Property CRM and unit reservations for developers and agencies
Author:
Paweł Matusiak
·
A spreadsheet of stock is stale after the first call. A property CRM shows which units are free, reserved and sold, who owns the client and which contract stage you are in — without three truths in three files.
On an 80-unit scheme, a “this flat is still free” mistake costs more than the system. A CRM for developers and agencies holds the unit card, the client card, a time-boxed reservation and the contract stage. Sales, the office and accounts look at the same thing. The client portal shows their units and documents, not a tenth email with an annex. A spreadsheet is already lying after the first Saturday call.
Where spreadsheet sales break
Two offices, three salespeople and one shared-drive sheet is the classic recipe for a double reservation. A scheme site updated “when someone remembers” collects calls for units that are gone. A portal lead lands in a shared inbox and dies because nobody knows who should call back. After handover there is no clean list for the association and aftercare — only folders of scans.
- Two offices reserve the same unit an hour apart.
- The website stock is stale — calls go up, trust goes down.
- Nobody knows who “owns” a portal lead.
- Reservation, deposit, deed, handover — status in one person’s head.
- After completion nobody has a clean list for the association and aftercare.
- An annex for a parking space lives in a different file than the flat card.
A unit file and one truth about status
A unit has area, floor, aspect, price, status, a change history and linked spaces (store, garage, garden). Status is not a spreadsheet colour. It is a state that drives rights: free can be reserved, reserved has an expiry, sold does not return to the site filter. Every price and status change has an author and a time — for the “who promised that figure” dispute.
- A unit file: area, floor, aspect, price, status, change history.
- A reservation with an expiry, a deposit and an automatic return to stock.
- Linked spaces: parking, store, garden — sold separately or as a pack.
- A dated price list and promotion — no silent cell edits.
- An “available” filter on the scheme site fed from the CRM, not a handmade CMS page.
Reservation, hold and deposit — without selling twice
A site visitor can place a preliminary reservation or a hold for X hours. That is not the developer contract. The contract and payment follow the path you set with your lawyer. The system stops two holds eating the same unit and puts the unit back on the market when the hold dies, without a call to IT. The deposit is tied to the reservation, not to “a transfer accounts will find on Thursday”.
An agency selling someone else’s scheme needs the same stock and different permissions: they see units they may sell, they do not see the developer’s margin, they do not edit the price list. This is not hotel booking — the slot does not come back every night, and a mistake stays in the land register for years.
Leads, salespeople and sources
A lead from a portal, the site, an open day and a referral must land in one queue with an owner and a stage. Otherwise two offices call the same person and a third unit sits because nobody refreshed the offer. Sales tasks (call back, book a viewing, send a floorplan) sit on the lead, not in a private calendar. The report shows which source makes contracts and which only makes calls.
Contracts, checklist and handover
A path is often: reservation → developer contract → transfer → handover. Each stage has documents, payments and people. The CRM does not replace the notary. It holds the checklist and watches what is missing (an extract, a spouse consent, a payment proof). At handover: defects, a fix date, a protocol with photos. That is a bridge to construction software if the same group builds and sells.
Client portal and scheme site
The buyer does not want a tenth email with an annex. They want to log in and see their units, the payment schedule, documents to download and handover status. The portal shows only their matters. The scheme site shows an available-unit filter from the CRM — so ads do not sell flats you no longer have. A business profile and a landing page will not replace that truth.
Buyer GDPR and KSeF on invoices
Buyer data, national id numbers, identity documents, marketing consents — this is not a blog mailing list. Roles, retention, export limits. Detail in GDPR in applications. Invoices (deposits, settlements) between VAT payers from 2026 go through KSeF per ksef.podatki.gov.pl: 1 February 2026 when 2024 sales exceed PLN 200 million (including VAT), 1 April 2026 for the rest. Consumer invoices in KSeF are optional. Often we leave issuing in the accounts tool and the CRM holds payment status. When the panel issues — KSeF integration.
A property CRM package or a custom one
Packages exist for agencies and developers. They work with one process and their stages. Custom when you have a network of offices, your own hold rules, a scheme site for SEO or a buyer portal under your brand. Sometimes we only add stock and reservations on top of what already stands. Criteria: SaaS or custom.
If you fear a double reservation or the site lies about stock — describe unit count, how many people sell and whether a CRM already exists. A quote from stock truth, not from “property industry system”.
An open day, a listing portal and a lead that dies in the inbox
An open weekend can put 80 cards into a sheet and zero owners. The CRM should take a lead from the site, from an open-day form and from a portal — with a source, a consent and a “call back within 4 hours” task. If three sources land in three places, on Monday morning two offices call the same person and a third gets no contact. Scoring need not be artificial intelligence. Enough: budget, move-in date, whether they visited, whether they asked for a named unit.
A salesperson on a phone at the scheme needs a free-unit list and a one-hour hold, not a laptop with a spreadsheet that “will sync in a minute”. An app or a mobile view with large statuses is phase two — after the desk stock no longer lies.
