Use two special characters in your Matrix searches to include or exclude listings!  The wildcard asterisk (*) or the exclamation mark (!) can help you make your searches more precise.

Include Values – Wildcard

When you include any free form text field (e.g. Street Name, Remarks, Seller Name, etc.) in your search, you can expand your search by using the wildcard asterisk * (shift 8). You can use the wildcard to search in the following ways:

*king: this will find items that end with “king” (e.g. Mackenzie King, Viking)

king*: this will find items that start with “king” (e.g. King William, Kingsway)

*king*: this will find any items that contain the word “king” (e.g. Rockingham)

You can also surround a phrase by a wildcard. For example, *backyard pond* would find any items that contain the words “backyard pond” together.

You can enter multiple values, separated with a comma.  This will return all listings that contain either value.

When you search streets, it can be beneficial to add a wildcard to the end of the street name if there is some ambiguity in how the street’s name is spelled. For example, Governor* would find both “Governors” and “Governor’s”.

You don’t have to the use a wildcard in your search, but using it produces results as broad or as precise as you desire.


Exclude Values – Exclamation Mark (!)

An exclamation mark (!) can be used in a free-form text field to exclude values.  If you enter an exclamation mark (!) before your search string, the search will return listings that do not contain that value.  Similar to the wildcard, you can exclude multiple strings by separating them with a comma.

For example, !main, !king will return listings where the street name does not contain either main or king

Where Can I Use These?

The wildcard asterisk (*) and exclamation mark (!) search tools can be used in any free-form text field, which are fields that are not pick lists or drop down menus.  Free form text fields include, but are not limited to:

  • Remarks for Brokerages
  • Remarks for Clients
  • Street Name
  • Inclusions
  • Exclusions

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the MLS® Department at 905.667.4650 or support@rahb.ca.