Real estate CRM, custom built for brokers and developers
A real estate CRM catches every enquiry from portals, ads, WhatsApp and calls, assigns it, tracks site visits and follow-ups, and for developers carries on into unit inventory, bookings and payment demands. Small broker teams are usually better served by a ready-made CRM. WavX builds custom real estate CRMs; the WavX cost model puts them at roughly ₹5.3 lakh to ₹15.4 lakh.
Who should build one, and who should not
Real estate sales has two shapes. A brokerage sells many owners' properties and lives on fast follow-up of enquiries. A developer sells units in its own projects and needs the CRM to carry on after the site visit: unit blocking, booking, the payment plan and demand letters. Ready-made CRMs handle the first well. The second is where a custom system usually pays for itself.
| Your situation | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Broker or small team, leads from two or three sources, a simple pipeline | Ready-made CRM | Capture, reminders and a pipeline work on day one |
| Brokerage with many agents, routing by locality, budget or project, and a manager who needs response-time reports | Custom, or a configurable CRM with integration work | Routing rules and portal connections are where generic setups break |
| Developer with one or more projects, live unit inventory, bookings and payment plans | Custom | Leads, units, bookings and collections in one record, with no double-sold units |
| Developer working through channel partners | Custom | Lead ownership, partner registration and brokerage payable tracked against each booking |
| You already use a general CRM and only need portal leads in it | Integration, not a new CRM | Cheaper to connect the sources than to replace the system |
The real estate CRM cost guide compares subscription prices with custom builds in more detail. For CRM work outside real estate, see custom CRM development.
Where leads come from, and how each reaches the CRM
Most leads that are lost were never entered. The first job of a real estate CRM is to make capture automatic for every source.
| Source | How it reaches the CRM | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Property portals (99acres, MagicBricks, Housing.com and others) | Forwarded by the portal to the CRM where your advertiser account allows it; otherwise read from the portal's enquiry notification emails | Ask each portal's account manager what your plan supports before the build |
| Meta lead ads (Facebook and Instagram) | Meta's documentation describes a webhook notification for each new lead, after which the CRM fetches the lead's details; a bulk read is also available | Permissions on your Facebook Page and ad account |
| Google Ads lead forms | Google's documentation describes an HTTP POST of each submitted lead to a webhook URL you configure, with a key to validate it | The webhook URL and key are set on each lead form |
| Your website | Form posts directly to the CRM, with the page and campaign recorded | Spam filtering and duplicate detection |
| Click-to-chat and replies to your business number, through the WhatsApp Business Platform | Which conversations become leads automatically | |
| Phone calls | From a cloud telephony provider's call log, or entered by the agent | Whether your provider sends call events to other systems |
| Walk-ins and site visitors | Entered on a tablet or phone at the site office | Who owns a walk-in who first came through a portal |
Every lead is checked against existing ones by phone number, so a buyer who enquires on two portals and then calls is one lead with three touches, not three leads assigned to three agents.
Modules WavX builds
WavX builds real estate CRMs as web applications in React and Node.js with PostgreSQL, with an optional app for sales staff on site, in React Native.
| Module | What it does | Broker | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead capture | All sources above, with duplicate check and source tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Assignment and routing | Round robin, by locality, budget, project or language; reassignment if not contacted in time | Yes | Yes |
| Follow-up | Call outcomes, next action dates, reminders, WhatsApp templates | Yes | Yes |
| Site visits | Scheduling, confirmation messages, visit outcome, revisit tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Property listings | Owner details, listing status, matching listings to buyer requirements | Yes | No |
| Project and unit inventory | Towers, floors, units, sizes, price list, availability, blocking with expiry | No | Yes |
| Booking | Application, KYC documents, allotment, cost sheet | No | Yes |
| Payment plan and demands | Construction-linked or time-linked schedules, demand letters, receipts, overdue follow-up | No | Yes |
| Channel partners | Partner registration, lead ownership window, brokerage payable per booking | Some | Yes |
| Reports | Leads by source and cost, response time, visit-to-booking rate, collections | Yes | Yes |
The unit inventory is what separates a developer CRM from a broker one. Two sales staff must never be able to block the same unit, and a blocked unit must free itself if the booking does not follow within the agreed time.
RERA details the CRM should hold
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 shapes what a developer's or agent's records carry. Under section 11(2), a promoter's advertisement or prospectus must prominently mention the website address of the Authority and the project's registration number. Registered real estate agents are given a registration number by the Authority, which the Act requires them to quote in every sale they facilitate. In practice the CRM:
- Stores the RERA registration number and Authority website for each project, and prints them on brochures, cost sheets and WhatsApp templates generated from the system.
