real estate dataset from scratch

[Mike Ciffone]

I have never actually created my own dataset from scratch, but I am looking to create a dataset for all the properties that my firm is currently listing. I am a beginner to actual programming in Stata, so I apologize for posting such a "stupid" question, hopefully you all can understand. I want variables for: specific name of a listing, price, size (sqft), and individual type of zoning. I also need categories if for 'sale' or 'lease". Zoning can be any retail, retail/office, investment, land, industrial or multifamily. There are near 200-300 properties I wish to do this for, and my intention is to input parameters provided by clients and return all possibilities that match (or are close to) the listings we have available.

Ex.) Name of listing = 1234_candylane, size = 2,500 sqft, Price = 3,500/month, and its zoning = retail

I greatly appreciate someone to explain to me the process behind creating this sort of dataset, or even actual syntax to help me get started.

[Ariel Karlinsky]

I may be on the minority here, but I find that stata is not a conveinent tool for data creation\input - I much prefer some sort of spreadsheet software for this such as excel or access

[Nick Cox]

There is no contradiction here. If your data are already in Excel, you should not want or need to type them directly to Stata. If not, then use whichever is more familiar. It's not a matter of convenience, so much as of familiarity. Some of us know many Stata tricks to make input easier; other people will know many Excel tricks; and so forth.