The World’s Smartest Real Estate Operating System

The Chime Story

We saw a need, so we filled the need. Real estate technology was woefully behind the times, requiring agents to lose productivity and juggle multiple disconnected systems. We stepped in to fill the void and built the ultimate fully-integrated platform from the ground up. How did we know what to build? We worked closely with the best real estate professionals to understand exactly what agents need for generating and tracking leads, targeting automated communications, nurturing buyers and sellers through the funnel…and then we delivered. And we keep delivering. Every month Chime engineers provide new features and integrations that are in high demand, for an ever-evolving next-gen mobile-first real estate operating system that’s easy to use and second to none.

Overview

Chime is an all-in-one platform designed for real estate teams, large and small. They feature a flexible website, versatile and feature-rich CRM, listing manager, and transaction management system. They also can conduct your paid lead generation for you.

Chime is a new, rapidly growing entrant to the real estate space having been founded in 2016. Their office is located in Phoenix, AZ. They partnered with Curyator in 2020 on a hybrid product, blending Curaytor’s marketing tools with Chime’s CRM.

Welcome to your one-stop shop for Chime reviews!

Design Examples

Most Chime websites feature video backgrounds. There is a variety of designs and, unlike other sites, Chime sites are diverse enough that you can’t immediately tell whether it’s a Chime site or not.

The IDX search seems simple and I had no complaints browsing homes. Some agents need to include “year built” on their search features, though!

Chime has more in common with Curaytor than just their formal partnership. Chime’s website design and CMS backend shares a lot in common with Curatyor. It features drag and drop modules with good resizing features to prevent you from accidentally making your own site ugly.

The drag and drop module functionality allows you to easily edit custom designs.

Their default templates are better looking than quite a few of their competitors, but can easily be spruced up if you feel necessary with a third party designer like Cherie Young.

Downtown Realty

Destination Havasu

GO TO SITE

Cherie Young

$699+. Cherie Young has a design service that focuses on upgrading real estate platform website designs. If you love a platform’s backend but are “meh” about their website design, Cherie’s company can give you the best of both worlds. Cherie is a real estate platform expert and contributed to this article!

Best Features

Feature Rich CRM

It is has more flexibility than any of its major competitors.

It includes:

• voicemail drop
• listing alerts
• good business tracking, including forecasts and analytics
• drip campaigns (called smart plans) that are highly customizable
• lead scoring
• three-line dialer with tracking and routing features
• solid landing pages
• integrated open house sign-in sheet
• buyer matching (reverse prospecting)
• good, data-rich market snapshots for sellers and homeowners
• drag and drop marketing email editor
• AI website chatbot based on Google Assistant

Unlike some competitors, Chime has added some decent transaction management features.

The dashboard is good looking and clean, but interface can get a little busy with so many features and components. There’s always a tradeoff there between hiding information and forcing you to click more to dig in versus presenting the information in a single view, which may feel cluttered. There are likely numerous features you will not use. It’s definitely ideal to use the CRM with a large external monitor rather than a small laptop screen.

The dashboard features an easy to use kanban style pipeline to efficiently monitor the funnel.

IDX Search

Chime directly integrates with the MLS, making it easy to sent listing alerts and start transactions from MLS records.

But what Chime does especially well is its IDX.

Their property pages include a prominent and well-done option for clients to schedule a showing, on par with the kind of call to actions offered by the major portals.

It was really fast updating and clicking through properties when I experimented with it.

The property pages also include some of the aforementioned data-rich market information, but in a compact and not distracting way.

You can even easily add pocket listings manually.

Mobile App

It is not an app but a mobile version of the website, which is what most providers are now doing and seems sensible. You don’t lose any of the power of the CRM by moving to mobile.

You can also use the dialing features there straight on your phone. Many Chime reviews highlight the mobile app as one of their favorite features.

Biggest Pitfalls

Fewer Native Marketing Features

Absent are some of the tools their competitors have in listing marketing tools, Facebook marketing tools, Google Ads, etc.

