You can create an element that handles the search functionality, targeting the form to a function inside a controller.
Say, if you want to search properties, you can do inside PropertyController
:
public function search()
{
//your search functionality, like $this->Property->find('all');, or adding conditions
}
Then you can add an element that has the search form, naming, say, search.ctp
(inside View/Elements
folder):
$this->Form->create('Property', array('type' => 'get'));
$this->Form->input('search');
$this->Form->end('Search');
And in your home page, you can add the element with:
echo $this->element('search');
The good thing about elements is that you can reuse it in other views, or in your layout