The Blue Water Estate Agent (BWEA) is situated in Finchley, North London. It has good publicity from its sponsor, Clear Blue Contact Lenses. Many people go to the estate agent for good service. They get many offers from the local area. These are usually successful and good for the business. Nature of the Problem Estate Agents are paid to sell houses to the right customers. They need to know which type of houses, customers want. They must price the house according to the features of that particular house. Sales will keep changing and prices will vary.

The problem with the Estate Agent is that they do not have a sufficient way of recording sales and prices that are constantly changing. They also need to send out letters to customers efficiently and as fast as possible. Currently, with the present system, a house is put on sale buy the seller. The Estate Agents show the property to the buyers who would be interested. They know what type of property the buyers are looking for because they fill out forms on questions about the different houses available. Then, a viewing time is arranged which is suitable for both seller and buyer. If the property is chosen, the buyer offers a price.

The seller either accepts of declines the offer. If accepted, the property is sold; otherwise the property is put back on sale. This system is very gradual and takes time for it to happen. This is mainly because there is no quick way of advertising the property without a computer. A website is usually a key point in advertising for Estate Agents as the customer can look at the residences and choose the most suitable one. They can also view the information of the property on the Internet. The two users of the system are the customer and the Estate Agent. Both users need to know what types of houses are on the market.

They need to know the features of each house, the prices and the location. E. g. A bungalow will have a different price to a five bedroom detached house. The Estate Agent must know which people are interested in which houses. They should know the details of the customer and the property owners so they can update the users on any further information. They can do this by sending out information through letters when either a suitable house is found or a person is interested in their property. The Estate Agent wants to find out information about the buyer’s interests and link it to a house, which fits the sort of house they are looking for.

The want to sell properties which sellers have put up for sale to earn the seller some money and also themselves. If they can’t sell the house, they do not get a share of the profits. The customer needs to find a property they wish to buy for a respectable amount of money. They will specify what type of residence they want. They will also give their details to the Estate Agents so they can be contacted when a property of their interests is put up for sale. Customers will have access to the system when they come to the office so they can see all the houses for sale.

They have an option to look for information independently or to ask a secretary for help. Customer access will be limited and confidential files will be protected. Workers may access all files provided they are qualified. There will be one password for all receptionists to use. If customers ask for help, there will always be a receptionist to help them by using the computer. There will different files to make sorting easier for the users. A website may later be posted on the Internet to advertise Blue Water Estate Agents and the houses for sale.

It can be accessed from any working computer with the Internet. This way, people will find out about all houses and prices. It will be easy and efficient. Collect information from Potential Users They are going to collect information by using a questionnaire. They will send these to the customers by using mail merge on Access. The receptionist will be asked the similar questions about the database and the new way of storing information. We will ask them how efficient the system is for them and what they think of it. The customers will give a reply and feed back to us what they think about the system.