REI BlackBook Review: Real Estate CRM Features & Benefits

As a real estate investor, how you respond to, and manage leads directly influences your conversion rates, and ultimately, your profitability and overall success. Prompt, personalized responses boost your chances of engaging leads while they’re still hot and minimize the risk of losing them to competitors.

But with all the tasks on your real estate investor’s plate, staying on top of lead communication can be challenging. That’s where REI Blackbook comes in.

REI Blackbook is a cloud-based real estate software that streamlines lead responses and management. Discover the features and benefits it has to offer in our REI Blackbook review for 2024.

Let's dive into our REI BlackBook review so you can see what this popular platform is all about.

• What Is REI BlackBook?
• What Is REI Blackbook Used For In Real Estate?
  
• REI BlackBook Software Features & Benefits
• REI Blackbook Pricing
  
• How Does It Compare Against Competitors?
• REI BlackBook Pros & Cons
  
• REI BlackBook Software FAQ
• Is REI BlackBook Worth It? 

What Is REI BlackBook? 

REI BlackBook is a web-based platform created to help real estate investors streamline their business processes.

Every real estate investor wants to spend less time trying to figure out software platforms and more time putting the software to work for their business.

With powerful contact management, lead generation, and integrated marketing features, REI BlackBook aims to give property professionals a leg up in building their businesses.

Who Created REI BlackBook?

Based in St. Louis, REI BlackBook traces its roots back to 2008 when founder and CEO Damon Remy was operating a mortgage business. In the process, he created a suite of software tools designed to help investor clients identify and buy more properties.

His model was to give away the tools to help clients buy more houses so that he could build a continual stream of mortgage customers.

When the bubble burst, his mortgage business nearly went under. But then Remy got the idea to sell the software to investors, gambling that they would be willing to pay for tools that combined to help them grow their business. His bet paid off.  

Read on to learn more about the features of this software and determine if REI BlackBook is the right choice for your business.

If You Think REI BlackBook Is A Good Fit: Check Out The REI BlackBook Free Trial!

What Is REI Blackbook Used For In Real Estate?

REI Blackbook is a web-based customer relationship management software created for real estate investors, agents and brokers, wholesalers, brokerages, and even house flippers. 

The software through its range of features facilitates the smoother completion of the following key processes in the mentioned real estate investing specialties:

Lead Generation

REI Blackbook provides users with multiple lead-generation channels. This allows them to reach leads through the most convenient avenue, consequently increasing the chances of responses. These channels include calls, text messages, direct mail, and ringless voicemail campaigns.

Additionally, REI Blackbook offers website and page-building tools that users can leverage to build fully functional landing pages with lead capture forms for lead generation purposes. Even more impressive is that they can build as many pages as they need to target specific lead categories more effectively.

Lead Communication

Once leads are generated through lead capture forms or call and SMS campaigns, REI Blackbook provides call and workflows to streamline follow-up.

Using Callflows, for instance, REI BlackBook users can set up a sequence of actions they want to occur after a lead calls their business consequently automating communication. For example, you can set up inbound lead calls to be forwarded to your phone number ensuring you never miss a call.

Moreover, REI Blackbook’s Callflows feature also tracks where prospect and lead calls are coming from allowing real estate investors to easily identify productive marketing strategies and weed out the ineffective ones.

In addition to Callflows, REIBlackbook allows investors to establish marketing profiles containing their company’s contact details.

These profiles greatly streamline lead communication by automatically filling in communication fields on emails, real estate investor websites, or any other touch points thus ensuring consistency when communicating with prospects and eliminating the need to repeatedly type the same information for each lead you contact.

Lead Management

REIBlackbook also offers a range of features that users can leverage to streamline lead management.

These include the earlier mentioned call and workflows, which allow users to trigger a sequence of actions to streamline lead communication and track lead sources during various marketing campaigns. REI Blackbook also provides the Profit Dial mobile app which offers users quick access to all the contacts on their account allowing them to manage all lead calls directly on their smartphone.

Users can also set up text notifications or assign tasks via the Profit Dial app, ensuring they never miss or forget an important lead management task again. REI Blackbook also offers a URL tracking feature that allows users to seamlessly track online campaigns, thus easily identifying the most productive marketing channels.

Read Also: Top 10 Best CRM For Real Estate Investors (2024)

Advanced Tagging

Most real estate investors use different avenues in their marketing endeavors. While this increases outreach, it can be difficult to track which leads are coming from where. That’s where REI Blackbook advanced tagging comes in.

