Want To Sell A Property? Include a Floor Plan
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Living in suburbia and being a housing junkie, I am always amazed at how rarely homes for resale do not include a floorplan in their marketing efforts. Looking at new construction, these builders almost always have a floorplan available for their clients. Think they are not in the business of selling homes?
But a typical real estate agent will never get near a floor plan in their marketing information. I am sure that this has to do with liability and disclosure, but if I am a buyer, I want to see the whole package. I want to know what I am buying, not a well laid out picture that is enticing but does not tell me about the space I will be in for the next 10 years.
So why are floor plans not included? Are you going to think the client will not notice a lack of closet space when they look at a home? Show them the home upfront and you will be amazed at how many more people will be interested instead of guessing what the property may be, they know what it is.
The builders sure have, and also those who sell apartments in New York.
A floor plan shows the entire unit, not just part of it. In other words, floor plans reveal what photographs often do not: the proportions of rooms, the number of rooms and the traffic flows among them. A buyer can instantly see, for instance, if the kitchen is conveniently situated near the dining room, whether bedrooms open directly onto the living room or whether a trip to the bathroom will involve a walk through a bedroom.
“When you look at a floor plan, it is the apartment standing there naked,” said Gerald Makowski, director of marketing at Halstead Property.
Floor plans are starting to move into three dimensions, a real help for those who have trouble visualizing physical space. Some developers show elevation plans, where you can pick a floor from the side view of a building and then highlight a particular unit. More customization is likely as technology improves.
Outside New York, however, floor plans are rarely used as marketing tools by brokers who are reselling houses, although they are more likely to be used by builders of housing developments, who include floor plans as one of the many tools on their Web sites.
Where Floor Plans Are Sought After, and Why - New York Times.
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Comment by Greg Swann on 11 February 2007:
BloodhoundRealty.com will have an floorplan with an interactive furniture placement tool starting this month. One more thing to keep people looking at our houses and not someone else’s.
Comment by Tom on 11 February 2007:
Smart move Greg.
That is taking the technological offerings and combining them with what the consumer wants.
Comment by Bob Gatchel on 15 February 2007:
YAY! I’m so glad to hear that someone else thinks this is important! I have been doing this as part of my property information packs for listings and auctions too. It really helps clients get the feel for the space instead of some blurry pictures of the rooms on the MLS or brochure!
Comment by angela chan on 21 February 2007:
Hi I ready your article on floor plans and absolutely agree.
But how can I get a floor plan on a resale. Many sellers don’t have them.
thank you.
Comment by Jason Wagner on 8 June 2007:
Many apartment complexes also offer floor plans, albiet very bad ones, but you get the idea. As long as a realtor is up front about lack of accuracy of the plan and does not disclose actual dimensions other than the ones listed on the MLS than they should be in the clear. We offer this service as well do a host of others. What I cannot believe is that someone would offer a virtual tour and not link it to the floor plan for reference.
Thanks for blogging on such an important topic!
Jason
Comment by Real Estate UK on 23 October 2007:
Hey, I’d glad you think floor plans are important, I’m going to link to this article from my site. Cause we draw them. And hand drawn plans always seem to be better than those online draw-it-yourselves systems
Glenn
Comment by 2dplan on 14 January 2008:
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Comment by Floor Plans UK on 26 March 2008:
Thanks 2dplan guy, but we’re happy with the software we use, and we’re finding that clients are becomming more interested in 3D now anyway
Pingback by mondoboston.com » The Case of the Missing Floor Plan on 27 May 2008:
[...] But once that problem is solved, the next one that foreign buyers often encounter is that of the missing floor plan. In America, they often don’t exist. When I was looking for a condo in Boston, it always [...]
Pingback by Floor Plan Fear | Redfin Boston Sweet Digs on 28 May 2008:
[...] and immediately know whether the house will work. In America, builders provide printed floor plans, but many agents haven’t caught on yet. What a mistake. If buyers could look at floor plans as well as pictures online, most could quickly [...]
Comment by newcomer on 30 May 2008:
What software can one use to put together interactive floor plans? I know there are companies that do this for you but I want to do this myself and would like to know your experience (good/bad) with available software.
Comment by sherry on 11 August 2008:
Help! How and where can I just get a floor plan of the place I am interested in? I am disabled an not able to do all the running around and I need to see hard copy of things. Can anyone help the county acts like I’m asking for their blood! Yikes! thanks Sherry
Comment by Kerin Cantwell on 11 August 2008:
In my area (Pasadena, California and neighboring cities) all good agents provide a floorplan, unless it is a very small home or a townhome/condo where the floorplan is easy to remember.In fact, wheter or not there is a floorplan is a good way to judge the professionalism of the agent. It is good for the other agents who preview on the “brokers open house” days because after you have looked at 15-20 homes in 4 hours it is hard to remember each detail. Then you can call your clients while holding the floorplan in front of you and describe the home to them, e-mail them the floorplan, etc. It makes the house hunting process much more efficient for client and agent.
There are several companies which measure homes in this area and the fees are quite reasonable. If you’d like a referral, please contact me.
Kerin Cantwell