The verdict in three sentences
A developer selling 300 off-plan homes a year in London can no longer run reservations, staged deposits and overseas buyers in Excel without losing money on late receipts. A property CRM on SaaS goes live in weeks but handles scheme-specific payment schedules and the buyer portal poorly; custom software costs 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) in the Kolonell grid and ships in 4 to 6 months. The right trade-off rests on the cost of late receipts, which often exceeds 100,000 EUR a year at this volume.
What Excel can no longer do at 300 sales a year
In a typical London sales team, each scheme has its own workbook: available units, reservations, deposit schedule, receipts. Sales negotiators keep their own lead lists, and overseas buyers, often 30 to 40% of off-plan sales in London, email or message on WhatsApp to ask how construction is going.
The consequences are familiar: the same unit reserved twice, stage payment requests sent late after a milestone (substructure, topping out, watertight, practical completion), forgotten chasers, and no consolidated view of cash still to collect.
| Function | Shared Excel | Property CRM on SaaS | Custom software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live unit availability | Risk of double reservation | Yes, standard | Yes, interactive site plan |
| Deposit and stage payment schedule per scheme | Manual formulas | Partial, hard to adapt | Configured to your contracts |
| Payment requests triggered by construction milestones | Manual | Rarely | Automatic, on site manager sign-off |
| Card, bank transfer, international payments | Manual reconciliation | Often missing | Built in with reconciliation |
| Buyer portal (site photos, documents, due dates) | Missing | Basic | Full, multilingual |
| Legal progress per unit (exchange, completion, title) | Free-text notes | Missing | Dedicated stages |
| Board dashboard (sold, collected, to collect) | Rebuilt every month | Standard | Custom per scheme |
3-year costs in 2026: SaaS or custom
Assumption: 12 users (sales, sales admin, management). SaaS prices are 2026 market estimates; custom figures are Kolonell's grid.
| Item | Property CRM on SaaS (market) | Custom software (Kolonell grid) |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | 1,500-4,500 EUR of configuration | Included in the project |
| Development | None | 7,000,000-15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670-22,870+ EUR) |
| Subscription | 40-90 EUR per user per month | None |
| Subscription over 36 months (12 users) | 17,280-38,880 EUR | 0 |
| Maintenance | Included | 75,000-120,000 FCFA a month (110-180 EUR) |
| Time to go live | 4 to 8 weeks | 4 to 6 months |
| Ownership of code and data | Vendor | Developer |
Over 3 years, a SaaS at 60 EUR per user costs about 25,920 EUR in subscriptions plus setup. Custom software at 11,000,000 FCFA (16,770 EUR) with 120,000 FCFA (180 EUR) monthly maintenance comes to roughly 23,250 EUR, and it matches your reservation contracts.
The buyer portal, lever number one for overseas buyers
A buyer in Hong Kong, Dubai or Lagos paying a 20% deposit in stages on a 550,000 EUR flat wants to see the unit progress. A buyer portal with dated site photos, payment schedule, receipts and documents (reservation agreement, payment confirmation, legal progress) sharply cuts inbound calls and reassures at every payment request. Plan for card payments and international transfers, with amounts shown in GBP, EUR and USD.
On data, UK GDPR applies, and anti-money-laundering checks on overseas buyers must be documented: secure hosting, consent and an auditable trail are part of the specification.
Mini case study
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James, sales director at a London developer, sells 300 homes a year with an average 20% staged deposit of 110,000 EUR, so 33 million EUR called each year. Today, around 20% of called amounts, 6.6 million EUR, arrive 60 days late because requests go out late and chasers are not tracked. At a development finance cost of 10% a year, the delay costs: 6,600,000 x 10% x 60 / 365 = about 108,500 EUR a year.
If the software triggers requests at each signed-off milestone and chases automatically at day 7 and day 15, halving the delay saves about 54,000 EUR a year in finance costs. With a project around 16,770 EUR and maintenance of 2,160 EUR a year, payback comes in under 5 months, before even counting the time saved by 6 sales negotiators.
FAQ
Can we start with a single scheme?
Yes, it is even recommended. A first release covering one scheme of 80 to 120 units ships in 3 to 4 months, then other schemes are imported in 2 to 3 weeks each.
How are overseas buyers' payments handled?
The software reconciles international transfers and card payments against each due date. Card fees run around 1.5 to 2.5% per transaction, to factor into your payment terms.
What happens to our current Excel files?
They are migrated: units, buyers, schedules and receipts. Allow 2 to 4 weeks of cleaning and validation for 300 to 900 sales lines per scheme.
Can the software work with our accounting system?
Yes, through a daily or monthly export of receipts to your accounting software. A direct connector usually adds 2 to 4 weeks to the schedule.
Why not an international CRM like Salesforce?
It is possible, but at 150 EUR or more per user per month, plus an integrator to model stage payments, the budget soon exceeds custom software over 3 years.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of schemes, units per year and users: we will scope off-plan sales software within the 7,000,000-15,000,000+ FCFA grid, deliverable in 4 to 6 months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33, or request your quote.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