This feature lets users create short descriptions of leads called tags. They can create these tags based on the lead source, or the category they fall in such as buyer leads, seller leads, or probate leads, making it easier to distinguish different leads, locate particular or related leads, and most importantly, stay organized.

Automated Lead Follow-Up

Imagine having to manually respond to each lead that contacts your business regardless of whether they’re hot or cold! It would be time-consuming, not to mention creates the risk of some prospects falling through the cracks.

Thankfully, REI Blackbook users don’t have to go through such a hassle. They can set up personalized follow-up text messages automatically triggered every time a lead signs up via the web capture forms. Even better, REI Blackbook personalizes these responses based on the lead name, making the prospect feel valued and more likely to maintain contact.

Deal & Property Analyzer

REI Blackbook offers users a powerful real estate calculator they can use to accurately work out and evaluate expenses, taxes, and other key metrics that affect an investment deal or property’s profitability. This minimizes the risk of losses by ensuring they identify, and only invest in real estate deals that prove feasible.

Tasks and team management: REI Blackbook features a task manager where investors with teams can add their employees, assign them tasks, control or limit their access to various leads, and basically, easily collaborate on lead management, consequently fueling productivity.

Automated Call Recording 

With REI Blackbook’s auto-call recording, real estate investors can automatically record calls between employees and teams for future reference or training purposes.

REI BlackBook Software Features & Benefits

REI BlackBook delivers integrated features that help investors manage all aspects of their business. In addition, it offers users robust customer service support through a team of 25-plus reps.  

Here's a closer look at the features that this software can offer your business:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The REI BlackBook CRM is built to help you prevent leads from falling through the cracks. It was created to be just as easy to use whether you're sitting in front of the computer or out of the office. Like most good customer relationship management (CRM) tools, contacts are automatically updated, and users can add notes and even view the entire history of a lead within the contact's record. 

A feature that sets REI BlackBook apart from many of its competitors is its ability to integrate contact management seamlessly with your website and phone system. What this means is that every time you generate a new lead, a record for that contact is automatically created and you're able to continue tracking that lead through your CRM.

This eliminates the need for taking notes or following up on a website-generated email by manually adding a contact to your CRM. This feature is designed to save time, while also reducing the risk of contacts falling through the cracks entirely. 

Contact Segmentation & Advanced Tagging

Sort out a specific segment of your contact list easily with REI BlackBook's advanced tagging feature. This feature allows you to quickly and easily sort through your contacts and segment out only those contacts you are targeting.

In addition to segmenting out lists based on tags you create, the system allows you to sort using such data points as date created, geographic location, and more. Forget about trying to make built-in tags and fields work for your business. REI BlackBook gives you unlimited custom fields.

Property Pipeline

How many times have you been out at a property site or meeting with a prospective client and wish you had a property's file folder with you.

REI BlackBook feels your pain. That's why it created the property pipeline. Serving a virtual filing folder, so it's always at your fingertips, your property pipeline keeps important documents and contracts, as well as photos and more, all in one, convenient place. 

Marketing & Sales Tools

Failing to follow up is one of the biggest downfalls for a real estate investment business. Having to learn multiple platforms just to get the job done is a critical factor. 

REI BlackBook's visual workflow builder helps you build customer experiences that close more deals. Thanks to REI BlackBook's automation, you can create a lead nurture program that ensures your leads receive personalized follow-up via text, email, or ringless voicemail. 

Website & Page Building Tools

If your website is beautifully designed but isn't building your business, then it's nothing more than a pretty face. Traffic volume becomes irrelevant if you aren't converting. REI BlackBook's website and page-building tools help you turn those clicks into leads.

Booking appointments is made easier with automatic follow-up and routing of leads to your team for scheduling.

Campaign Tracing

Follow-up goes on autopilot with REI BlackBook's multi-channel nurture campaigns. Stay in touch with prospects and customers throughout the process. 

REI BlackBook's workflows also make moving contacts between campaigns a snap. 

Marketing Automation

Your contacts will receive personalized emails as they move through the sales cycle. You'll be able to see how contacts are progressing and where they are within a campaign.

Property Marketing

Building and managing your contacts is just half the story. REI BlackBook lets you also create a website to promote your properties and build demand for your inventory.

Customize for your business with templates for wholesale deals, rehabs that are ready to move, lease option properties, and rentals. Best of all, you'll be able to capture leads and take rental apps directly from your site. 

REI BlackBook Bootcamp

As part of its robust portfolio of resources it offers users, REI BlackBook holds an REI BlackBook Bootcamp twice a year.

