property. By examining several comparable properties, including ones that have sold, an appraiser can determine a market value based on what the property will sell for, what the property's income potential is, or what it would cost to replace the property. The core of the database would consist of a root table that lists properties. There would be relations of this root table that would contain all of the pertinent information about the property, including pictures, locations, sales, public records, description, qualitative information (view, condition...), quantitative information (size, type, number of floors...), etc. The user interface would attempt to present all of this information in a useful manner. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges with the user interface design is figuring out how to make it easy to use. Another challenge is to create a search system that finds properties effectively given the appraiser's constraints. This database could be implemented in Microsoft Access. Alternatively, if the group were large enough, it would be an interesting experiment to use SQL server, along with a Web interface (I have experience doing this). This would allow this system to be a shared system that more than one appraiser could use.