There’s a saying in real estate that your business is your database and that database is your CRM. We’ve written about CRMs in the past and while some of the name and players have changed over the last 10 years many of the best CRMs are still in use.
The CRM landscape can be overwhelming, with numerous options vying for your attention. This post aims to provide an in-depth look at some of the key players and considerations when choosing a real estate CRM, drawing insights from the initial observations.
The Importance of a CRM for Real Estate Professionals
Before diving into specific CRMs, let’s underscore why a CRM is no longer a luxury but a necessity in today’s competitive real estate market:
- Centralized Database: A CRM acts as your central hub for all client information, communication history, property preferences, and transaction details. This eliminates the chaos of scattered spreadsheets, emails, and notes. It’s worth trying to note if you want to keep contracts or have real estate information. This makes the CRM choice to pick a real estate related one a bit tougher.
- Enhanced Organization: Keep track of leads, current clients, past clients, and potential referrals in a structured manner. Easily segment your contacts for targeted communication. All CRMs should do this.
- Improved Follow-Up: Never let a lead slip through the cracks again. CRMs offer tools to schedule reminders, automate follow-up sequences, and ensure timely communication. You should decide how you want to connect. Not all CRMs offer SMS for example. While some offer too many options that you might not use.
- Streamlined Workflows: Automate repetitive tasks, such as sending introductory emails or scheduling follow-up calls, freeing up your time to focus on building relationships and closing deals. This is a big one in 2025 and a could cause some major shake ups.
- Data-Driven Insights: Gain valuable insights into your business performance through reporting and analytics. Identify top lead sources, track conversion rates, and understand client engagement. Most real estate specific CRMs don’t offer great insights… actually most CRMs fail to offer great analytics or insights so if that’s what you want you may have to pay more.
- Scalability: As your business grows, a robust CRM can scale with you, accommodating more contacts, team members, and complex processes. One aspect of this that most real estate agents miss is the overall design of CRM as it grows. Many popular CRMs work great with 100 people in it but fail with there’s thousands of contacts.
- Lead Compatibility: Many real estate agents get leads from different sources. Some may get them their website through real estate SEO, while other might pay for real estate PPC, but whatever the source the leads have to find their way into the CRM. To add to the complexity most agents aren’t tech savvy enough (nor should they be) to know to ask about API connections and lead flow and most CRMs aren’t transparent enough with how easy or hard it might be to import leads.
Exploring Different Types of CRMs for Real Estate
We might explore head to head comparisons in the future (if you ask) but let’s look at them more from a practicality standpoint, with winners in particular categories. I’ve purposefully left out popular CRMs that really don’t fit into any real estate use such salesforce or hubspot. While these could serve as a CRM they’re often over-bloated with features that real estate agents don’t need and lack key functionality that they do need.
The initial statement provides a great starting point for categorizing real estate CRMs.
1. Most User-Friendly CRM with Core Functionality: Follow Up Boss
Follow Up Boss stands out for its ease of use and onboarding, particularly beneficial for teams. Its strength lies in its intuitive interface and focus on core CRM functionalities essential for real estate.
- Pros:
- Ease of Use: Minimal learning curve, making it quick for agents of all tech-savviness levels to adopt.
- Team Collaboration: Excellent features for managing and onboarding real estate teams.
- Solid Core Functionality: Effectively manages contacts, tracks communication, and facilitates lead organization.
- Integration Capabilities: Often integrates well with other real estate-specific tools.
- Cons:
- Limited Advanced Features: May lack some of the more sophisticated AI or marketing automation capabilities found in other systems.
- No Built-in Contract Management: Requires integration with separate platforms for handling contracts.
Ideal for: Individual agents or teams prioritizing ease of use and efficient lead management without the need for overly complex features. There’s really only 2 things missing from Follow Up Boss. A nice workflow feature for contract to close work and
2. Feature-Rich, Multi-Purpose CRMs (Not Real Estate Specific): GoHighLevel
GoHighLevel represents a different breed of CRM – a powerful, all-in-one marketing and sales platform not specifically designed for real estate but adaptable for it.
- Pros:
- Extensive Feature Set: Offers a wide array of tools, including AI-powered features, SMS marketing, email automation, landing page builders, and more.
- Highly Customizable: Can be tailored to fit various business needs and workflows.
- Cons:
- Steeper Learning Curve: Its vast feature set can be overwhelming for new users, requiring significant time and effort to master.
- Not Inherently Real Estate Focused: Lacks out-of-the-box real estate-specific functionalities like direct IDX integration or pre-built workflows for buyers and sellers. These often require custom setup and integrations.
- Potential for Overkill: Many real estate agents may not utilize the full spectrum of its features, potentially paying for functionalities they don’t need.
Ideal for: Tech-savvy agents or teams with dedicated marketing personnel who are willing to invest the time and effort to customize the platform for their real estate needs and leverage its advanced marketing capabilities. GoHighLevel and it’s white labeled variants is the stereotypical jack of all trades and master of none. It tends to be great at follow up routines but not great at large databases. It’s newest features often have bugs and it can be very frustrating to work through.
3. Real Estate Specific CRMs Focusing on Niche Areas
Brevity, Wise Agent, Top producer and others are designed specifically for real estate and usually excel at one aspect of real estate.
