What Is CRM in Real Estate?

Picture a tool that tracks every lead, listing, and client interaction so agents can close deals instead of drowning in spreadsheets.

That’s a real estate CRM — a customer relationship management system where each feature is tailored to the real estate industry. It keeps everything organized: contact info, properties, emails, follow-ups, deal stages — whatever you need, all in one place.

And it’s not just for agents. Marketing teams and even the C-suite can get value from it.

The right CRM can transform how your whole team works; we’ve seen it while providing real estate software development services for over 10 years. We’ve worked on a bunch of custom real estate solutions, including CRMs. Clutch has even recognized us as a top Ukrainian IT services company for real estate. So, we know a thing or two about industry-specific tools.

Let's break down the topic of real estate CRMs:

• Why you should choose a real estate CRM system instead of a generic CRM system
• Must-have features for any CRM in real estate (and their value)
• Nice-to-have features
• Top off-the-shelf CRM options
• When you need a custom CRM and what it takes to build one

What is CRM in real estate? Key differences with a general-purpose CRM

At first glance, a CRM is a CRM, right? But when it comes to real estate–specific needs, working with a general-purpose CRM can feel like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Here’s why:

General-purpose CRMs work for many but fit perfectly for just a few — and those are rarely real estate businesses.

Managing real estate deals is about juggling people, properties, timelines, and myriad approvals and documents. That’s a lot, right? You need a system that is designed to handle all this chaos.

That’s where a real estate CRM comes in. It covers common functions like lead management, analytics, and collaboration but also covers the specifics that general-purpose CRMs just don’t. For example:

• Property-centric management

Generic CRMs don’t have a built-in way to manage property databases. But real estate CRMs do. They let you link listings to clients, track statuses (like “available” or “under contract”) and price changes, and view showing histories.

• Industry-specific role-based access control

Real estate agents are not the only ones who use a CRM; marketers, the C-suite, administrators, and many others often need to access it too. But the thing is, each user group needs different permissions, which can be tricky to configure in generic CRMs. When you use real estate CRMs, it’s easy to set up industry-specific roles and permissions — the system is designed for this.

• Real estate deal stages

Real estate deals go through property matching, showing, inspection, offer negotiation, financing, and many other stages. Functionality in real estate CRM systems fits how deals actually progress, making it easy for agents to track and coordinate each step or action. In general-purpose CRMs, you’ll need to configure this yourself, but some process configurations might still be missed.

• Gathering leads from industry-specific sources

In real estate, leads come from referrals, online listings, social media, and many other places. If your tool doesn’t gather data from all sources, you risk missing prospects and losing efficiency. Real estate CRMs let you integrate with all of these sources, including most real estate platforms. In general-purpose CRMs, many industry-specific websites are out of reach.

• Appointments and showing management

Real estate agents need tools for scheduling property showings, tracking availability, and sending reminders to clients, but these are things that general-purpose CRMs can’t handle without heavy customization.

There are many other needs that one-size-fits-all CRMs don’t cover. Sure, with enough customization and integrations, you can make a generic CRM handle all this. But it takes time, money, and effort, and the result still won’t be as smooth as a tool built specifically for real estate.

To sum up, a real estate CRM benefits industry players in several ways:

1. Packed with features tailored to the real estate world
2. Saves you from the hassle of heavy configuration (it’s ready to go)
3. Boosts efficiency by automating tasks and keeping all the tools you need in one place
4. Connects with external sources that real estate agents rely on and general-purpose CRMs often overlook

Real estate agencies need a system that understands the complexity of what they do and reflects the way their businesses work without the need for lengthy configuration. That’s why real estate CRMs exist and win over users.

Let’s take a closer look at CRMs in real estate. What features make these tools great?

Functionality: What makes a CRM useful for real estate agencies?

Here’s a breakdown of the key features a CRM in real estate offers and what processes it covers.

Lead management

A good CRM doesn’t just collect leads; it helps you organize and nurture them. Here’s what functionality a real estate CRM offers for lead management:

• Automated leads importing. All inquiries from whatever channels you have land directly in the CRM. Plus, you can manually add offline leads like someone you met at an open house.
• Lead profiles. Access everything you need to know about a lead in one place, from basic info to viewed listings and their interaction history.
• Lead qualification and scoring. Categorize leads into buyers, sellers, or renters and score each lead based on how likely they are to convert based on engagement level, budget, or property preferences.
• Automated follow-ups. Prepare instant responses and follow-up emails as well as reminders for yourself to contact prospects on specific dates.
• Lead nurturing. Create targeted campaigns with property recommendations, notify leads when new properties hit the market, and keep in touch with past clients.
• Pipeline management. Visualize deal stages and track where each lead is in your pipeline.

