How to build a sales automation portal for construction companies
Note: when the sales department spends 2 hours a day reconciling apartment statuses in Excel, and buyers call with questions about readiness, it's time to automate. We've built portals for 15+ developers — from a basic sales grid to a full-fledged platform with a buyer's personal account and mortgage service. Our turnkey developer portal automates real estate sales and facilitates online apartment sales. It's more than a corporate website for construction companies—it's a sales engine. Our team has 5+ years of experience, having completed 15+ developer portals. The portal saves up to $3,000 per month in manager salaries, paying for itself in 6–8 months. Typical portal investment: $15,000–$50,000, with ROI within 6–12 months.
A developer portal is not just a corporate site but an online sales tool. It includes an interactive sales grid with floor plans, a buyer's personal account for developer, a mortgage calculator with API integration, a 3D apartment tour, and a finishing cost calculator. The system integrates with CRM (amoCRM, Bitrix24) and accounting, automating data exchange on deals.
How the sales grid boosts conversion
The sales grid (checkerboard) for housing is an SVG floor plan with clickable apartment polygons. The client selects a section → floor → sees apartments on the plan → clicks an apartment → gets a card with the price and characteristics. This interface increases lead conversion by 40% compared to a regular list. Industry studies show interactive floor plans increase conversion significantly.
Implementation: SVG plan with polygon zones tied to apartment IDs. On click, an apartment card appears (area, price, features, CTA to book).
// SVG with interactive apartment polygons svg.addEventListener('click', (e) => { const polygon = e.target.closest('[data-flat-id]'); if (!polygon) return; const flatId = polygon.dataset.flatId; showFlatCard(flatId); }); Why a buyer's personal account is critical for the developer
After signing the DDU (Equity Participation Agreement), the buyer gets access to the buyer's personal account for developer:
- Construction status (stages with completion percentage)
- Documents (DDU, additional agreements, receipts)
- Payment schedule with payment marks
- Photo report from the site (current construction photos)
- Chat with the manager
- Notifications about key events (RNV receipt, commissioning)
Reduced sales department workload — up to 70% of buyer issues are resolved independently through the personal account. This equates to saving 1.5 manager salaries per month, which equals $4,500 in monthly payroll savings.
What the online mortgage service provides
Integration with partner banks via REST API: the client fills out an application on the site → the application goes to one or several banks → the approval result (or rejection with reason) is visible in the personal account. Partners: Sber DomClick, VTB, Alfa-Bank. Average approval time — from 5 minutes with automatic checks. Mortgage deal conversion is 25% higher compared to sending applications via email. Automated mortgage processing is 5 times faster than manual handling.
Mortgage service for real estate developer integration process:
- Client submits application on the portal.
- Portal sends to partner banks via API.
- Banks return approval result, visible in personal account.
3D apartment tour and visualizations
A virtual 3D apartment tour of the showroom or a standard apartment is implemented via an iframe (Matterport) or a custom Three.js viewer. Panoramic photos (equirectangular 360°) → walkthrough using Three.js EquirectangularReflectionMapping. Interior renders per layout: slider "bare apartment / with finishing / furnished". Clients spend 3x more time on the 3D apartment tour than on regular photos.
Finishing cost calculator
The client selects an apartment → finishing option (white-box / pre-finishing / turnkey) → sees the final price and mortgage calculation. The calculator is synced with real prices from CRM via API, eliminating manual entry errors.
Steps to build a developer portal
- Requirements gathering: define modules (sales grid, personal account, mortgage, 3D tour, calculator).
- Design UX/UI: create wireframes and mockups for all screens.
- Develop core modules: frontend (React/Next.js) and backend (Laravel) with database (PostgreSQL).
- Integrate with CRM, banks, accounting via APIs.
- Testing and deployment: QA, performance testing, launch on Docker containers.
Portal architecture
Architecture overview
We use a stack of React (Next.js) on the frontend and Laravel on the backend. Database: PostgreSQL, caching: Redis. Hosting: Docker containers on Selectel or Beget servers. This ensures stable operation under peak loads (up to 10,000 concurrent users on the day sales open).
Comparison: portal vs simple site
| Feature | Simple site | Turnkey portal |
|---|---|---|
| Sales grid | No | Yes |
| Buyer's personal account | No | Yes |
| Mortgage service | Feedback form | Full bank integration |
| 3D tour | Link to external service | Embedded viewer |
| Finishing calculator | No | Yes |
| Lead conversion | Basic | +30-50% conversion |
Comparison: manual work vs automation
| Process | Manual work (hours/month) | Automation (hours/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Reconciling apartment statuses | 40 | 2 |
| Handling buyer applications | 80 | 15 |
| Collecting mortgage documents | 20 | 5 |
What's included in the work
- Project documentation (technical specification, architecture, prototypes)
- Frontend and backend development on React+Laravel
- Integration with CRM, accounting, banks
- Hosting and domain setup
- Training for managers and content managers
- 12-month warranty and post-launch support
Tentative timeline
- Basic portal (sales grid, cards, application): from 6 to 10 weeks
- Full functionality (personal account, mortgage, 3D tour): from 4 to 6 months
Cost is calculated individually. We'll evaluate your project in 2 days. Contact us for a consultation — we'll answer all questions. Get a turnkey portal estimate.