The Bootcamp is a live, in-person event that not only provides more in-depth information on using its software's many features but also offers attendees the opportunity to hear from successful real estate investors who share their experiences in building their investment businesses.

Third-Party Integrations

In real estate software, third-party integrations do more than just enhance native functionality. They boost workflow efficiency and create a better user experience by allowing you to consolidate and access data from multiple sources on one centralized platform.

As one of the longest-running real estate software providers, REI Blackbook sure understands this, and the proof is in their long list of supported software integrations, showcasing their commitment to providing comprehensive, user-friendly experiences.

Some of the third-party software it integrates with include:

• Zapier
• Facebook lead ads
• Mojo Dialer
• Canva
• Asana
• CallTools
• Google Workspace
• Hubspot
• iCalendar
• Podio
• Outlook Calendar
• Salesforce
• Print Genie

Since these integrations can be tricky to navigate, particularly for the new, or less tech-savvy user, REI Blackbook provides support articles with step-by-step instructions on integrating various outside lead sources into its software.

REI Blackbook Pricing

REI Blackbook offers three monthly subscription plans: Basic, Growth, and Professional.

The Basic plan is quite affordable, starting at $97 when billed monthly but if you’re looking to enjoy some savings, consider the annual billing cycle which costs $81 saving you a total of $194.

You’ll get a single user account, lead capture website, and call tracking number for this cost. Basic subscribers also get 500 contacts, 1,000 email credits, pay-as-you-go calling at $0.6 per minute, and pay-as-you-go texting at $0.5 per text.

The Growth plan costs $197 billed monthly, and $165 when billed annually, saving subscribers a whopping $394 a year. It has three user accounts, lead capture websites, and call tracking numbers. Users also get 5,000 contacts, 10,000 email credits, 500 local minutes and texts, 250 ringless voicemails, and a profit dial mobile app.

For $297 a month, or $248 in annual cycles, subscribers to the Professional plan get 10 user accounts, lead capture websites, and call tracking numbers. They also get 10,000 contacts, 20,000 email credits, 1,500 local minutes + text messages, 500 ringless voicemails, a profit dial mobile app, and access to the REI Academy.

 

How Does It Compare Against Competitors?

REI BlackBook is rich with features, but how does it stack up against its competitors?

Here's a look at four REI BlackBook alternatives and how they compare:

REI BlackBook vs REIPro

REIPro promises its DEALPro deal analyzer will analyze every potential deal from all angles, with the goal of providing valuable information for making your investment decisions. While its features are more basic than some property-focused platforms, such as PropStream, they are comparable to what's offered with REI BlackBook.

It also cannot help you evaluate potential returns or property rehab costs if you are an investor. The platform is able to provide additional features, such as assistance with property campaigns, ordering direct mail postcards, skip tracing, and phone scripts. Pricing is lower than some of the more robust options.

REI BlackBook vs FreedomSoft

FreedomSoft is a robust real estate investing platform. In addition to offering contact management and automated marketing, FreedomSoft distinguishes itself from REI BlackBook with in-depth deal analysis and reports, including nationwide property comps, repair estimates, and cost analysis for rentals and rehabs.

It also has a strong lead generation feature, identifying tax-delinquent properties, absentee owners, REO properties, and more. The cost is higher, with three plans ranging from $197 to $497.

Read Also: FreedomSoft Review: Is It Worth It?

REI BlackBook vs Propelio

Propelio focuses on real estate investors and it has a number of features that REI BlackBook has, including a robust CRM. It also allows you to perform skip tracing to find owner contact information. It does not seem to have automated marketing features comparable to those you will find with REI BlackBook.

It also appears as if there are not as many opportunities for customizing contact management. On the other hand, the cost is about half what you will pay for the added features offered by REI BlackBook. 

REI BlackBook vs PropStream

PropStream is a popular real estate software platform and it's easy to see why. The primary focus for PropStream is finding and analyzing properties.

An advantage it has over many similar programs is that PropStream offers its users access to data encompassing 153 million properties. That includes mortgage history, tax details, property owners’ information, and general property data, PropStream is the all-in-one software providing access to it all.

One of PropStream's most in-depth features is its ability to research properties and analyze the potential deal. It has a less robust contact management system than REI BlackBook, with greater emphasis on property data.

Read Also: PropStream Review: Pricing, Features, & Is It Worth It?