Parking, stores, annexes and “that was included”
A unit is rarely alone. A store, a space, a garden, a bike store sell together or apart, at a different price and status. An annex that adds a space after the contract must change the unit card and the balances, not only a PDF in email. The “that was included” fight ends with a change history, not the memory of a salesperson who already left. It is dull. It is also the only thing that defends you at a claim and at handover.
After the sale: the association, defects, aftercare
A sales CRM often dies on completion day. Then defects live on the site manager’s WhatsApp and nobody has a list for the association. Even a thin “after sale” stage: handover protocol, defects, a fix date, association contacts — cuts chaos more than another funnel. If the same group builds, we wire it to site software. If not — an export of units and buyers is enough so you do not retype the register from a PDF.
We do not build full association software on day one. We build a bridge so that when the scheme finishes you are not left with “handovers_final_v3_FIXED.xlsx”.
Scheme prices, a promotion and the history a dispute needs
The metre price and the unit price move during sales. A “parking included until month-end” promotion must have an end date and a unit list. A manual sales discount — with a cap and a manager approval, or the price list dies on the first weekend. Price-change history is dull and mandatory: a client who returns after two weeks should not hear another figure with no reason. The report shows how many units went below the floor — before accounts sees it on the deed.
Currency, VAT and the payment scheme (a percent on contract, instalments, the rest on completion) sit on the scheme, not in one person’s head. The CRM does not replace legal advice on the developer contract. It holds the numbers that contract implies.
Reservation versus developer contract — the system watches the stage, it does not replace the lawyer
We do not write which contract form is “correct”. That is the scheme lawyer. The CRM watches which stage the unit is in and what is missing for the next: a payment, a document, a hold expiry. Moving stage without ticking the checklist needs a role (for example head of sales), not a salesperson’s shortcut. That way the scheme site does not show a contracted unit as free, and does not keep a unit reserved after the hold died overnight.
PDF templates can sit on the scheme. Versioning (v3 from 1 March) matters when the area annex changes. The client portal shows their signed file, not “the current template from the drive”. That cuts the annex and handover fight.
Hold, a preliminary reservation and the contract — three states, not one spreadsheet colour
A site visitor can place a hold for X hours or a preliminary reservation. That is not the developer contract and we do not write which form is “correct” — that is the scheme lawyer. The system stops two holds eating the same unit and puts the unit back in the “available” filter when the hold dies, without a call to IT. The deposit is tied to the reservation, not to a transfer accounts will find on Thursday. Moving stage without the checklist needs a role (for example head of sales), not a salesperson’s shortcut.
A scheme site fed from the CRM does not sell flats you no longer have. A profile and a landing page will not replace that truth. An agency on someone else’s scheme sees the pool you open, not the developer’s margin and not someone else’s price list. The “two offices, one client” clash is settled by a written rule (who was first, who did the viewing), not a Monday shout.
Parking, stores, annexes and price history
A unit is rarely alone. A store, a space, a garden sell together or apart, at a different price and status. An annex that adds a space after the contract must change the card and the balance, not only a PDF in email. A “parking included until month-end” promotion has an end date and a unit list. A manual sales discount — with a cap and approval. Price-change history defends the “who promised that figure” fight when the salesperson has already left.
- Free / hold / reserved / sold drives permissions and the site filter.
- A contract-template version (v3 from 1 March) sits on the scheme; the portal shows the client’s file.
- Leads from an open day, a portal and the site land in one queue with an owner and a source.
- After completion: defects and the association list must not die in a folder of scans.
Buyer GDPR and KSeF on deposits
National id numbers, identity documents and marketing consents are not a blog list. Roles, retention, limited export — GDPR in applications. Advance invoices between VAT payers from 2026 go through KSeF per ksef.podatki.gov.pl: 1 February 2026 when 2024 sales exceed PLN 200 million (including VAT), 1 April 2026 for the rest. B2C optional. Often the invoice stays in the accounts tool and the CRM holds payment status. When the panel issues — KSeF integration. The accountant names the document; we do not interpret the developer act.
Frequently asked questions
- Will this replace listing portals?
- No. Portals stay as a lead source. The CRM tracks what happened to the lead and whether the unit is still for sale.
- Can a client reserve a flat on the website?
- They can place a preliminary reservation or a hold for X hours. The contract and payment follow the path you set with your lawyer.
- What about several schemes?
- The same engine, separate sites, a shared client base. Filters and permissions per scheme.
- What about GDPR and buyer data?
- Consents, retention, role limits. Detail in GDPR in applications.
- Will you replace the notary and the land register?
- No. We hold the checklist and the documents. The deed and the register stay where the law puts them.
- Agency and developer on one system?
- Yes, with hard roles. The agency does not see someone else’s margin. The developer sees which units sit with which partner.
- Lettings, not sales?
- A different flow (lease, deposit, notice). It can sit on the same unit file, but we do not mix a sales MVP with lettings on day one.
- KSeF on deposits?
- If you issue advance invoices as VAT payers — the Ministry timetable applies (1 February / 1 April 2026). The accountant says which document goes through KSeF; we wire the panel or leave a bridge to the accounts tool.
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