TheCommissionFactor home page

The CommFact application is used by the real estate agents and brokers employed by TheCommissionFactor.com as well as their clients. The program allows them to request an advance on their real estate commission. TheCommissionFactor staff review the applications and either approve the request and send the money out, or decline the request. At the close of escrow, the escrow closing office uses the agent’s or broker’s commission money to repay the advance to TheCommissionFactor.

An agent or broker begins by registering on the application’s main web page. The application collects their personal information including license number, agency information, and personal residence owner information. Once the information is submitted, a user account is created but remains “inactive” so the agent or broker can not access the system yet. They automatically receive an email notification to this effect. TheCommissionFactor staff also receives an automated email that a new user has registered. They log on, see the “pending” users and either activate or lock the user’s account depending on if the submission is valid. An email notification is sent to the user with their user name and password and how to access the site and submit applications if they are approved. The client requested this type of verification process to prevent competitors from viewing a majority of the site, making it hard for them to duplicate the application.

The Edit Application Submission screen allows administrators to modify submission details, as well as manage checklist To-Do’s

Next, the user completes an application submission in order to request an advance of funds. After filling out the online form, much like a loan application, TheCommissionFactor staff is notified via automatic text message that a new application needs processing. PDF documents are automatically created when a new application is submitted and automatically emailed to the requestor to “wet-sign” and fax or mail back to TheCommissionFactor. Also, when the submission is saved to the database, a configurable Checklist of To-Do items are applied to the new application, each of them marked as ‘Undone’ and in a specific to-be-done order. TheCommissionFactor staff can then simply follow the To-Do list, performing each back-office task, such as ensuring a signed document is received by the broker via fax or mail, ensuring the agent actually owns the commission on the property that will soon close, etc. As each item is completed, they check off the item. This process could take a full day to several days, depending on how speedy the requestor is at providing the needed documentation.

Finally, while the requestor is waiting for their application to be approved, they can access the site and view their submitted applications and details. Although the requestors cannot see the To-Do checklist details, they are able to clearly see the calculated percentage of completion for that submission. This keeps everyone informed of the progress as it changes.

The View Detail of an application submission allows Administrators to review a checklist To-Do items

1. Event Usage Logging to a database table.


2. Application Approval To-Do Checklist.


1. When an application is submitted, a master copy of the To-Do list is applied to this Application with the status of each item defaulted to Undone. To-Do’s appear in a pre-specified order.


2. During the review and approval process, an Administrator can ‘check’ To-Do’s off the list as they perform each back-office task. There are about 60 default tasks that need doing to approve each application.


3. A percentage status is displayed to the end user so they can see the progress of their submission (e.g. 74% complete).


3. Password Encryption using TripleDES. Passwords are encrypted in the database. The customer requested a “Lost Password” feature which includes decrypting the password before emailing the credentials.


4. Email/fax/text message notification system with easily changeable text file verbiage using replaceable tokens.


1. Automatic email to end users.


2. Automated Text Message to Administration’s cell phone, or email depending on that particular person’s preference.


3. Text file verbiage is easy to manage and update since it is a simple text file. Although changes are not anticipated regularly, there is no need to hire a developer to change it.


4. Replaceable tokens within the text file notification text allows for easy basic customization of the message. For Example, “Dear [UserFirstName] [UserLastName], ….”. The real values are replaced by the system before the message is sent.


5. Active/Locked user verification on attempted logon.


6. Redirecting to a different ‘base’ page on logon based on the user’s role (Agent, Broker, Administrator, etc.)


7. New user workflow where a user is unable to access the system after registration, until an Administrator ‘Approves’ the user by clicking an Approve button. This Approval process uses the notification subsystem to send an email to the user informing them that they were approved and how to access their account.


8. New application workflow where a user submits a new application online and the application is pending while an Admin is notified via Pager or Cell Phone Text Message. When the application is approved or rejected, a notification email is sent to the user informing them of the final decision.


9. Agents and brokers can view only their own applications and are unable to modify anything.

The figure above describes what happens when a user logs in.

We spent about one man-week on this portion of the project.

This page was customized so the Approve or Reject icons are inline for each submission listed

We decided not to use a database View for this application because TheCommissionFactor wanted to see the data in logical regions on the screen.

The CommFact design them was created exclusively for TheCommissionFactor company. We changed the CSS of an existing Iron Speed Designer design theme to synchronize the colors with the customer’s desired corporate look.

Without the time I saved using Iron Speed Designer this project would not have been feasible. The application would have been too complicated and too expensive to build by hand. I may have been able to complete some version of the application, minus all of the automation. However, this would have required TheCommissionFactor to pay a lot more money in the long run for the employees needed to do all of the back-office work manually.

While the initial release was targeted at users in the southern California area, in an effort to maintain control of the growth, the next phase is targeted to expand throughout California and later throughout the United States.

Jim was an early adopter of Iron Speed Designer and worked closely with Iron Speed Technical Engineers while the product was maturing. Jim’s major strengths are in Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, C#, Visual Basic .NET, XML, and Reporting.

Visit www.rcsdev.com.