REI BlackBook Pros & Cons

Check out this quick rundown of REI Blackbook’s pros:

• A range of innovative lead generation tools: From landing pages, and email campaign templates, to text messaging and ringless voicemail, REI Blackbook simplifies and automates marketing by providing multichannel marketing automation tools for lead generation.
• A long list of integrations: REI Blackbook integrates with a long string of third-party software enhancing user experience and efficiency by allowing centralized access to business data.
• Lots of user resources: The platform offers videos, online modules, and a suite of articles covering the step-by-step process of using the various features available on the platform thus curbing the learning curve.
• Streamlined lead communication: reiblackbook.com has a range of features that greatly streamline communication including call flows, workflows, marketing profiles, and a profit dial mobile app
• Offers a powerful property analyzer ensuring accuracy in deal analysis calculations
• Advanced tagging allows for seamless organization and contact management

While it’s great, REI Blackbook does have some downsides such as:

• The basic plan is affordable, but you have to pay for phone calls and texts separately
• As your business scales up, you may have to invest in add-ons, driving up your monthly costs

REI BlackBook Software FAQ

Real estate software is a big investment, but it can pay off by driving more business your way. If you're still on the fence, the following questions and answers may provide just the right information to make your decision.

Is REI BlackBook Legit?

REI Blackbook is among the pioneering cloud-based solutions in the real estate software realm having been rolled out in 2008. It’s a private company with brick-and-mortar offices in St. Louis, Missouri where it has about 50 employees and opens daily from 8:00 am. 

Beyond its physical offices, REI Blackbook is widely recognized in the real estate industry and is heavily reviewed across multiple real estate forums including BiggerPockets, and even non-industry specific discussion platforms such as Glassdoor where employees praise the company for diversity and inclusion, great company culture, and an innovative and agile team.

REI Blackbook has a strong online presence, particularly on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. They regularly share user tips, step-by-step user tutorials, and other resourceful content that users can leverage to familiarize themselves with the platform.

Furthermore, the company boasts partnerships with renowned third-party companies in real estate such as Zapier, which streamlines the user experience and cements its credibility.

So, yes, REI Blackbook is a legitimate real estate platform and company.

Does REI BlackBook Have a Discount Code?

REI BlackBook offers 2 months free when you subscribe to any of their annual plans. They also offer a 14-day free trial to their small business plan.

Does REI BlackBook Have a Free Trial?

Yes, REI BlackBook offers a free 14-day trial to their small business plan. This free trial can be accessed on their website.

How Do Real Estate Investors Use REI BlackBook?

Real estate investors will find REI BlackBook offers an all-in-one platform for generating and nurturing leads, managing property information, and marketing. 

Integration with website and phone helps to automatically manage contacts. Automated marketing provides continual follow-up throughout the sales process.

Is There an REI BlackBook App?

In May 2020, REI BlackBook announced that its Profit Dial Mobile App is officially available in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

The app is available to all Small Business and Accelerator plan subscribers.

How Do I Cancel my REI BlackBook Subscription?

Plan management is available from the account dashboard on the REI BlackBook website or by contacting customer service at [email protected] or (800) 507-1945.

How Do I Contact REI BlackBook Support?

Help is just a phone call away. There are several resources available for support at REI BlackBook, including a library of articles categorized by topic. Customer support can also be reached at [email protected] or via phone at (800) 507-1945 or fax at (800) 507-1945.

What is the REI BlackBook Customer Service Number?

REI BlackBook customer service can be reached via phone at (800) 507-1945 or fax at (800) 507-1945.

Final Thoughts: Is REI BlackBook Worth It?

REI Blackbook offers a range of features that automate lead generation, and contact management. In other words, the platform facilitates automation in essential real estate processes making it a solid choice for real estate investors, and other industry players looking to build a successful, but hassle-free business model.

Furthermore, it offers the profit dial app, allowing users to set up tasks, calls, and text messages with their leads, and teams on the fly. 

REI Blackbook integrates with the most commonly used real estate tools, simplifying key processes such as lead list imports and exports across platforms. 

REI Blackbook is worth it, particularly for a real estate agent or investor seeking a comprehensive real estate CRM solution. Are you ready to take your real estate investing business to the next level? Consider investing in the tool, and while at it, sign up for our free wholesale training course to up your wholesaling game.

*Disclosure: Real Estate Skills is not responsible for the information provided by REI BlackBook or on its respective website. REI BlackBook is an independent company which provides real estate services to investors. Real Estate Skills trains on using REI BlackBook and the benefits of using the service but is not responsible for the content it provides.