Take, for example, the custom platform we built for real estate company StoneBay. We created a Leads module that stores all lead profiles and a Kanban board for tracking deal statuses. Everything was tailored to the client’s workflows, automating certain routine tasks for their team and creating a one-stop hub for lead management.

Relevant case study:

CASE STUDY

Property management analytics software

Explore how we automated routine tasks and created a centralized hub for managing leads and projects for a real estate company

Property listings management

This CRM functionality is a centralized hub for every property your company manages. It includes:

• Property database with detailed property profiles. Search or filter properties by criteria like location, price, and number of bedrooms to easily find listings.
• Document storage. Have deeds, contracts, or inspection reports tied to property profiles so you can access them any time you need without spending time going through every folder.
• Multi-channel publishing tool. Create and sync your property listings on all platforms you use to reach potential buyers and renters.

Contact database

Real estate is all about relationships, so keeping your contact list organized is a must. A CRM gives you a unified database with all your contact profiles.

With a CRM in real estate, you don’t need to guess who’s who or whether you’ve interacted before — just click on a contact and see who they are, what deals or properties they’re linked to, and how you (or other agents) last connected with them.

Customer service and support

Engaging with customers is a core task of any agent; here’s how a CRM supports it:

• Built-in communication tools. Email or text clients directly from the CRM and track every interaction.
• Reminders and notifications. Don’t miss a property showing, follow-up time, or contract deadline — the system will keep you updated on every upcoming event.
• Chatbots. Access AI-powered chatbots and let them handle basic requests. It’s a way to free up your time without sacrificing customer service.

 

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Reporting tools

This is where you spot trends and make data-driven decisions. A CRM organizes and displays various data, such as:

• Deal performance so you can review your deals and spot which are stuck and which are moving forward
• Market insights to monitor changes in the market and adjust your pricing strategies
• Agent performance to track how each team member is doing: closed deals, followed-up leads, and any other metrics you find important
• Channel performance to track which channels bring in the most valuable leads

Third-party integrations

A CRM shouldn’t be a standalone tool; it needs to connect with other tools to serve its purpose.

Do you create listings on real estate platforms like Zillow or Realtor.com? A real estate CRM can easily integrate with them. The same goes for social media and email — sync with whatever lead sources you have.

Multiple listing services are also on the list. Real estate CRMs can sync with MLSs so that your property listing information is up to date everywhere.

But the necessary integrations don’t stop here. A CRM in real estate industry should also let agents connect with their calendar to manage schedules, connect with accounting software and commission calculators to track commissions, and interface with many other tools.

Trends in real estate software

Tech is moving fast, and digitalization in real estate is gaining momentum. Modern CRMs have started to offer advanced features that make agents even more efficient.

Here are a few real estate tech trends:

• Virtual tours. These gained popularity in COVID times and stuck around because they’re convenient for both prospects and agents. Now, some CRMs let users upload and share 3D property walkthroughs.

• E-signatures. This feature lets agents forget about printing and scanning. Clients can sign documents digitally with e-signatures, and then the signed documents are automatically pulled right into the CRM.

• AI-powered recommendations. Having AI help you predict what properties have a high likelihood of selling in the near future can be highly valuable — just ask Compass agents, who increased their commission revenue by 100% with this feature.

  There are other AI use cases that let real estate teams focus on engaging with clients instead of tackling non-core tasks: for example, automating the writing of listing descriptions. Or automating lead segmentation, which can be a game-changer for businesses with a large client database. When leads are sorted, it’s easy to target each group with special offers, increasing the efficiency of marketing and sales campaigns. We’ve worked on a marketing tool called Segment AI that does this.

Relevant case study:

CASE STUDY

Lead segmentation software

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• Data enrichment. Let your system automatically fill gaps in client profiles using data that is publicly available or pulled from social media. In this way, you can get complete information about prospects without wasting hours on data gathering.

When you piece all the features together — lead management, property listings, contact databases, and others — it’s clear that a CRM in real estate is like a full-time assistant.

How can you get one? That’s what we’re going to explore next.

