Should you be using floor plans?

I am constantly amazed by the number of agents that still don’t use floor plans, especially for lettings!

In my previous life before working with PlanUp, I was often disappointed that most of the properties I was interested in renting didn’t have a floor plan. I had no idea how they were made or produced or at what cost in time and money, and I didn’t really care; I just wanted to get an idea of the size and layout before I wasted both my and the letting agent’s time in going to see a property I was never going to be interested in.

I don’t think demand has ever been higher than today’s market, and so often rental properties go without a viewing. So to me it makes sense having good pictures and a floor plan – the letting agent wins because the people enquiring know what they are after so are more likely to be interested, and I win because I can get straight to the properties I’m interested in.

Instead, I viewed as many properties as possible just in case it was the right one! I must have wasted hours of everyone’s time looking around properties that didn’t really interest me, purely because I had three or four photos to base my decision on whether to view or not.

I now find myself in a position to see the market from the other side, and what amazes me is how many agents don’t use plans.

Having plans may mean that you get less viewings, but the viewings you do get are much stronger leads.

http://www.planup.co.uk/planexample_2d.aspx

Would you rather waste time showing people around a property that they were mildly curious about, or spend fifteen minutes on a floor plan and show people around a property that they are genuinely interested in?

Two years ago Rightmove did a study which revealed that 78% of sellers rated the importance of having a floor plan when selling as 7 out of 10 or higher, while 1 in 5 potential buyers or tenants said they would either “ignore the property advert completely” or “only re-visit it if nothing else caught their eye”, if a floor plan was not published.

That means that 20% of potential buyers/tenants would skip past your property listing, for the sake of drawing a floor plan!

Not only are floor plans an obvious essential in today’s market, but the software to create them yourself is getting ever more simple to use. My company PlanUp, along with others, offers training and remote desktop support included in the cost. It isn’t complicated to learn, it doesn’t take long to do, and with some software packages you can even draw the plan while you are at the property!

To shamelessly plug my own company – PlanUp not only allow you to create a floor plan, but it will do your descriptions, help out with EPC calculations and directly import into your back office systems.

Buyers and tenants want to see floor plans, and vendors and landlords want to see you using them. So if you are not currently using floor plans on all of your lettings and sales properties, then maybe now is the time to start!

 

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

Riskiest Places to Purchase Property in England

Cash House Buyer Sell House Fast has revealed the riskiest places to buy and sell property in England, based on factors such as crime rates, flood risk, air pollution levels, road collision rates, and coastal erosion risk. The 5 riskiest places for buying and selling property in England: 1 – North East Lincolnshire (Overall Risk…
Read More
Breaking News

House prices steady in May despite broader market uncertainty

The latest Halifax House Price Index for May 2026 shows that: House prices fell by -0.1% between April 2026 and May 2026. This marks the second consecutive month of marginal monthly decline. Annual house price growth increased slightly to 0.5% in May 2026, up from 0.4% in April 2026. The average UK house price now…
Read More
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index – May 2026

House prices steady in May despite broader market uncertainty. House prices edged down -0.1% in May, following a similar -0.1% fall in April Average property price now £298,806, compared with £299,251 in April Annual growth up slightly to +0.5%, from +0.4% in April Northern Ireland continues to record the UK’s strongest annual growth at +7.8%…
Read More
Breaking News

More mortgage borrowers turning to shorter-term fixes

Borrowers are increasingly turning to shorter-term fixed-rate mortgages in response to higher rates, new analysis of mortgage search activity on Moneyfactscompare.co.uk has found. The share of Moneyfactscompare.co.uk website users comparing two-year fixed-rate mortgages increased from 48.4% in February to 55.6% in May, while demand for five-year fixed deals fell from 27.7% to 21.8% over the…
Read More
Breaking News

Fear of a chain-breaks biggest concern in current market

The latest insight from quick sale specialists, House Buyer Bureau, has found that the most common reason homeowners choose a quick sale is no longer financial hardship, ill health, or the death of a loved one, but the desire to keep their onward move on track in an increasingly uncertain housing market. The internal data from…
Read More
Breaking News

Property auctions generate complaints at four times the rate of the wider housing market

Property auctions account for just 2% of home sales but generate more than four times their share of complaints, according to a new insight report by the Property Ombudsman. The report highlights that while auctions remain a relatively small part of the wider residential property market, they are generating a disproportionately high level of consumer…
Read More