To satisfy the needs of a wide range of сustomers, real estate agencies need to be extremely flexible and have a comprehensive view of each client.

In the past, it was a really hard task and perhaps even impossible sometimes, because of the absence of effective tools for keeping all relevant information: some data could be missed, details could be misrepresented.

But people have always sought to improve the efficiency of their work, while making it as easy as possible. Machines, computers, robots, programs - everything was created in the name of improving efficiency and increasing production and sales.

Service sector entities, including real estate agencies, were no exception. Today, due to the development of special cloud-based management software keeping clients’ records has become more comfortable and productive. The variety of such programs can be combined into a general group called CRM.

Today, due to the development of special cloud-based management software keeping clients’ records has become more comfortable and productive. The variety of such programs can be combined into a general group called CRM.

What is Real Estate CRM? 

A standard CRM solution for a real-estate agency stands for customer management software which helps users carry out and manage transactions, attract and retain clients, and arrange various deals.
This is a special program able to operate on several platforms at the same time. Thus CRMs can be used either from a computer or laptop, or from a smartphone or tablet.

Any kind of business is actually based on various interactions with the existing and potential customers. But what has always been the topical problem is how to store and analyze the customers’ data better to be able to render better services and get higher profits. In this connection, CRM software is an issue that can solve most of these problems as it works with information from different sources including email services, website and social media analytics, phone history.

CRM software for a real estate agency takes into account the specifics of this activity. The functional sections it consists of include analytical reviews, information on objects, customers, transactions, etc. With the help of a CRM for a real estate agency, any employee who has access to it is able to receive data about a client, the number of successful transactions with him, etc. in a few minutes.

CRM for a real estate agency is vital. It helps to track the efficiency of the realtors' work, the reliability of buyers and sellers themselves as well as track the actual information on the objects. Basically, it has a great number of features that can significantly facilitate and speed up the work of a real estate specialist.

Custom Real Estate Software Development: Pros and Cons

Like in any other business solutions development, there are advantages and disadvantages in custom real estate CRM software development. Let's explore the pros and cons of opting for a custom solution.

Pros:

• Tailored Functionality. Custom real estate CRM software development for your agency means you get to design a system that fits your agency's operations. Such a strategy ensures that all the features implemented have a definite role to play, hence increasing the general usability of the system.
• Scalability. Another advantage with Real Estate CRMs is that as you expand your business, you can easily take the CRM with you. Custom software development does not have those restraints and can be updated and added on to as new needs arise. At Linkup Studio, we build systems while keeping in mind their future potential scaling. 
• Integration Capabilities. As a marketing automation tool, custom real estate CRM can be built to work in unison with other applications in your agency, such as a listing portal, accounting software, or marketing platform. The integration of these two systems comes as a package and leads to efficient data management and little or no manual entry of data.
• Competitive Advantage. An out-of-the-box CRM can be advantageous because it is determined by your business needs and not generalized like other main solutions. It can help to promote unique selling propositions and enable you to provide your clients with better customer value.
• Data Security and Compliance. Custom real estate CRM software development also gives you full authority to apply and control the security measures for data and meet all the data regulations that relate to the industry. This is especially important in the real estate industry, where a whole lot of records involving the customer and the premises are processed.

Cons:

• Higher Initial Investment. In most cases, companies develop their custom real estate CRM systems, and this means that it is going to cost more than if one had to buy an already developed software. A considerable amount of costs may be required during the design, development, and testing phases.
• Longer Implementation Time. Building a new CRM system from the ground up requires some time. The concept of requirement gathering, designing, development, and testing can sometimes go up to several months, and this might cause a long wait for seeing and experiencing the benefits.
• Ongoing Maintenance and Support. If a company undergoes an implementation of a custom solution, for example, the company bears the task of maintaining, updating, and supporting the system. This can mean the need for IT support or continued dependence on the development team, which will likely be more expensive in the long run.
• Risk of Over-Customization. The challenge remains in over-specifying the system so that other features are introduced, which may be cumbersome to the end users. It is important, though, to be as precise as possible while at the same time avoiding the creation of a complex plan of attack.
• Dependency on the Development Team. Your company may be dependent on the original development team for major updates or modifications, which becomes difficult if the team is no longer available or if you wish to switch to another provider. At Linkup Studio, we have a culture of taking care of documentation for any digital product we create or work with. It is done to ease a new staff member's onboarding process into the product or help the whole new team or company figure out how the product works. 

