Wildcard searches

There may be times when you are searching for a property but you're not 100% sure about how to correctly spell the name of the street the property is on. Or, you may be searching for another agent's contact information but don't know how to spell their last name.

connectMLS uses wildcard functionality to assist in these situations. The wildcard symbol that is used in connectMLS is the percentage sign (%).

For instance, let's say you're searching for a property that has maple in the street name, but you're not sure what the rest of the street name is.

If you just enter the word maple in the street name field, you will get matches where the street name begins with the word maple:

Matches for this type of search include Maple St., Maplecrest Ln., Maple View Terrace, etc. You would get these same results if you entered the wildcard after the word maple (maple%). There is actually a built-in wildcard functionality that is automatically added to the end of any word you enter in the field, which is why you get the same results with or without using the % wildcard at the end of the street name.

However, if you are certain that there is a word in front of maple in the street name, but do not remember what it is, you can find it by using the wildcard and entering %maple in the street name field:

Matches for this type of search include Sugar Maple Way and Red Maple Ct. This search will also include properties with the word maple anywhere within the street name (because of the built-in wildcard after the word maple), so you will also get matches on Maple St, Maplecrest, etc.

As we mentioned earlier in this article, the wildcard also comes in handy when doing a roster search (for agents or offices). The wildcard functionality remains the same regardless of the field you are using it in (street name, agent last name, etc.).

There is a built-in wildcard added to the end of the word you enter, so the search will find exact matches as well as those agents whose name ends in the characters you entered:

• Entering gold (or gold%) in the last name field will give you agents where the last name begins with gold, such as Gold, Goldman or Goldschmidt.

If you add the wildcard in front of the characters you enter in the field, you will get matches where that string of characters is anywhere within the last name: 

• Entering %gold (or %gold%) in the last name field will give you agents with last names such as Gold, Golden, McGoldrick and Weigold.

For the majority of the search fields, you will not need to use a wildcard. This is because most of the fields are not open, free text fields. They are pre-determined lists from which you choose your desired option(s).

On property searches, in addition to the street name field, you may find the wildcard might helpful when working with the following fields:

• • • Directions
    • Public Remarks
    • Public Remarks Addendum
    • Agent Remarks
    • Showing Instructions
    • Subdivision/Complex

On Agent/Office roster searches, the wildcard works with the following fields:

• • • First Name
    • Last Name
    • Office Name
    • Office City