- Examples of Potential Strengths:
- Real Estate Specific Features: May include built-in IDX integration, specialized workflows for different transaction types, and industry-specific reporting.
- Niche Focus: Some might excel in transaction management, while others might prioritize contact management or marketing.
- Potential Limitations:
- Limited Scope: May not offer the same breadth of features as more general or marketing-focused CRMs.
- Outdated Interface (in some cases): Older platforms might have a less modern and intuitive user interface.
Ideal for: Agents who prioritize specific real estate-centric features and workflows and are willing to potentially integrate with other tools for broader functionality.
The biggest problem with these CRMs is they either lack the technical backing to have a good user experience and end up being a bit clunky. The CRM space is very competitive and these teams are often under funded resulting in a one-sided CRM. Seller pages from Brevity and Market Snapshots from Top Producer are amazing and almost worth the price of admission. YMMV
4. General-Purpose CRMs: Monday CRM (and the “Fancy Google Sheet” Analogy)
Monday CRM is basically a “fancy Google Sheet” and aptly illustrates the limitations of some general-purpose CRMs for the specific needs of real estate.
- Pros:
- Flexibility: Can be customized to some extent for various purposes.
- Collaboration Features: Often strong in project management and team collaboration.
- Cons:
- Lack of Real Estate Specificity: Doesn’t offer built-in features or workflows tailored to the real estate industry.
- Limited Real Estate Integrations: May not seamlessly integrate with essential real estate tools like IDX providers.
- Not Designed for Lead Management: May lack robust lead nurturing and follow-up capabilities crucial for real estate.
Ideal for: Agents with very basic needs or those who are comfortable heavily customizing a general platform, but generally not recommended as a long-term solution for a growing real estate business.
5. Marketing Platforms with Integrated CRMs
These platforms take a different approach by primarily being marketing and lead generation companies that include a CRM as part of their offering. Commissions Inc, Boomtown, Real Geeks, Loftly, and Sierra Interactive all have great platforms but are there to sell you one size fits all marketing packages. If you have a large team and want to churn through as many online leads as possible, then these might be what you want.
- Pros:
- Seamless Lead Integration: Leads generated through their marketing efforts flow directly into their CRM.
- Designed for Lead Follow-Up: CRM features are often optimized for nurturing and converting the leads they generate.
- Cons:
- Dependency on the Platform: If you stop using their marketing services, you often lose access to the CRM and its data.
- Potentially Higher Cost: These platforms can be more expensive due to the bundled marketing services.
- Limited Portability: Migrating your data to another CRM if you decide to switch marketing providers can be challenging.
Ideal for: Agents and teams heavily reliant on paid lead generation and who value a tightly integrated marketing and CRM system from a single provider. However, it’s crucial to consider the long-term implications of vendor lock-in.
| CRM Category | Examples | Key Strengths | Potential Weaknesses | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| User-Friendly Core | Follow Up Boss | Easy to use, team onboarding, solid core features | Limited advanced features, no built-in contract management | Individuals or teams prioritizing ease of use and efficient lead management |
| Feature-Rich Multi-Purpose | GoHighLevel | Extensive features (AI, marketing), highly customizable | Steeper learning curve, not inherently real estate focused | Tech-savvy agents/teams wanting advanced marketing automation |
| Real Estate Specific (Niche) | Brevity, Top Producer | Industry-specific features (potentially), niche focus | May lack breadth of features, potentially outdated interface | Agents prioritizing specific real estate tools and workflows |
| General Purpose (Adaptable) | Monday CRM | Flexible, collaboration features | Lacks real estate specificity, limited real estate integrations | Agents with very basic needs or willing to heavily customize |
| Marketing Platform Integrated | BoomTown, CINC, RealGeeks | Seamless lead integration, designed for lead follow-up | Dependency on platform, potentially higher cost, limited portability | Agents heavily reliant on paid lead generation from these platforms |
Key Considerations When Choosing a Real Estate CRM
Beyond the specific platforms, here are crucial factors to consider when making your decision:
- Your Specific Needs and Goals: What are your biggest pain points? What do you hope to achieve with a CRM? Consider your business size, team structure, lead generation strategies, and desired level of automation.
- Ease of Use and Onboarding: How quickly can you and your team learn and adopt the system? A complex CRM that isn’t used effectively is worthless.
- Real Estate Specific Features: Does the CRM offer features tailored to the industry, such as IDX integration, transaction management tools, or specialized workflows?
- Integration Capabilities: Does it integrate with other essential tools you use, such as your email provider, calendar, marketing platforms, or transaction management software?
- Scalability: Can the CRM grow with your business as your needs evolve?
- Customer Support and Training: What level of support and training is provided by the vendor?
- Pricing: Does the pricing model align with your budget and the value you expect to receive? Consider both upfront costs and ongoing subscription fees.
Making the Right Choice for Your Business
Choosing a real estate CRM is a significant investment of time and resources. Carefully evaluate your needs, explore the different types of CRMs available, and don’t hesitate to request demos and trials. The right CRM can be a game-changer, transforming your business from a collection of contacts into a well-oiled, client-focused machine. By thinking of your business as a database from the outset, you’re already on the path to greater organization, efficiency, and ultimately, success in the dynamic world of real estate.
