Quick answer: property portals sell agents and builders listing and visibility packages — a number of listings, a period of promotion, and a volume of buyer contacts — priced by city, locality and tier, and negotiated by a sales representative rather than published. 99acres, MagicBricks and Housing.com all operate this way; NoBroker runs a different model aimed at owners transacting without a broker. The money question is not the package price but your cost per closed transaction, which most agents never calculate.
What a portal package actually contains
| Element | What it means |
|---|---|
| Listing quota | How many properties you can have live at once |
| Listing duration | How long each stays active before refresh |
| Promotion / boost | Placement above organic listings for a period |
| Buyer contacts | Number of enquiries or contact-detail unlocks included |
| Microsite / branding | A branded presence for builders and larger agencies |
| Locality targeting | Premium placement within specific micro-markets |
The variable that matters most is buyer contacts, because it is the only element that directly produces business. Ask for the package defined in contacts, not in impressions or "visibility".
The economics you should run before the sales call
- Average brokerage per closed transaction.
- Realistic conversion: contacts → site visits → closures. Be honest; portal leads convert lower than referrals.
- Contacts included in the package.
- Therefore expected closures, and cost per closure.
- Compare against your brokerage. If cost per closure exceeds a meaningful share of brokerage, the package does not work at that price — negotiate or decline.
Then the operational test, which matters as much: can you respond to a portal enquiry within minutes? Portal leads are shared and decay fast. An agent who calls back the same evening is competing with three who called back in five minutes.
Where the money is actually lost
It is almost never the package price. It is follow-up. A typical Indian agency generates hundreds of portal contacts a quarter, converts a handful, and has no record of the rest — no idea who was looking in which locality at which budget, and no way to call them when a matching property arrives three months later.
That is a CRM problem, and fixing it changes the return on every portal rupee:
- LeadSquared Real Estate — built for high-volume real estate lead management with calling workflows.
- Zoho CRM for Real Estate — good value with strong customisation.
- Kylas CRM — unlimited users, which suits agencies with many agents.
- Corefactors — telephony built in, which suits call-driven sales.
See best CRM for real estate in India and the real estate software category.
Pair the CRM with separate tracking numbers per portal through a cloud telephony provider such as MyOperator or Exotel, and you will know at renewal exactly which portal produced which closures — see our SuperReceptionist guide.
Negotiating a portal package
- Get the package defined in buyer contacts by locality, in writing.
- Ask what happens to invalid or duplicate contacts — are they replaced?
- Start with a short term. Annual deals signed on a first call are the most common regret.
- Get renewal pricing stated before you sign year one.
- If you work one or two micro-markets, argue for locality-focused placement rather than city-wide visibility you cannot service.
- Check integration — whether enquiries can flow into your CRM automatically rather than being copied from a portal inbox.
FAQs
How much does a 99acres agent package cost?
Packages are priced by city, locality tier and the number of listings and buyer contacts included, and are negotiated by a sales representative rather than published. Ask for the package defined in buyer contacts rather than visibility, get renewal pricing up front, and start with a short term rather than an annual commitment.
Is NoBroker free?
NoBroker's model is built around connecting owners and tenants or buyers directly without brokerage, with paid plans for owners who want faster results and additional services. It is a different proposition from agent-focused portals such as 99acres and MagicBricks, which sell listing and lead packages to brokers and builders.
Which property portal is best for agents in India?
It varies by city and micro-market — 99acres, MagicBricks and Housing all have areas where they dominate. Ask other agents in your specific locality which portal produces their closures, and buy on cost per closed transaction rather than on package size or national brand.
Why don't portal leads convert?
Usually two reasons. Leads are shared, so response within minutes decides who gets the site visit. And most agencies have no system for the buyers who did not transact immediately, so a contact who was looking in March is never called when a matching property arrives in June. A CRM fixes the second problem and is usually worth more than extra portal spend.
How do I track which portal actually produces business?
Use a separate tracking phone number per portal through a cloud telephony provider such as MyOperator or Exotel, and record source and outcome on every enquiry in a CRM. At renewal you then have cost per closure per portal rather than an opinion.
Next step: get a free matched real estate CRM shortlist so every portal lead is followed up and measured.
