Lots
General Overview
Lot Management is essential to your operations.
Lots are used to control the ownership, Budget, actuals, and Scheduling and Task Operations of the Lot upon which the Model is to be built. Once everything is setup in the HomeBuilder database the Lots system functionality collates all this information and becomes a hub for construction management and tracking.
Note
Because the Lot page is central to the whole system, it links to many more areas than other parts of the system.
It is also one of the last things to be setup as it requires all the "Related" areas (shown below) to be setup to be used properly.
From the business perspective a Lot represents the following:
- For Low Rise: the piece of land where one house (or townhouse) will be built and the house itself.
- For High Rise: the unit in a condominium and/or the floor itself.
Buttons available on the Ribbon
Search for Lots. Your first available area on the ribbon is called Home, and it has a submenus called Actions, Related, Related\ Other, and Reports. The buttons available are:
Home
- click on New Action Button to add a new Lot.
- Budgets - will open the "Lot Budget" page.
- Lot Installments - provides a list of Deposits or Payments made against the Lot.
- Selection Packages - see Upgrades and Extras.
- Planning Lines - see Site Planning and Operations.
- Task Operations - See Lot Task Operations.
- Task Operations link you directly with tasks assigned to the Lot.
- Inspections bring up options for inspections that can be conducted on the Lot.
Actions
- Change Status - Changes the Lot Sales Status from Available to Sold Conditional, Sold Firm, Sold Closed and Occupancy.
- Site Model on Lot - See Site Planning and Operations for general information and Site and Un-site Model on the Lot for details.
- Add Budget Revision - see Budgets and Costs and Lot Budget
- Populate Adjustment Journal - see Lot Closing and Standard Adjustment Journals
- Release - See Site Planning and Operations.
- Un-release - See Site Planning and Operations.
Related
- House Areas - provides information about individual house areas, like Bedrooms 1, 2, Basement or Backyard.
- Closing Dates - provides options for inputting Lot Closing Dates and Adjustment names.
- Customer and Contacts- these buttons will bring you to Customers and Contacts assigned to the highlighted Lot. (this is in addition to Customers and Contacts - both are searchable using the magnifying glass and part of the standard Business Central functionality.)
- Sales Log - Provides Lot Sales History with Sale Status, Date and Customer names.
- Job Cost Ledger Entries - opens up a table containing Ledger Entries posted on that Lot.
- Workflows - This page will bring you to the Lot Workflows page. See Construction Workflow Templates for general information.
- Key Dates - see Lot vs. Phase Key Dates or for setup and general information go to Key Dates
- Comments - provides options for inputting Lot Comments and associated Monetary Values.
- Posted Adjustment Entries - see Lot Closing.
- Dimensions- will bring the Dimensions for the Project, i.e. your Lot.
Reports
- Cost Detail (Excel) - exports a structured report containing detailed financial reporting information pertaining to that specific Lot (per Cost Detail). For summary information for all Lots in one place, select Lot Cost Summary Report.
Lot Card FastTabs and Field Definitions
This part of the article describes areas on the Lot Card that can be minimized or expanded. They are called FastTabs.
Lot Fasttab - General
This section contains general information about the Lot, including Phase and Lot Codes, Address details, Sales Status, and other information related to the state of the Lot. Most of the field names explain their function as well.
| Field Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Model Code | Specifies the model which will be built on the lot. On changing the Model Code the Lot Budget will be re-populated from the Model Budget of the selected model. |
| Sited | The action of siting adds all the 'Base Contract' planning lines created based on the Model Code (from the Model Items) of the Lot. This boolean flag indicates if siting has been executed for the lot. |
| Released | If set to Yes, means that the 'base contract' planning lines of the Lot are released for construction. |
| "Sales Status", "Sited", and "Released" | Informational only and Non-editable fields that are updated when you perform one of the actions from the Actions button on the ribbon |
Lot Fasttabs Purchaser and Purchaser Contacts
Shows information related to the purchaser of the Lot.
| Field Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Customer No | A lookup to the Customers in Business Central. This means that before assigning to a Lot, the corresponding Customer record should be created using standard Business Central functionality. |
| Name, Phone No. & E-mail | Information fields that are automatically added from the Customer information |
Note
You can only change the purchaser ("Customer") if the "Sales Status" is not "Sold Conditional" or "Sold Firm".
These statuses are both considered legal contract conditions between the purchaser and Home Builder, that require a change of sales status before allowing the sale to another purchaser.
Lot Fasttab - Land
This section contains non-mandatory, informational-only fields related to the land of the Lot.
Enter whatever makes sense to your business.
Lot Fasttab - Sales
This section contains information related to lot pricing and deposits.
Note
A user can only see this section if this user has the Functional Permission 'Lot prices'.
Assign this permission under the Functional Roles in page 'User Card. Search Users, then select a User Card.
| Field Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Model Price | The price associated with the combination of Model and Lot Type (Model Lot Types). It gets retrieved from the most recent "Model Lot Type" record on assigning Model Code to the Lot. |
| Original Price | The original price of the Lot. Normally, it is the same as the Model Price. |
| Premium Amount | An additional price (over and above the Model/Lot Type price) related to the premium conditions of the Lot, for example, lake view, ravine lot, etc. |
| Offer Price | Sum of Original Price and Premium Amount. |
| Amendment | The total price amount including taxes of Lot Selection Packages, i.e. upgrades and extras. |
| Total Price | Sum of Original Price and Premium Amount. |
| Deposits | The sum of the Posted Lot Installments which are not invoiced. |
| Outstanding Amount | The Total Price less Deposits. |
Lot Fasttab - Budgeting
This is a system-calculated Budget Summary page.
It includes a Cost, Revenue and Profit matrix by Estimated, Planned, Actual, Outstanding values and Completion %.
Note
A user can see this section only if this user has the Functional Role 'Exceed Budget'
You can assign this permission on the Function Role in page 'User Card' Search Users, then select a User.
Lot Fasttab - Milestones
This is a quick overview of your Construction Schedule for the Lot. It is an automatically created (reduced list) of Lot Key Dates showing only those marked as a Milestone.
Lot Fasttab - Closing
This is a quick view, summary of the key Closing Dates containing only original and current closing dates with the current Adjustment Type.
For a full list of Closing Dates click on the Lot ribbon, select Related, then select "Closing Dates".
Lot Fasttab - Legal
This section contains non-mandatory, informational-only fields related to the legal information for this Lot. Enter whatever makes sense to your business.
Lot Fasttab - Construction
This section contains non-mandatory, informational-only fields related to construction specifics (e.g., Noise Impact Report, Positioning on the Lot, etc.) that could be of use to retain for future reference. Can be used to suit an individual Home Builder's business needs.
Portal Integration
Displays the status of your HomeBuilder System connection to the HomeBuilder Portal. The Portal enables your Team to interact with home purchasers and document change orders or Color Chart selections agreed to. There are also ways for Vendors to interact with your admin team. More information after you log into our HomeBuilder Portal.
Note
- Technical Note: Lots are represented by the Business Central table "Jobs".