A CRM for a real estate agency abroad: Kommo, Bitrix24, PropSpace and the link to your website and portals
By Andrey, founder of CREON Studio · · 10 min read
An agency that sells or rents property in Dubai, Thailand or Bali works in several places at once: on its own website, on portals, in messengers. If listings and enquiries live in different systems, managers enter the same thing three times and lose clients. Here is how to choose a CRM and connect it to your website and portals so that data is entered once.
- The CRM should be the center: listings, clients and statuses live in it, and the website and portals receive data from it.
- The choice of CRM depends on the market and the team: Kommo (formerly amoCRM) and Bitrix24 are general-purpose, PropSpace is a CRM aimed at the UAE real estate market.
- Portals connect in different ways: Bayut through an XML feed and the Leads API, Property Finder through the Enterprise API.
- The website takes listings from the CRM and sends enquiries back with their source and UTM tags.
Why an agency needs a CRM connected to the website
A typical agency without integrations: a property is added to the site, then by hand to a portal, then to a spreadsheet for managers. A week later the property is sold, but it still hangs on the portal and is already gone from the site. An enquiry from a portal arrived in a broker's WhatsApp and never reached the shared database. A month later nobody can say which channel brings clients.
A connected system solves three things: a property is entered once, the "sold" or "withdrawn" status changes everywhere at the same time, and every enquiry reaches the CRM with its source. Then you can see what works – the website, a portal or advertising.
How the link is built
- CRMlistings, clients, statuses
- Websitecatalog and listing cards
- Portalsfeeds or API
- Enquiriesfrom the site and portals back to the CRM
The center is the CRM. The website reads listings, prices and statuses from it, portals receive them via a feed or API, and enquiries from both channels return to the CRM. This is how the platform we describe on the services page is built.
Which CRMs agencies use
| CRM | Who it is for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Kommo (formerly amoCRM) | Small and medium agencies that work through messengers | Strong with WhatsApp and Telegram, has an API for integrations. The AgentHub portal we built runs on it |
| Bitrix24 | Teams that need tasks, documents and a CRM in one place | A general-purpose system with an API. For Dubai portals there are third-party apps in the Bitrix24 catalog; check their terms and price with the app developers |
| PropSpace | Agencies on the UAE market | A CRM aimed at real estate. Check the list of integrations and terms with the vendor |
| HubSpot and others | Agencies with an international team | Connected via API, but there are fewer ready-made solutions for the region's portals |
| A custom system | Large agencies and developers | Full control, but support and development are your job |
There is no universal answer. We advise choosing the CRM your team already works in: changing the system costs more than connecting a website to it. If you do not have a CRM yet, first describe the process: who receives an enquiry, who handles a property, which statuses are needed. The system is chosen for the process, not the other way around.
How portals connect
Portals have different ways of receiving listings and sending enquiries. Below is what the portals' own documentation confirms; check it before launch, because terms get updated.
| Portal | Listings from the CRM | Enquiries to the CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Bayut | An XML feed at a public address that the portal polls itself; after an update in the CRM the feed updates automatically | Leads API: calls, emails, SMS and WhatsApp enquiries reach the CRM |
| Property Finder | Enterprise API for connecting an external CRM to the portal; the portal recommends moving to it from the old XML integration | Through the same API and messenger integrations |
| FazWaz and portals in Thailand and Bali | The method depends on the portal: a feed, an API or upload through a dashboard | Usually an email or a call; it enters the CRM through email parsing or an API |
For Property Finder, the portal states that Enterprise API 2.0 works with its PF Expert 2.0 app and covers listings, leads and users. For Bayut, bulk upload from an external CRM is done through XML. For portals in Thailand and Bali, at the start of a project we check which method your particular portal supports and build it into the estimate.
Also remember the market rules: Dubai listings must carry a permit number and a QR code. Details are in the guide "A real estate agency website in Dubai under DLD rules".
What the website should do
- Take listings from the CRM. Price, status, photos and description update by themselves, with no manual transfer.
- Send enquiries to the CRM. With the property, language and source: UTM tags, where the client came from, the first page of the visit.
- Show current statuses. A sold or withdrawn property does not stay on the site.
- Work in several languages. Each version has its own addresses and markup, and listing descriptions are stored in every language.
An example from practice
We connected the website of the agency Boomerang Real Estate in Phuket to Kommo: a catalog of rentals and sales on the site, bookings and data sync with the CRM. The AgentHub partner portal is also built on Kommo. For Dubai we have not yet launched such a link with the Property Finder and Bayut portals, and we say so plainly: the data structure of the project is the same, and the portals' requirements are checked at the start. The project breakdown is in the Boomerang case study.
How to choose and connect: steps
- Describe the process: who receives an enquiry, who handles a property, which statuses are needed.
- Define the channels: website, portals, messengers, advertising.
- Choose the CRM your team works in, or pick one for the process.
- Check with the portals how they integrate: an XML feed, an API, an app.
- Agree which fields are mandatory for a property and an enquiry, including the source and UTM tags.
- Launch on a small group of properties, check that statuses update and enquiries arrive, then connect the rest.
Questions
Which CRM is best for a real estate agency abroad?
There is no universal answer. For small agencies working in messengers Kommo often fits, for teams with tasks and documents – Bitrix24, and for the UAE market specialized systems such as PropSpace are considered. We connect the website to the CRM your team already works in.
Can listings be published from the CRM to Property Finder and Bayut?
Yes, the portals provide for it. Bayut accepts listings through an XML feed, while Property Finder offers the Enterprise API. We check the exact method and the required fields at the start of the project against the portals' documentation.
Will enquiries from portals reach the CRM?
Yes, portals have a Leads API and messenger integrations for this. Enquiries arrive in the CRM with their source, and managers work with them in one place.
How much does it cost to connect a CRM to the website?
Connecting a CRM for enquiries, sources and UTM is included in "Standard" for $2,000. Syncing listings via API, portal feeds and bookings are priced in "Premium" after a short brief. Details are in the cost guide.
Sources
- Bayut Help Centre: XML feed
- Bayut Help Centre: Leads API
- Property Finder: CRM integration via the Enterprise API
- PropSpace: an overview of CRMs for Dubai
Let us connect your website to your CRM
Tell us which CRM you use and which portals you publish on. We will propose a connection scheme and name the price and timeline.
Discuss the project Our services