Application Settings (Tools --> Options)
Many of the program's configuration options are available in the Options screen:
1. Click Tools | Options. The Options screen is displayed:
General Settings
The General Settings tab allows you to define general information about you or your brokerage company. This data is used elsewhere in the program on various screens, reports, and documents where your name, address, etc. is required.
This tab also allows you to select how the application screens behave, and whether or not the Welcome tab is displayed when the program starts.
Save Warnings
"Don't warn me about unsaved data when I close a screen" - screens will not prompt you to confirm that you wish to close without saving.
"I want to be warned when closing unsaved screens" - when you close a screen without saving, you will be prompted to save or continue without saving.
Welcome Tab
The Welcome tab is the portal entry page of RealAgent Accelerator Online services and offers you up-to-date real estate headlines and news, forum access where you can interact with support staff and other users, view and post property listings, and much much more.
"Do NOT display the Welcome tab when the program starts" - the Welcome tab is not displayed.
"Display the Welcome tab - I want to kept up to date with the latest info." - the Welcome will load on startup.
If you do choose to suppress the Welcome tab but would like to view it manually, click the View Welcome Page button
on the Main Toolbar at any time.
Preferences
The Preferences tab allows you to choose how the program should display your telephone numbers and postal/zip codes, as well as select the default geographical location for your client records. You can also store an image file as a photo of yourself (for specialized reports such as Feature Sheets), and a company logo to appear in reports.
Default Postal Code Style
Select United States to use the five-digit zip code style, Canada to use the letter/number postal code style, or Other to use a custom style. If you choose Other, provide a custom text format in the textbox provided. Use ? or L to represent letters and # or 0 to represent numbers. For example, if you require that your postal code style match the following hypothetical post code:
3GT67D
you can use the following custom text format:
#??##?
Here are some of the commonly used text formatting (or "mask") codes:
|
0 |
Digit (0-9). (Entry required) |
|
# |
Digit or space. (Entry optional) |
|
L |
Letter (A - Z). (Entry required) |
|
? |
Letter (A - Z). (Entry optional) |
|
A |
Letter or digit. (Entry required) |
|
a |
Letter or digit. (Entry optional) |
|
& |
Any character or space. (Entry required). |
|
C |
Any character or space. (Entry optional) |
Default Telephone Number Style
Select North America to use its standard, or select Other and type a custom text format for your telephone number style (as explained above with postal codes).
Default Location
Choose the default Country, Province/State, and City where the majority of your clients live or your business operates. These selections will be used as the default fields for the Client screens.
Photos and Logos
Here you can store two image files, intended for a photo of yourself (the agent), and your company/brokerage logo. Click the 'Add' button
to browse for an existing image file on your computer. You can use files that are either Bitmap (.BMP), JPEG (.JPG or .JPEG), or GIF format. To replace an existing image and link to a new one, click the 'Remove' button
first and then click the 'Add' button. To view a larger version of your images click the 'View Larger Image' button
.
Schedule & Timeline
The Schedule & Timeline tab allow you to customize how the Schedule tab appears in the program. You can define the default view and your hours of business.
Work Day
Select the Start Time and the End Time which comprise your work day (eg., 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM).
Default View
Select which view you would like the Schedule tab to start up in. Choose from:
Day - schedule events appear in a per day, by the hour listing. A single day is shown onscreen.
Work Week - 5 days of the week appear simultaneously on the same screen, Monday through Friday.
Week - 7 days of the week, Monday through Sunday, are shown onscreen in a split pane style view.
Month - the schedule is shown as a monthly tabular calendar, with entries for each day of the selected or current month.
The Email tab allows you to choose whether you will use Microsoft Outlook to send email within RealAgent Accelerator, or use standard web-based (SMTP) email.
Preferred Email Send Method
Select the way you would like to send email within RealAgent Accelerator. The method you select will be used to send Email Templates, Newsletters, and email messages to clients. Choose Outlook to use Microsoft Outlook (you must have Outlook installed on your computer to use this option), or choose SMTP to use standard internet email.
Choose SMTP if you do not have Microsoft Outlook installed.
Default Email Properties
Your Email Address - type the email address you use to send email with. This will be the email address your clients will see and should be able to reply to.
Your Name - type your name - this will appear on outgoing items such as Email Templates, Newsletters, email, etc.
Default Email Subject - choose a generic email subject for outgoing mail - you will be able to override this on a per email basis, of course.
Outgoing Mail Server
If you selected SMTP as your Preferred Email Send Method, you must provide RealAgent Accelerator with your outgoing (SMTP) email server name. Often this is something like mail.yourisp.com, but contact your internet service provider for this information if you are not sure. You will also need to supply the port your computer uses to send outgoing SMTP mail. Often this is port 25 - again, if you are not sure, contact your internet provider for this information.
SMTP Mail Server - for example, mail.myinternetprovider.com
SMTP Outgoing Port - must be numeric (eg., 25)
Commission
The Commission tab enables you to define standard commission terms that you use for any and all clients. While these parameters can be overridden at the client level (i.e., you can define custom commission rates for individual clients if you choose), this tab is the place where you should define the default terms.
Remuneration Type
Choose the commission method you use most often:
Tiered Rate Commission - this is the most common commission format. A tiered rate commission is one where you charge a percentage of a portion of the final sale price, and a separate percentage of the remaining balance. For example, choose Tiered Rate to charge 3.5% of the first $100,000 and 1.5% of the remaining balance.
Fixed Rate Commission - fixed rate allows you to charge a fixed percentage on the final sale price. For example, to charge 5% of the final sale price.
Flat Rate / One-Time Fee - in situations where you charge a flat fee for your services, eg., $5000.
Configure
For each commission method you select, you should enter the specifics of this type. Choosing Tiered Rate Commission, for example, will require that you enter the percentage charged on the first portion of the final sale price, the portion cap, and the remaining balance percentage. On the other hand, if you have selected a Fixed Rate Commission, you should enter the percentage on the total sale price.
Taxes and Expenses
For all Commission types, you also have the option to flag your commission as taxable income. In most cases you will want to have RealAgent Accelerator estimate taxes and adjust your net commission accordingly. To do this, check the Remuneration is taxable at this rate checkbox and enter a tax rate to apply to your commission earnings.
In addition to taxes, RealAgent Accelerator can deduct client-related expenses when calculating client commissions. To have expenses be deducted from gross commission (i.e. pre-tax), check the Include expenses in remuneration calculations checkbox.
You can include Federal/GST (Canada) tax and/or Provincial/State/Sales tax in commission calculations by checking the appropriate boxes and specifying rates for those tax types.
More information about commission calculation
Clients & Properties
The Clients & Properties tab will make data entry on Client screens much faster by enabling you to define default values for your most common scenarios. By defining which values should be preselected for various client data fields, you make data entry easier by not having to manually select these values every time.
Default Client / Property Values
For each field, select the option that is most common to your area and your clientele. All of these fields can be overridden when you create a new Client record, but you will find that the New Client screen will be pre-loaded with the choices you make here already selected.
Custom Fields
Custom Fields allow you to define specialized data types and values for your client records. You can define up to 5 Text fields and 3 Date fields.
Custom Fields Tab Column Headings.
For each field, type a descriptive column header name for the piece of data you want to track about a client. This should be a piece of information that RealAgent Accelerator doesn't already store, such as Child Name or Car Model.
These descriptive names will appear as Column Headers on the Custom Data tab for each client.
For each client, you can then record specific data for each of your custom fields.
