This is a very interesting thread because I was in the same situation as most of you. I tried most of the software's mentioned and I even became an Authorized Partner for Podio. I couldn't find anything that did all of the things I needed to do with my wholesale/rehab business. Eventually, I decided to create my own software from scratch and it took about 2 years.
@Don Taylor "BASICALLY A SYSTEM THAT CAN TAKE ME FROM A-Z THAT WILL EQUIP ME WITH THE TOOLS TO MAKE ME THE BEST IN MY AREA. Is there any wholesalers here willing to share what system you use and a little on way you use it and how you use it (workflow)."
This is what everyone wants! I have been wholesaling full time since 2001 and I can tell you that Podio is the only one that has the workflows you want. However, you will really need Globiflow to make this work, which is expensive ($120 mo). The other issue with Podio is you need to integrate other products to make it work and this a lot of time managing multiple systems. For the average user this can be difficult and time consuming because there is a huge learning curve which @Elizabeth Wilson and @Braden Smithmentioned, and in my opinion defeats the purpose of this thread because everyone here wants an "all in one" solution. In summary, Podio and Zoho are general CRMs and not designed for real estate investing, so it takes a lot of time to set them up and most typical users will need a developer to make it a "Super CRM" specifically for REI.
@Rori Stumpf
Originally posted by @Rori Stumpf:
I want a one-stop packaged real estate investor platform that includes.
CRM for contact management and lead flow management
list building
comps finder
rehab pricing calculator
deal analyzers
direct mail
website for lead funneling
Does such a beast exist? YES
There is software that does all of these things. I have a question for you regarding "list building". Do you mean purchasing a list within the software? Realeflow does this and is this why you prefer that software of the others mentioned here? The reason I am asking is because others are talking about building a mailing list from leads, properties, contacts, etc, and adding them to a mailing campaign and these are different than purchasing lists. This is possible but there is one BIG issue here. IF YOU ARE USING VARIABLE DATA IN YOUR POSTCARDS AND LETTERS each piece you use will have different variable fields, so the Excel sheet will naturally have different column names. What I am saying is you can create a list from leads, properties and/or contacts in your CRM but if your mailing piece has variable data you can't automatically transfer that data to campaign because when you are selecting that record to add to a list you may not know what piece you are mailing. i.e. postcard, letter, etc.
Rori's quote "I like Realeflow but one of the dumbest things about it is that you MUST ADD a property to your leads before you can VIEW it, and then you have to go back and delete the property if you are not interested in it -- a complete waste of time. So I contacted their support and their response was basically -- hey man, that's how it is, and they can't change it (even though it is their system). Ok, sorry I asked... support was lame."
A record has to be entered into the system somewhere but a lead is separate from a property even though you should be able to transfer the data from one to the other with a click of the mouse. This is the example of a good workflow: Campaign -> Direct Mail -> Phone Call (analytic tracking number) -> Lead -> Property -> Comps -> Deal Analyzer -> Contract -> Appointment, etc... You can also substitute email webform for phone call but if you use a tracking number every call is recorded, you have analytics and reports, and you can call the person back and/or send receive texts from that same number. It's much more effective!
Additionally, you mentioned website that's connected to you CRM. Even though Realeflow and Freedomsoft have websites, they are html and not Wordpress, so the SEO isn't very good. Investor Carrot has these Wordpress websites but that means you would need to add $99 mo to the cost of the whatever CRM you are using. You really need Wordpress to compete but you also need this integrated with your CRM , webforms, leads, etc. with features like click to call, live chat, email marketing (lists) and video chat. I developed all of this through wholesaling and rehabbing houses in my area and it wasn't easy. I am still tweaking all of this and it is an ongoing project that takes a lot of my time away from wholesaling.
I have to end this writing now because I can't add any more @names for some reason. I hope this was helpful and feel free to PM me with any questions!