In discussing whether or not to outsource your own custom real estate CRM software development, you should weigh your agency’s current and future requirements and budget. As with any unique solution, there are many significant advantages to having a tailor-made solution, including the potential to gain precise alignment with your business processes and the potential for growth. However, the costs and issues involved also cannot be disregarded.

It can be said that to many real estate agencies, the benefits and earnings that come with custom real estate CRM make its disadvantages seem nothing compared to the outcome where the system is properly planned and implemented. A custom real estate CRM is something that can be used as a best-practice solution that will help in terms of productivity, clients, and, consequently, the agency’s prosperity in the relevant market.

Why Custom Real Estate CRM Software Development? 

We should consider the fact that there is a wide range of firms and companies involved in real estate business. Just have a look at this list of the most popular ones:

• Real Estate Brokerage Firms & Agents
• Real Estate Development Firms
• Real Estate Management Firms
• Interior Design Companies
• Mortgage Companies
• Title Insurance Companies
• Appraisal Companies
• Building Owners
• Real Estate Consultants
• Expeditors

And yet there are many others. But despite any of these kinds, it doesn’t really matter how typical your business might seem, its team, operating manner, style and internal processes are unique. Therefore it is very hard to find a universal CRM system which satisfies the needs of different companies and operates perfectly well for everyone. That is when custom CRM software development comes up with the best solution for you. Moreover in current conditions when the business struggle for a place in the sun has become as intensive as never before you might be willing to make your company stand out from the crowd. And custom CRM software will definitely help to reflect your own unique identity.

Benefits of Implementing Custom Real Estate CRM

Any kind of CRM software (custom and non-custom) is developed to help companies attract new customers and retain the current ones.

Recent surveys show that 91% of agencies with a number of employees exceeding 10 use CRM systems in client management, which means that even small businesses consider these solutions to be efficient and useful. But as we have already mentioned ready-made CRM solutions do not always fit into the existing business processes. That is why many companies prefer developing their own digital tools to manage the data and boost marketing models.

So let’s see what lies behind the efficiency of custom CRM solutions and consider their core benefits:

The Software is Tailored to Your Specific Needs

Each type of real estate agency offers its own set of services, which can differ greatly in specifics. Therefore off-the-shelf solutions do not always meet the requirements of a particular agency. Moreover, ready-made CRM solutions often make you pay for the features you are not going to use but some additional features which are needed in your work are often not included into the package. The greatest advantage of the custom real estate CRM is that it is tailored specifically to your business flows and needs. You can add any features you want to make your system functionality comply with the tasks that the company solves.

Custom Workflow Automation

Real estate is a complex industry and a wide range of tasks to perform like arrangement of contact information, relationship management, scheduling of calls and meetings, etc. tends to be especially hard for big companies. Packaged solutions do not always allow performing specific kinds of automation as they cover only the common needs of different businesses. This is the very case when custom CRM solutions can be of much help as they are able to automate such spheres as sales, marketing, notifications, customer support, analytics, etc.

Better Management 

CRM solutions have great potential to help your business achieve the desired goals. The CRM package includes visual dashboards where users can view the full picture of the sales process.

Tracking the progress, adding tasks, setting up meetings, scheduling appointments and calls are among the tasks which can be easily performed with the help of the software. Due to the synchronization of calls, emails, and calendars, you can easily discuss meeting time with leads and share arrangement details. Custom CRM systems allow managing the processes taking into account the specific flows of a particular company. The elements of the system with the help of custom CRM software can be developed in small sessions as well as changed and scaled whenever it is needed.

Convenient Storage of Client Information

The client base is the most valuable asset of any company. When it comes to sorting and keeping customer data CRM software for real estate agencies is extremely helpful.

Custom CRM systems allow any employee working in the company to use any information stored in it and at the same time update the database, replenishing the program archive with the results of his professional activities: creating, selecting, editing, registering a transaction. The entire history of the real estate agency is entered into CRM for real estate, which allows you to keep an analytical record of the results of its activities. With small details like user stories, preferences, activity history, you’ll be able to provide excellent customer service to your clients.

Better Lead Attraction and Customer Retention

Recent surveys show that custom CRM software has a strong influence on the growth of business and its results.

When you need to consider why and at what stage you are losing your clients you’ll probably have to fall back on customer analytics. But standard CRM systems will allow you to filter only basic information and data on your clients whereas custom CRM software takes the advantage of providing combinations of filters and features of your customers.

