A one or two page document neatly and effectively pulls together what the home is all about. Still images, virtual tours, and videos are certainly important, and probably more important, to provide the best views of the home. But a floor plan, in a simple glance just effectively connects all of the dots. A buyer can determine if the flow of the house, the connections between rooms, provide the environment they are looking for. And for sellers and brokers, a floor plan can improve the sales success by attracting in the stronger leads, and maybe excluding some of the weaker, less interested buyers. So it saves time, improves the sales process, and improves the success of the sale.
Let's explore, in more detail, what a floor plan is, how floor plans help buyers, brokers and the entire home selling experience, and when is it a great time to include a floor plan in the marketing of a residential property.
Contents
What is a floor plan?
A floor plan is a 2D image of the layout of the interior of the property. The rooms are located as they are in the property, and line up with other rooms, hallways, closets and doors. If there is more than one floor, steps will be included. In this case, there will be more than one image. Each one usually represents the space on each floor. Often fixed or permanent cabinetry will be included. Kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures will typically be included. Representation of the size and location of windows and doors will also be included.
The simplest type of floor plan will usually be a black and white image with information identifying each room. Sometimes the dimensions of the room will also be included. A disclaimer will usually indicate that the floor plan is not an architectural drawing, and the dimensions may not be accurate and they are for illustration purposes only.
With advances in technology, some floor plans may even include color, which could represent different floor material, such as tiles or carpeting, and some may also include furniture, like beds and living room furniture.
But the best feature of the floor plan is to help the potential buyer understand the flow of the space. The plan becomes a great memory jog if they have already seen the property, and will help a buyer consider if the property could meet their requirements even before they visit the property. If the floor plan identifies a layout which is not meeting the buyer's requirements, the buyer could then remove that property from the list of properties to view on site.
How does a floor plan help a home buyer?
Creating the best list of properties to view
Home buying is very competitive. In a seller's market, houses move quickly. In a buyer's market, there may be more time to search for the right home. In either case, buyers are seeking the most information they can get in order to move possible homes for consideration to an include or exclude list. Photos are used in all property marketing strategies and some combination of videos, virtual tours and/or aerial photography are used in many or most marketing strategies also. In many cases, floor plans are also used. Since most buyers are researching properties on the internet they are trying to manage the best list of properties to consider, before they visit a property.
Understand the flow of the property
A floor plan is an incredibly useful tool which will help the buyer to best understand the flow and the space in the property. The plan will help remove uncertainties about the property. The plan will help the buyer understand that a particular property has the flow and the space they are looking for. The floor plan not only shows buyers how many bedrooms and bathrooms the property has, it will allow them to see the size and location of each room. And this is being done in a way that photos can’t express. Videos may come closer and virtual tours can help with these views. But a floor plan can provide this information on a single page and in a brief view by the buyer.
Relying upon the internet, all kinds of photography and a floor plan the buyer will only need to go to a few houses which actually meet their needs. A floor plan is one more great tool which helps buyers determine their interest in a property. Floor plans save buyers time and effort. In many cases a buyer may pass over listings which do not include floor plans. With more than 90% of home buyers searching online for properties, floor plans and virtual tours rank highest as the ‘very useful’ features, as indicated in a National Association of REALTORS® survey. Buyers expect to make their initial judgment about the suitability of a home’s layout well ahead of time, before visiting the property and based on the information provided to them in the listing or other marketing materials. A floor plan can give buyers the information they need to make an offer, not just consider your listing.
Why is a floor plan a great tool for the realtor?
NAR ranks floor plans as the 3rd best feature buyers rely upon
A review of the National Association of REALTORS 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report is extremely helpful to understand why floor plans are a great tool for realtors to use.
Floor plans ranked as the third most important website related feature, after photos and detailed property information, to buyers of all ages. Sixty-seven percent of all buyers ranked floor plans as a "very useful" feature. The percentage was even higher for each of the 3 age groups from 22 to 55 years old.
