3 reasons why you should be using floor plans in your property listings

In a recent survey of property sellers, 80% of them said floor plans are ‘essential’ or ‘very useful’ when selling. A massive 88% agreed when it comes to buying a property.

Yes, a floor plan isn’t technically necessary to sell a property, but neither are photos or property descriptions. How many listings do you see without those? Floor plans are attention-grabbing, and they help simplify a buyer’s decision-making. They’re every bit as important as great quality photos, and here are three reasons why:

1. Floor plans help a buyer visualise the property better than photos alone

Research provided by Rightmove suggests over a third of buyers are less likely to enquire about a property if there’s no floor plan. 1 in 5 would actually ignore the listing completely.

Floor plans show buyers details that are difficult to get across with just photos and descriptions, such as storage space, windows, and measurements. They’re also better at displaying unique selling features like knock-throughs and extensions. That’s all information that could help a buyer decide if the property is right for them, or if it’s worth viewing at all.

Less wasted time

High-quality property photos are vital in showcasing a property in the best light. Wide-angle shots score well with buyers, but some people feel they can be misleading when it comes to accurately portraying space.

You know those viewings where the buyer’s disappointed that the property isn’t what they thought from the photos? A floor plan helps avoid that by giving potential buyers and tenants a clearer visual of the entire property before they step through the door.

House-hunters can use a floor plan alongside photos to understand the layout and space of the house. They’ll see how rooms connect with each other, and how space flows throughout the property. That means no nasty surprises when they get there.

When it comes to successful property photos and viewings, all estate agents are at the mercy of the current occupiers. Cluttered, untidy rooms look smaller than they are. A clean floor plan shows the true size and potential of every room.

Mentally moving in

If a buyer can see themselves living in a property, half the estate agent’s job is done already.

Rightmove’s survey suggests that buyers want a floorplan showing room layout, and how rooms fit in relation to the rest of the property. But what buyers rate most important in a floor plan is room dimensions.

Floor plans showing room measurements, window and door placements allow potential buyers to imagine where their own furniture will go, and how they would use the space. They may even start thinking about decorating, or how they would change the building to suit their needs.

Once they’ve started mentally planning the move, an emotional attachment to the property and a decision to buy isn’t too far off.

2. Floor plans make a property memorable later

Helping a buyer visualise a property’s potential before and during a viewing is one thing, but what about after they’ve gone home? You might be getting great signals during the viewing, but when you follow it up with a call where they ask “which house was that?” it’s never a good sign.

Remember that house hunters are looking at many properties at once, and the features of each house can get mixed up when they’re seeing several each day. Including a floor plan in your listings and marketing materials help it stick in the mind.

Simply put, a visual of the layout and all its nuances makes the property you’re selling easier to remember.

Taking the stress out of viewing

A floor plan can also help in a buyer’s decision-making after the viewing. Don’t forget that for some people viewing a property within a perceived time limit, and in the presence of an estate agent can be daunting, or even stressful.

Having a floor plan available to them means they can sit down, study and plan at their leisure later. Taking a closer look at measurements – or noticing parts of the property they overlooked – can help persuade a buyer into a second viewing where they might otherwise walk away.

3. A professional floor plan makes you look more professional

If your competitors are using floor plans, so should you. But if it’s something they aren’t doing yet; floor plans can give you a market advantage.

A clear, well-designed floor plan will help put your listing to the top of the pile as a professional listing from a professional business. It adds to the quality of your brand and shows property sellers looking for an estate agent that you’re willing to invest in your business to keep up with current property trends.

Want some help creating floor plans?

At Elements, we can convert your hand drawn sketches into professional 2D floor plans in around 3 hours. All you need is paper, a pencil, and a laser measure (a tape measure will suffice if you’re old-school) to sketch out the rough plan and add the dimensions and send us the building blocks of a great floor plan.

For added brand customisation, add your logo and set your brand colour scheme to match the floor plan colours for the walls, fill area and text – we think that looks really cool!

Your finished floor plan will be returned in double-quick time as a high-quality JPEG, which you can use for your own website listings, marketing materials, and easily upload to Rightmove and Zoopla listings.

To wrap up, having a floor plan in your listing makes sense for you, the buyer, and the seller:

• You’ll attract better-informed buyers to sell the property quicker.
• Buyers are more informed on the property.
• Sellers get added value to the professional service you provide.

It’s a win-win-win.

Fancy some free floorplan orders?

Before you go, we’d love you to check out our Floorplan Conversion service for FREE so here’s a promocode for you, enter BLOG26 when creating an account 🙂