Special modules for lead management can simplify loads of procedures and allow you to reduce time spent on preparing for meetings, timely perform various follow-up activities, easily find documents or contact details. They also help to determine customer preferences and behavior which makes it easier for you to choose the relevant strategy.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop Custom Real Estate CRM Software?

The costs of custom real estate CRM software development and its stages depend on various factors, such as the exact requirements of developing a custom real estate CRM software, the location of the development team, and the entire spectrum of the system. It is crucial to understand that the development of an individual real estate CRM always has various options and costs for different companies and demands.

Below, we outlined the basic stages of custom real estate CRM software development to help you get an idea of how it works and its costs. The following table sums up these stages and also provides a short description of each as well as the estimated price. It is important to understand that these costs are calculated at an average rate of $50 per hour for service – which is the same as our rates for development services at Linkup Studio.

The average cost of a custom real estate CRM software development is approximately $60,000-$120,000 + or – based on your project’s complexity and size. These estimates extend to the initial developmental phases up to the deployment phase.

However, it is wise to keep in mind that custom real estate CRM is an investment in the future of your business. Although there are costs associated with both, a good system will pay for itself many times over in terms of time and energy saved, improved client relations, and increased profitability for your agency.

If you’re planning on getting custom real estate CRM software, it’s best to consult with our developers who can give you a quote that matches your needs. Our professional consultants at Linkup Studio will provide you with an assessment of the costs and advantages of creating a unique CRM tool for your real estate company.

A custom CRM will help your team optimize processes as well as improve your edge in the real estate field. If it is done properly, you can build a tool that will help your company for a long time.

Ways to Reduce Costs and Speed Up Custom Estate CRM Software Development

Building customer relationship management systems specific to the real estate business can be a costly affair, but the following strategies may prove useful in cutting costs and increasing the speed of development while still maintaining high quality. Here are some ways to achieve efficient and cost-effective custom real estate CRM software development:

• Clear Requirements Definition. Custom real estate CRM software development involves the following recommendations before a project commences: every detail should be well understood. This reduces scope creep and enables the development team to know what is expected from them, in the process avoiding unnecessary time wastage and cost explosions.
• Leverage Existing Technologies. Whenever possible, it is best to incorporate standard technologies and frameworks that can easily be incorporated with the custom real estate CRM software you create. This approach is financially sensible as well since you do not have to build everything from scratch, and you can easily tailor most projects to include only unique elements of your preference.
• Agile Development Approach. Carrying out an agile development methodology can greatly improve flexibility and efficiency. You can make incremental improvements and adapt to changes easily because you’re working in sprints and testing and iterating frequently, so your cycle time for developing your custom real estate CRM is shorter than it would be otherwise.
• Prioritize Features. Identify between strategic and non-strategic features your custom real estate CRM software development plan. Identifying the key characteristics makes sure that the most significant assets are constructed first – possible permitting a timely release and lower initial capital.
• Outsource to Experts. It is recommended to outsource some parts of the custom real estate CRM development to professionals or agencies. It may be cheaper than developing the system internally while experts from other parts of the globe may provide excellent work with an affordable price. Consider working with Linkup Studio.
• Regular Feedback and Testing. Implement stakeholder feedback and testing feedback in a continuing basis while in the development phase. This way, it is easier to avoid or reduce huge changes that would take time and, therefore, eliminate the need for defense after the fact.

With these strategies in mind, you would be better positioned to handle and coordinate the custom real estate CRM software development process and make the necessary savings to come down the costs as well as deliver in record time. Make sure you know that if structured properly, this doesn’t waste resources but improves the quality and efficiency of the product in the end.

Custom Real Estate CRM Software Development at Linkup Studio

Creating custom CRM solutions for real estate business is one of the areas we focus on. One of the brightest examples of a real estate CRM system that we have developed includes a great number of features in one solution. It was created for a real estate consulting company dealing with property compliance and changes in the legislation of residential properties in New York City, USA. It is a software platform that provides workflow automation and project management for tax abatement, sanitation violations, lottery, and lease-up.

The dedicated team and an in-depth approach help us to deliver amazing solutions for companies, which specialize in various industries.

We develop sophisticated CRM software systems that help our clients solve a range of pains:

• The use of multiple secondary tools.
• Inefficient communications between customers, sellers, personnel, leads, etc.
• Non-user-friendly interface, design, etc.
• Poor analytics functionality.
• The lack of automation in business processes.