Chime has strengths here, too, like dynamic Facebook ads similar to Ylopo. You can easily post listings to Facebook and it has a good number of direct integrations and the all-important Zapier integration, so that is not a problem.

kvCORE, meanwhile, has surrounded its core product with a few acquisitions, including several automated marketing tools. While Chime can competently handle many of the same tasks, kvCORE and others might have more automation features and marketing tools.

If this is a weakness, Chime has made it a modest one, having partnered with marketing platforms like Curaytor and Ylopo for direct integrations.

SEO

There is nothing about Chime that is “bad” at search engine optimization. They do everything right. SEO is generally more about creating content and what you do rather than what platform you do it on.

However, it is not as focused on SEO as is its competitor, Sierra Interactive, who has managed impressive results and makes its track record there a compelling unique selling proposition.

If organic lead generating is a major pillar of your lead generation, you may want to consider other options.

Chime Pricing*

• $499/mo and $500 setup for Agent
• $899/mo and $1000 setup for Team
• $2249/mo and $1500 setup for Enterprise
• $15-$30 Text Package
• $99/mo ISA Dialer
• $10-$69/mo Voice Package
• $5/mo MLS fee

Chime starts at $499/mo and $500 setup for the Growth, or Agent package. It includes 3 users and a $35/mo for each additional user.

The Team plan is $899/mo, $1000 setup, and accommodates up to 15 users with $15/mo for each additional user. It adds the lead routing function.

The Enterprise plan is $2249/mo for up to 100 users, $1500 setup, and $10/mo for each additional user. You can add an additional website for $200/mo (previous versions include agent subdomains). It adds the multi-office view.

At any level you can add a lender and split the cost 50/50, directly billing your lender partner for their share.

The Text package add-on is $15/mo for up to 15,000 texts/mo or 500/day, or $30/mo for up to 30,000 texts/mo or 1000/day.

The triple-line dialer is $99/mo for unlimited minutes.

The Voice package add-on is $10/mo for 500 minutes, $49/mo for 4500 minutes, or $69/mo for 8090 minutes.

Their lead generation is $15-30 per seller lead and $10-15 per buyer lead, starting at $300/mo minimum spend.

There is $5/mo fee for each MLS added.

*This is current to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing. Contact the vendor directly to check current prices, discounts, and terms.

My Personal Recommendation

Chime has been getting rave reviews for a while, and I am tardy to finally digging in and reviewing it. I put an entire day into this review, trying to find any negatives about Chime. If you can think of any, please email me. I can find none.

There are small items like maybe the UI could be simplified a little, or better filters. But Chime has most if not all of the functionality as its main competitors and then some. Its website is more customizable than just about any of its competitors.

Chime says that their big differentiator versus competitors like BoomTown or CINC is that they are focused on the platform and not necessarily wedded to a particular lead generation strategy like paid leads. BoomTown and CINC are much less versatile than Chime, but that is because they are carefully designed and optimized for a paid lead funnel. That might be a pro of those other platforms, if you are willing to give up control of your site and trust them and their industry experience.

I think it is better than kvCORE, although you are paying more. The one thing kvCORE might have going for it over Chime are the other tools that kvCORE has added to its family that include a brokerage backend (formerly Brokersumo) and listing marketing (formerly Circlepix). If you prize these add-ons, then maybe that moves the needle. Otherwise Chime is the winner.

The other item to consider is that Chime is has a lot. It’s got a lot of toys. Even power users are unlikely to use all of them, and they are adding more all the time. If you have much more simple CRM needs and don’t need the additional features, it’s likely there are more affordable CRM/platform combos you could wrangle that would still do everything you need to. If you’re the type who can be easily distracted in a CRM and lose your way, maybe it’s worthwhile to have something very basic like a Market Leader.

I also like that it is really easy to partner with a lender on the platform and marketing cost. Your basic 3 users at the starting plan has room for a lender!

It’s back-end is highly customizable. The only CRMs that come to mind that have even more customization would be Realvolve or a non-real estate CRM like Infusionsoft. And unlike Boomtown or CINC, you can do a lot more with your homepage and make it your own.

Chime is a clear contender for your business if you are an agent or team, especially if you use a diverse set of prospecting strategies.

Use Chime if…

• You want an all-in-one platform that is versatile both in front and back and can adapt to almost any lead generation strategy