Top 3 Buildout CRM Alternatives Overview: Features, Benefits, and Pricing Comparison

Within the last 2 years, Buildout has acquired both Apto and Rethink CRM recently having repackaged them into a single solution – Buildout CRM.

Apto and REThink are two separate interpretations of Salesforce.com based CRM offerings designed specifically for commercial real estate brokerages while Buildout is positioned as a marketing platform to generate flyers, brochures and other reports in addition to their property listing tools.

These acquisitions present a challenge for Buildout on how to best “integrate” these solutions and position them to the marketplace. While it appeared initially they were going to support all three brands going forward, recent announcements have indicated a more consolidated approach where they will be offering a single CRM solution called Buildout CRM.

This presents a unique challenge for existing REThink and Apto subscribers forcing them to make a decision on whether to stay with their brand and “ride out” the uncertainties that come with an ongoing transition/transformation of code bases or evaluate other alternatives that offer a more stable and certain future.

This article sheds light on 3 Buildout CRM alternatives:

• AscendixRE CRM
• RealNex
• ClientLook

We have provided an overview of features and pricing plans for each of these Buildout alternatives to help you make an informed decision for your business.

AscendixRE CRM

AscendixRE CRM is a customizable Salesforce-based CRM solution for commercial real estate. In addition to CRM functionality, the platform offers 3 added modules:

• Ascendix Search – advanced searching & filtering tool for Salesforce data, that includes many custom filters (e.g. radius search), Salesforce geo mapping, related lists, and more
• Composer – a powerful publishing tool enabling your users to generate professional quality brochures, flyers, property tour books, lease comp reports, sale comp reports, and owner reports for listings
• MarketSpace – property listing platform & secure deal / collaboration rooms.

AscendixRE CRM also offers Concierge Service, Salesforce CRM consulting services, and has a full in-house professional services team that supports and extends the product.

Buildout is an all-inclusive platform for commercial real estate professionals. It offers the following product lineup:

• Property websites
• Property Inventory Plugin (Buildout Marketing Platform)
• Buildout Insights (property data research and outreach tool)
• Tools for commercial real estate flyers and OMs
• Buildout CRM.

AscendixRE CRM vs Buildout: Features Overview

As we mentioned in the introduction, Buildout acquired Apto and Rethink CRM. With this in mind, let’s illustrate the acquisition and rebranding using the following formula: Apto + Rethink CRM = Buildout CRM.

To help you understand the difference between AscendixRE CRM vs Buildout CRM, let’s overview and compare the features each solution offers.

AscendixRE CRM vs Buildout: Features Comparison

AscendixRE offers a CRM solution AND a publishing tool for HTML emails, pdfs, and listing sites. Instead of relying on two disparate systems (REThink/Apto and Buildout), you get an all-in-one core product – AscendixRE CRM for Commercial Real Estate.

AscendixRE Pricing vs Buildout Pricing

As Buildout has 3 core products – CRM, Marketing, and Insights – let’s analyze the pricing for each solution separately.

Buildout Pricing Plans

AscendixRE CRM offers three pricing plans: xRE Foundations, xRE Enterprise, and xRE Unlimited.

AscendixRE CRM Pricing Plans

If you do some simple calculations with AscendixRE and Buildout pricing, you’ll notice that the former is much more affordable. With built-in marketing functionality AscendixRE CRM costs a maximum of $129/user/mo, whereas Buildout price can go up to $320. That said, AscendixRE is 2.5 times cheaper.

Additionally, Ascendix offers in-house professional services for CRM administration, system integration, customization, whereas Buildout leverages 3rd party partners for these services.

RealNex CRM

RealNex is another Buildout alternative for CRE professionals. The company’s products are meant to handle the entire CRE lifecycle, from business development to transaction management.

RealNex offers clients 1 core solution – RealNex Navigator and 4 products: CRM, Transaction Manager, MarketEdge, MarketPlace. Whereas RealNex Navigator includes all the listed solutions, these can be purchased separately as well.