Basically, there are two ways you can go: use an off-the-shelf solution or build a custom one. Let’s first explore what ready-made CRMs exist for real estate companies.

Off-the-shelf CRM: 5 top tools

Today, the real estate CRM market has no shortage of options. But not all of them are worth your attention. Let’s cut through the noise and look at 5 of the top off-the-shelf CRM systems for the real estate industry.

BoomTown

BoomTown is known among real estate pros as a one-stop hub for agents, brokers, and real estate marketers. It combines functionality for lead generation and management, marketing automation, and IDX website integration.

Why BoomTown is great:

• BoomTown offers everything agents need for generating and managing leads, along with advanced features like predictive analytics to score leads and prioritize follow-ups.
• It has IDX website integration, so you can display MLS listings directly on your website and other sources with no need to pay for it separately.
• It’s designed to fit brokerages with multiple agents and high transaction volumes.

Downsides:

• A monthly subscription is costly. Plans start at $1000/month for individual users and reach $1500/month per team for advanced brokerages.
• Onboarding your team might take time, as there’s a learning curve to understand BoomTown’s broad functionality.
• Small teams may experience feature overload, resulting in too many features they pay for but don’t use.

Who it’s best for: Midsize to large brokerages that have a budget to invest in a premium all-in-one tool for capturing, nurturing, and converting leads.

Follow Up Boss

Follow Up Boss focuses on streamlining lead management and communication. If you need to integrate with lead sources like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Facebook ads, this tool is for you.

Why Follow Up Boss is great:

• Simple yet powerful functionality. You get everything you need for lead management, follow-ups, and analytics — no more, no less.
• You can easily integrate it with various lead sources.
• Many users say that Follow Up Boss has a user-friendly interface that is easy to work with from the start.

Downsides:

• No built-in IDX websites, which is a problem if you want to showcase your listings online directly from the MLS.
• Doesn’t cover property management.
• Seems affordable at first glance (it starts at $69/month for individuals), but if you need a tool for a team, it will cost you $499/month (10 users included) or $1000/month (30 users included).

Who it’s best for: Teams and agents that need a tool purely for lead management and follow-ups and value a clean and organized interface.

Wise Agent

Wise Agent is a trusted platform that may not have the flashiest interface but is packed with useful features. Not to mention its price — it’s hard to argue with the value.

Why Wise Agent is great:

• Wise Agent covers the basics really well. Lead management, marketing campaigns, transaction tracking, a calendar for scheduling — you’ll find all real estate–specific essentials here.
• It’s affordable: plans start at $49 a month for a team of 4. If you want to add additional members, it costs an extra $20 per 5 users. You can also get a custom plan, which can be a better option for teams of 15+ agents.
• Customer support is always there to help with issues.

Downsides:

• Users frequently complain about sudden updates that slow down the system and force them to adapt to new ways of doing routine tasks. They also note unnecessary changes to functionality that worked well before.
• The design is outdated.
• Functionality is not as diverse as in competing CRMs.

Who it’s best for: Solo agents or small teams looking for a budget-friendly CRM

Lofty

Lofty (formerly Chime) is a next-gen CRM in real estate known for its AI-driven tools for lead generation, marketing, and transaction management.

Why Lofty is great:

• First, of course, there are AI-powered features: predictive analytics, smart lead scoring, and automation — everything we’ve been hearing about for the last couple of years.
• Next, it covers everything, from lead generation and listing management to transaction management and reporting.
• Users also like its polished and easy-to-navigate design.

Downsides:

• Lofty is expensive. Be ready to pay $499/month for the cheapest plan that includes up to 3 members ($15 per additional member). Plus, be ready to pay a $500 to $2000 one-time fee for software setup.
• Advanced features can be hard to master; it will take time to onboard your team and ensure effective work with the tool.
• It can be overkill for those who want a simple CRM with all the essentials but no extras.

Who it’s best for: Teams that are looking for advanced functionality and AI tools for their business.

Zillow Premier Agent CRM

If most of your leads come from Zillow, Zillow Premier Agent CRM makes sure you can capture and manage them with zero problems. But outside Zillow? It’s not as versatile.

Why Zillow Premier Agent CRM is great:

• Seamless lead generation from Zillow. You can be sure that no inquiry from Zillow users will go unnoticed.
• The interface is intuitive and simple.

