Best Apps for CREs in 2021
Nowadays, deals are being done through digital channels more and more, and there are numerous apps on the market that help counselors of real estate with the buying and renting process. From receipt tracking and eSignature tools to virtual scheduling assistants, these successful apps can boost your efficiency and productivity.
Zoom for Commercial Agents
Zoom is an online video chat software that offers a reliable cloud for video and audio conferencing. You can use the platform to virtually interact with colleagues and customers. Users can host one-on-one meetings and group conferences with up to 500 participants.
Pricing: The free plan allows users to have unlimited one-on-one meetings and group meetings for up to 40 minutes. The Pro plan costs $149.90 a year and it offers 1GB cloud recording, social media streaming, and group meetings for up to 30 minutes. The Business plan costs $199.90, can host up to 300 participants, and has a single sign-on.
LoopNet for Commercial Agents
LoopNet is an online real estate marketplace available in the United States and Canada. The platform offers for-lease commercial property listings, for-sale listings, and business-for-sale listings. On LoopNet, you can search properties for free, however, brokers need to pay a fee to get their listings into the database.
LoopNet can help real estate agents get their hands on great deals that come with a good price tag. Additionally, LoopNet can be used as a networking tool. Brokers can contact other brokers, investors, and sellers and increase their influence in the marketplace. With over 500 thousand listed properties, LoopNet is one of the biggest online commercial sites for real estate.
Pricing: Listing one property on LoopNet starts at $70. Listing 10 properties cost $299, while enterprise-level listers need to pay $3,300 to list over 150 properties in the LoopNet database. Free searches allow clients to see 80% of the listings. Premium searches cost $169 a month.
Dropbox for Commercial Agents
Dropbox is an excellent, easy-to-use tool that allows real estate agents to have quick access to their files from any computer, phone, and tablet. This tool will keep all your documents safe and secure so you won’t lose documents in case of a computer crash.
All documents, clients’ information, contracts, and listings are neatly organized and stored on the platform’s folders and they can also be easily shared between colleagues and clients. What’s more, Dropbox allows you to access deleted and previous versions from all your documents. If you have busy clients who don’t have the time to visit all the properties or are from a different state, you probably use video tours to virtually walk them through the property. The app comes in handy for storing and sharing video tours and photos.
Pricing: Dropbox is free to download. The free account offers 2GB of encrypted cloud storage. Dropbox Plus costs $9.99/mo and offers 2,000 GB of space. The platforms also offer plans for teams and the pricing is based on the number of users. The Standard team plan for three users starts at $15/mo, while the Professional plan for a minimum of three users costs $25 a month.
DocuSign for Commercial Agents
As you already know, the buying process can be time-consuming and requires a lot of paperwork – especially if it’s done manually. DocuSign is a leading tool in the real estate industry that helps commercial agents replace manual and paper processes with automated technologies.
The platform offers eSignature services with which you can send and sign listing agreements remotely and purchase contracts and disclosures anywhere in the world, at any time. Commercial agents can also use the tool to support in-person electronic notarization.
DocuSign also comes in handy for transaction management and organization of forms, approvals, and checklists.
Pricing: The Personal plan costs $10 if billed annually and allows clients to send 5 documents per month. The Standard plan costs $25 per month and allows you to send unlimited documents for eSignature, while Business Pro starts at $40 and enables clients to collect payments and send documents in bulk.
ClientLook for Commercial Agents
ClientLook is a CRM software specially designed for the commercial real estate market. This is a smart and intuitive solution that allows brokers and investors to easily build their CRE property database. You can easily manage listings, contracts, client information, and collaborations with clients for all properties. What’s more, the platform allows you to monitor tenant movement and track leases and sales.
Pricing: Commercial agents can use ClientLook free for 6 months, after that the CRM software costs $99. Annual billing costs $89.
Scannable for Commercial Agents
Scannable is a smart and intuitive tool that allows real estate agents to scan contracts, receipts, disclosures, and any document that comes their way. Download the app and you will be able to capture high-quality scans anywhere, at any time.
Plus, you can save and instantly share documents with colleagues and clients. You won’t need to worry about missing papers and you’ll have all documents neatly organized in one secure space accessible from anywhere.
Pricing: The free plan offers clients a 25MB maximum note size and a 60MB monthly upload limit. The premium plan costs $6.00/mo and allows clients to sync unlimited devices, annotate PDFs, and create custom templates. It comes with a 25MB maximum note size and a 60MB monthly upload limit. The Business plan starts at $13.99 and offers a number of handy features for sharing documents across your company.
Amy (x.ai) for Commercial Agents
Amy (x.ai) is a virtual scheduling assistant that can help you find ideal meeting times without wasting too much time. Share your calendar with x.ai and the tool will review your availability and рropose time options. It enables you to send a link with your free dates to your colleagues and clients and speed up the process of scheduling meetings.
This tool can be especially helpful for finding compatible dates for large groups and organizing live user onboarding, conference meetings, and team management. It integrates with Google Outlook, Zoom, and Slack.
Pricing: Amy (x.ai) is available for free. The free version allows clients to create an unlimited number of custom URLs for different types of meetings, invite guests, and schedule an unlimited number of meetings. The Individual plan costs $8 per month and comes with numerous features such as Zapier integration, event visibility controls., post-meetings actions, and customized meeting integrations.
LeaseMatrix for Commercial Agents
LeaseMatrix is a downloadable spreadsheet that can help commercial agents compare tenant proposals and listings in one space. You won’t need to download multiple spreadsheets – instead, you can use side-by-side charts to give your clients easily presentable recommendations. LeaseMatrix comes with a number of features, such as Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), which calculate costs and help you determine which properties are worth investing in.
Pricing: LeaseMatrix offers a 30-day free trial and costs $29 a month.
CompStak for Commercial Agents
CompStak is a database of commercial deal information for brokers, appraisers, and researchers. Brokers can submit comps anonymously and easily find specific comps they need. The platform has a team of real estate data experts that check the reliability of every lease and sales comps. CompStak helps commercial agents focus on meaningful networking and provides them with an accurate analysis.
Pricing: CompStak is free.
Expensify for Commercial Agents
Expensify is a robust and intuitive tool that automates expense management and receipt tracking. From receipt scanning and expense approvals to reimbursement, Expensify allows real estate agents to streamline their entire pre-accounting process. Expensify offers a user-friendly mobile app that tracks recipes on-the-go. Plus, it integrates with QuickBooks and Xero.
Pricing: Individuals can track their receipts and expenses for $4.99 a month, while teams can automate their receipt collection for $5 a month.