While 3rd place ranking of floor plans is impressive by itself, it is useful to consider related elements to fully appreciate the importance of floor plans. Fully 97% of all home buyers used the internet to search for their homes. And more than 50% of home buyers found the home they purchased by using the internet. This statistic is almost double that of just relying upon the real estate agent to find the home.
Buyers rely upon the internet and web searches
Buyers are relying upon the internet and web searches to find their homes. Therefore, they are relying upon visual information - photos, detailed information about properties, floor plans, virtual tours and videos - as 5 of the top 10 features buyers rely upon to search for their homes.
So why wouldn't a realtor use a floor plan as part of their marketing service. Maybe they find it too difficult or too expensive to obtain. Let's explore some of the challenges which some realtors may have had to deal with.
Some realtors may believe that .......
- it is expensive to produce a floor plan
- it takes time to draw or create a floor plan
- floor plans may not be easily understood by buyers
- floor plans will reduce the number of buyer visits to a property
- it is a liability related to incorrect dimensions
But a review of information found on Zillow, Reddit and other internet searches suggests otherwise (BTW, Zillow ranks floor plans as the 2nd most important feature). For example, a floor plan can save a lot of driving and looking by buyers. Buyers who like the property based on the floor plan will come to visit the property. But buyers who don't like the property may not come. This is essentially improving the lead quality. This is good for busy realtors. I believe most would prefer to spend more time with better qualified leads, and less time with those leads which will likely be less interested in the property. As buyers view floor plans and get a better understanding of the property, they will likely become more or less interested as they determine what they like and what they don't like. More qualified buyers will visit the home and fewer less qualified buyers will not. This improves the efficiency of the sales process and real estate agents will meet with more qualified buyers. That sounds like a win!
The cost to obtain floor plans for a listing has also come down substantially. Newer tools, improved technology and with the idea that the floor plans are representative diagrams, and not architectural drawings, has helped to create a marketing tool which is cost and time effective. Considering the low cost relative to all of the other marketing costs, it should not even be considered an issue. The time it takes to create a floor plan is no longer than the time it takes to produce MLS photos, virtual tours, slideshow videos or videos of the property. And in most cases photographers and other marketing entities create these tools within about 48 - 72 hours of a visit to the propery. And buyers are pretty sophisticated and floor plans can be understood very well by any buyer. Floor plans usually come with a disclaimer indicating the dimensions are only for illustrative purposes. Besides, floor plans can be created without indicating any dimensions, and still provide improved insight about the qualities of the home.
Buyers believe floor plans are important when buying a home
Buyers believe floor plans are important when buying a home. Buyers are also looking to sell a home and hire a realtor. When the buyer becomes the seller, they will likely look for a realtor which will use floor plans to market their homes. So realtors should consider that floor plans, as part of their marketing package, will also help them get more listings. Put another way, descriptions, nice pictures, videos and virtual tours are not enough to sell homes and for realtors to get new listings. Floor plans have a place in this package.
So when you consider the great value directly provided to buyers, and the improved competitive position of the realtor it just makes great sense for realtors to include floor plans in their marketing tool kit.
Should every home sale include a floor plan in the marketing materials?
Honestly, I would say that a floor plan is not necessary for every home sale. The home sale market is very broad. There are many different types of home sales - real estate owned properties, foreclosures, upsizing, downsizing, buyers who will renovate and flip, and many more. The motivations for various buyers may be very different. But I would say that for most properties, in the mainstream real estate markets, it makes great sense to include floor plans. The current market is a hot market for sellers. Buyers want more information now. Sellers or realtors, may be considering costs while the market is hot. But there is great value in attracting the best leads, even in a hot market. At some point, the market will turn. It will become a buyers market and it will be even more important for listings to include floor plans. So then the bottom line, is that most homes in mainstream real estate markets should strongly consider including floor plans.
