Suggestion: add mortgage-rate filters to the market boards

A

AishaSlate

Homeowner
Established
While browsing the Johannesburg board, I kept wishing mortgage-rate information appeared consistently across valuation and market-report threads. At present, local comparisons often lead to the same follow-up questions.

Would this work best as a required thread field, a tag, or a search filter backed by an optional field? My priority is useful filtering without making casual members complete a long form, especially on mobile.
 
I would use an optional structured field that powers a search filter. A free-form tag is quicker to introduce, but people will format rates differently and the filter will soon become unreliable. Keep it collapsed or skippable on mobile, then prompt authors only when they choose a valuation or market-report category.
 
What exactly would the field record: the rate quoted to a particular buyer, the general rate mentioned in a report, or whether a loan is fixed or variable? It also needs a date. Otherwise two Johannesburg threads may look comparable in search while referring to different periods or borrower circumstances.
 
I lean toward tags rather than a dedicated field. Rates are not equally relevant to every property post, and regional boards may describe lending differently. A small controlled list would preserve posting speed and avoid adding another box to every new thread.
 
On reflection, the controlled-list part is the difficult bit. A tag could identify “mortgage-rate discussion,” but it should not try to encode the actual number. The searchable details could sit in an optional section with rate, date and context, while the tag simply marks relevant threads.
 
Old threads are another consideration. I would not ask moderators to migrate them all. Launch the optional fields for new posts, allow members to update useful older threads, and test the layout on the Johannesburg board first. After a trial, search logs and member feedback should show whether the extra structure is worth extending to other regional boards.
 
The distinction between a topic tag and structured rate details solves most of my concern. I would suggest a Johannesburg trial with an optional, mobile-collapsed section for rate, date and brief context. No bulk migration; older threads can remain searchable by text unless someone updates them. That keeps casual posting quick while making newer comparisons more dependable.
 
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