Being a cloud-based CRM, RealNex helps commercial real estate brokers to:

• analyze lease offers
• create branded collateral for their properties
• tie together contacts, companies, properties, spaces, and comps on dashboards
• execute more transactions
• streamline deal management.

RealNex offers multiple integrations, including mobile-ready apps and virtual reality touring via a plug-and-play customization interface.

Realnex CRM vs Buildout: Features Overview

RealNex and Buildout have different feature sets. We’ve attempted to map the general CRM and marketing features into a table below for comparison purposes between RealNex vs Buildout accordingly.

RealNex vs Buildout CRM: Features Comparison

Buildout Pricing vs RealNex Pricing

RealNex pricing model is somewhat similar to Buildout’s, where different functionalities are grouped under various plans, so it might end up costing more for individuals or firms who only need a few features from the plan.

RealNex CRM pricing includes two subscriptions: Basic and Advanced.

Basic Subscription (CRM Only)

Annual: $1188 (= $99 per month) + $99 one-time onboarding fee per user

Annual but paid Monthly: $109 per month + $99 onboarding
This pricing plan includes 200 emails per user per month.

Advanced Subscription (RealNex Navigator which includes all listed solutions in 1 core product)

Annual: $1788 + one-time onboarding fee of $149

Annual but paid Monthly: Paid Monthly $174 per month

This pricing plan Includes 1000 emails per user per month.

NB: You can purchase CRM, Transaction Manager, MarketEdge, MarketPlace separately for $99/mo each and get the total value of $396 monthly. However, purchasing RealNex Navigator is more affordable: $149/mo + all 4 products are included.

RealNex pricing

ClientLook CRM

ClientLook, recently acquired by LightBox, is the commercial real estate CRM software for brokers, investors, and owners. It combines contact tracking, pipeline management, transactions management, and a client collaboration portal with property and listing management.

ClientLook vs Buildout: Features Overview

Even though ClientLook and Buildout have teamed up to build an integration to help users market their commercial real estate properties, we analyze ClientLook as a separate Buildout alternative and compare these solutions in terms of their CRM functionality.

ClientLook vs Buildout: Features Comparison

Buildout Pricing vs ClientLook Pricing

ClientLook pricing starts at $89 per user per month, which comes with a wider range of default functionalities than the base Buildout tier does.

ClientLook has three types of pricing plans:

• Free (for new brokers): you pay 0$ for 4 months, and $99/mo thereafter
• Annual: you can pay $89/user/mo (the total price billed annually is $1068)
• Monthly: $129/user/mo on month-to-month term. You can convert to annual at any time and save $480 (the total annual price is $1548).

Every plan includes full feature set and unlimited support. The subscriptions for integrations with Google, MailChimp and Mandrill, Buildout Marketing Platform, RPR Commercial for REALTORS®, and The Analyst® PRO are paid separately.

Picking the Best Buildout Alternative

CRM consolidation and rebranding are a constant these days and requires vigilance on the part of the broker to assess which product/platform is best aligned with their ongoing requirement set.

While assessing alternatives to Buildout for your business, here are some best practices and key evaluation criteria to consider:

• Less is more – the tool with the most “bells and whistles” is not always the best fit for you. Be honest about how you intend to use the application and allow that to feed your evaluation of the various toolsets. A good balance of the “right” features is often a better solution than tools with “all” the features.
• Configuration/Customization capabilities – make sure the tool you choose has the ability to be conformed to your business model, navigation preferences and branding standards.
• Availability of Professional services to support and tailor the CRM solution – make sure the product you choose is well supported and you have access to training staff to evolve and configure the application to your specifications.

Feel free to contact us to discuss how you can transition over to AscendixRE, which provides the power of the Salesforce platform combined with the stability of a 26-year-old company that provides both a CRE-specific CRM and a substantial set of professional services.