A Fuzzy Logic Approach to Property Searching in a Property Database

Properties are a very important commodity in any contemporary market. To find the right property for a targeted purpose still seems to be a hard task. With the development of computers and electronic information systems and with the evolution of the internet; electronic property portals and databases have emerged. The search function within these databases is capable of producing fast results, but only results that match ‘hard specified’ criteria. However, the need of a user is different as he seeks the ‘best’ result according to his preferences. Currently no public property portal offers the possibility to accommodate user’s preferences into the search. The approach of the user when searching for a property is shown. Theoretical analysis of this problem with mathematical possibilities of how to solve it is presented. Then a fuzzy approach to searching incorporating user preferences (with theoretical and practical background) is proposed. Finally the verification of the fuzzy logic approach is demonstrated and evaluated by the case study methodological approach, where contemporary traditional approach and the new fuzzy approach are compared.