Downsides:

• If you rely on leads from sources other than Zillow, this tool is not for you
• Customization is limited.
• Available for Zillow Premier Agent members only.

Who it’s best for: Agents that mostly invest in Zillow for their leads and don’t focus on any other lead sources.

We’ve gone over some great off-the-shelf CRMs — they’re tried and tested and can work out great for real estate teams. But they may not be the perfect fit for you. So let’s look at another option: a custom real estate CRM system.

Custom CRM: When you need a perfect fit for your workflow

What if none of the ready-made CRMs tick all the boxes for your team? Maybe you’ve got unique workflows or specific integrations that none of the tools provide.

That’s when a custom CRM comes into play.

What custom solutions can offer to real estate businesses

Here are a few reasons why a custom CRM might be a better fit for real estate teams:

• No feature fatigue — only tools you truly need

You are in charge of deciding what to add to your CRM and what to skip. All functionality is tailored to how you work, and you won’t have to deal with features that don’t help your business and only distract your team.

• Unlimited customization — fit everything to the way you operate

The interface of your custom CRM can fully match your needs and habits: the whole design —** **every tab, every button — can be created for easy navigation. And you can customize the CRM over time if your preferences change.

• A long-term tool that can scale as you grow

A custom CRM evolves with you. Scalability is taken into account from the start, so you don’t need to worry about feeling stuck with a poor tool over time. Need new features? No problem. Scale your platform as your business grows or your market changes.

• Full ownership

You own the code, the data, and the system. You’re not tied to a vendor or forced into their upgrade cycle.

• Option to become a CRM solution provider

Do you think other teams could benefit from your platform? You can turn it into a SaaS product and provide it for a monthly subscription.

If any of these benefits resonate with you, it’s probably a sign that developing custom software is the right option for you. In this case, you might want to know more about building it. We have some insights for you.

What does it cost to build a CRM system?

First, let’s talk numbers. Custom CRMs can be a larger upfront investment than off-the-shelf solutions, but the value they bring over time can outweigh the cost.

On average, building a CRM will cost around $100,000 but can go higher depending on the complexity of the functionality you need.

You can start by building a minimum viable product (MVP) — it’s one of the best ways to optimize the cost of software development. With this approach, you first build a tool with a few core features, launch it, test it with your team, and then improve it over time. This way, you manage many software development risks at once and secure yourself from investing a large sum into a tool that hasn’t gone through real-life validation.

What it takes to build a custom CRM: The process in a nutshell

Here’s what stages of software product development you should expect when deciding to build a custom real estate CRM:

1. Project discovery

This is where you explore your idea and define your solution in detail. Project discovery is a must for smooth development, and we say this as a team that has built over 200 products.

At the end of the project discovery stage, you’ll have a full description of your CRM in an app requirements document, a UI design concept, an architectural design, a detailed development plan, and cost and timeline estimates.

 

WHITE PAPER

Project discovery stage

A document highlighting key results and rough estimates of the project discovery phase based on the scope of work

2. Team formation

Knowing the scope of work, you can gather a development team that will bring your idea to life. If you don’t have an in-house tech team, the best option is to outsource software development to a vendor. You will get all the specialists you need, from a project manager to developers and QA engineers, to cover the entire software development lifecycle. There’s also an option to hire dedicated developers if you have an in-house team but lack some specialists to start the project.

3. Development

Here’s where coding, integration, testing, and deployment happen. The development stage ends with a fully functioning CRM that your team can use.

As you can see, the process of developing a custom CRM is straightforward, especially if managed by a team that has done it before. Yes, it takes longer than subscribing to an off-the-shelf option, but the benefits a custom CRM brings are worth it.

Wrapping up

If someone asked us, What is CRM in real estate? we would say it’s like a super organized assistant who knows exactly what real estate agents and marketers need and makes their work way easier.

Today, there’s a wide pool of real estate–specific CRMs out there. You won’t need to spend days fighting with settings to make a CRM fit your real estate workflow — real estate CRMs already have everything configured for the industry. They are not without flaws, but one of them could be exactly what your business needs.

And if none of the off-the-shelf options work for you, you can always go custom. In this case, you should start with a project discovery stage to plan every detail of your tool and understand what it will take to build the desired CRM.

We can help you with this task. We’ve worked with many real estate businesses, creating custom CRMs, property management platforms, and other tools. If you’ve got an idea, we can help you turn it into a plan and, eventually, the CRM you’ve been looking for.