When it comes to selling a property, many realtors or agents do not consider purchasing floor plans because they may think it’s unnecessary. However, in today’s age, purchasing floor plans are more important than ever—especially because the real estate market has shifted from offline to online. This is why properties with floor plans get more clicks, views, and leads than property floor plans.
This being said, in this article, we discuss 6 benefits to floor plans and why they are essential to any realtor’s marketing strategy.
1. View the listing without attending an open house.
⅓ of buyers do not inquire listings without floor plans as most buyers want to see the flow of the property and the layout of the home (Rightmove, 2013). This is because floor plans give buyers something to look at, something to interact with and something to visualize.
2. Make things perfect
Professional photographs are good…but floor plans are essential! Without floor plans, buyers are unaware of the home’s flow, layout and size proximity. As a result, homebuyers base judgment off of images which, as everyone knows, does not do justice (Calgary Real Estate Review, 2013).
3. Avoid legal issues
“Vancouver real estate lawyer Ron Usher says square footage misrepresentation is a growing problem in hot housing markets (Johnson, R, 2016).” As a result, many realtors are facing legal battles that are costing them and tarnishing their reputation. Furthermore in a misrepresentation of square footage lawsuit, the National Association of Realtors, states in one case that the realtor was sued to up to $145,000 in damages (National Association of Realtors, 2009).
4. Provide buyers with more information and details
95% of buyers search for real estate online. This being said, buyers want as much information as possible as they do not necessarily want to contact a realtor or agent right away. By offering floor plans of your listings online, you give buyers more information and thus, reduce the number of questions, phone calls, emails, etc. (Inman, 2010).
5. Attract more serious buyers to open homes.
1 out of 10 buyers would never schedule a visit to an open house without seeing a floor plan first (Rightmove, 2013). In other words, by showing floor plans, realtors can attract more leads who will not be caught by any surprises since they know what to expect in terms of the properties’ flow and layout.
6. Impress future buyers
In May 2016, only 18% of listings on Rightmove had floor plans. What this means is that your website, portfolio, and professionalism looks that much better in comparison to your competition (Rightmove, 2013). In addition, real estate floor plans have the potential to increase click-throughs from buyers by 52% (National Association of Realtors, 2017). So not only do floor plans bring potential buyers to your website, but they also get them to click on more listings to view.