- Stores each channel partner's RERA agent registration number, and can refuse to register a partner without one if that is your policy.
- Keeps a dated record of the price list and payment plan shown to each buyer.
State rules under the Act differ, so your legal adviser should confirm what each project needs. The CRM keeps these as settings per project.
WhatsApp in a real estate CRM
WhatsApp is where most buyer conversations happen, which makes it the most important integration after lead capture. Meta's documentation says template messages are the only type that can be sent outside a customer service window, and that a template must be approved before use. A real estate CRM therefore keeps a set of approved templates (site visit confirmation, brochure, price update, payment reminder) and logs every conversation against the lead. The WhatsApp CRM integration page covers the setup in detail.
Planning range
These figures come from the WavX cost model behind the software cost estimator. The range is the subtotal less 15% to the subtotal plus 25%. It is a planning range, not a quote.
| Scenario | Cost model inputs | Subtotal | Planning range | Timeline band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brokerage lead and site-visit CRM | Custom web application base ₹4,50,000; roles ₹60,000; third-party integrations ₹60,000; exports and reporting ₹50,000 | ₹6,20,000 | ₹5,27,000 to ₹7,75,000 | 8–14 weeks |
| Developer CRM with inventory, bookings and payment demands | ERP/CRM base ₹9,00,000; roles ₹60,000; third-party integrations ₹60,000; payments and billing ₹90,000; notifications ₹70,000; exports and reporting ₹50,000 | ₹12,30,000 | ₹10,45,500 to ₹15,37,500 | 14–22 weeks |
Assumptions: small scale (multiplier 1.0), standard interface design. A field app for sales staff is ₹2,00,000 in the model and is added to the subtotal before the spread. WhatsApp, telephony and portal subscriptions are paid separately. Yearly maintenance is 15–25% of the build cost, as set out in the maintenance cost guide. The engineering side of the same build is described in real estate CRM software development in India.
How the build runs
- Lead audit. List every source, how leads arrive today, and how many go uncontacted. Confirm with each portal what it can forward.
- Capture and assignment first. All sources flow into one list with routing and reminders. This is often the version that goes live first.
- Follow-up and site visits. Call outcomes, WhatsApp templates and visit scheduling.
- Inventory and bookings. For developers: units, blocking, booking, cost sheets.
- Payment plans and demands. Schedules, demand letters, receipts and overdue follow-up.
- Channel partners and reports.
- Data migration. Existing leads and bookings imported from spreadsheets or the old CRM, checked against the source before the old system is switched off.
The source code and the data belong to you at the end.
When not to build
- You are a broker with a small team. A ready-made CRM is cheaper and ready now.
- Your problem is only lead leakage from one or two portals. Connect them to the CRM you already have.
- You have one project and few units left to sell. A spreadsheet with a disciplined process may see the project out.
Real estate CRMs are one of the systems WavX builds for real estate and property businesses, under custom software and business systems.
Frequently asked questions
What does a custom real estate CRM cost in India?
The WavX cost model gives a planning range of about ₹5.3 lakh to ₹7.8 lakh for a lead and site-visit CRM for a brokerage, and about ₹10.5 lakh to ₹15.4 lakh for a developer CRM with unit inventory, bookings and payment demands. These are planning ranges, not quotes. A field app for sales staff adds ₹2,00,000 to the subtotal in the model.
Can leads from 99acres, MagicBricks and Housing.com come in automatically?
It depends on what your advertiser account with each portal allows. Where a portal can forward enquiries to an external system, the CRM receives them as they arrive. Where it cannot, the CRM reads the enquiry notification emails. We confirm the method for each portal with your account before quoting.
Can it capture Facebook, Instagram and Google lead form leads?
Yes. Meta lead ads can notify a CRM through a webhook when a lead is submitted, and Google Ads lead forms can send each lead to a webhook URL you configure. Both land in the CRM within moments, with the campaign recorded so you can see which ads bring buyers.
Is a custom CRM worth it for a small brokerage?
Usually not. A ready-made CRM handles lead capture, follow-up reminders and a pipeline for a modest monthly fee per user. Custom is worth it for developers who need inventory and payment schedules tied to leads, or for larger brokerages whose lead routing and channel-partner rules no ready-made product follows.
How long does it take?
Both scopes above fall in the cost model's 10 to 16 week band. WavX's stated typical timeline for complex CRM platforms is 3 to 6 months. Lead capture and follow-up usually go live first, with inventory and bookings after.
Sources
- Meta for Developers: Retrieving leads (lead ads webhooks and bulk read) · read 2 October 2026
- Google Ads: Lead form webhook overview · read 2 October 2026
- Meta for Developers: WhatsApp message template guidelines · read 2 October 2026
- India Code: The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 · read 2 October 2026
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