Two tech tools to create your own 3D floor plans

Anne Ewasko Leave a comment

There are people who can visualize a space, and then there are others who cannot. Selling a property that hasn’t been built yet is even more challenging. Buyers usually have to rely solely on floor plans, and for those who aren’t visionaries, this can be a challenge.

But this situation isn’t just limited to new construction; it’s for every property we sell. Most people find the property online before deciding whether to see it. Providing a 3D floor plan where buyers can virtually immerse themselves into the space is key to securing that in-person viewing.

Why you should be using 3D floor plans:

We all know that having a floor plan is essential if you want to increase the number of prospects for your listing. 

A two-dimensional floor plan is a flat, perspective- and depth-free blueprint, AutoCAD drawing or diagram. A 3D plan, on the other hand, depicts the building’s layout with height, depth and perspective. This immersive technology, along with some virtual staging, enables customers to visualize themselves living in that space by including distinct furniture pieces to provide a sense of comfort and warmth to the interiors.

In addition, using 3D floor plans can also:

  • Aid in making your listings stand out.
  • Aid in making YOU stand out to win more listings.
  • Offer a true-to-life visual representation.
  • Adapt the space to your preferences.
  • Eliminate the need for interpretation.
  • Save you the time of wasted showings.
  • Enhance the chances of online sales.

If you want to take advantage of all of these benefits, start using 3D floor plans in your marketing. 

There are many online companies that can do it for you, but that can get pricey. Or you can do it yourself using online tools like RoomSketcher or Houzz Pro.

Let me walk you through these two amazing 3D floor plan platforms and how useful they can be for your real estate marketing.

1. RoomSketcher and how it works

RoomSketcher is a powerful and user-friendly online floor planner and interior design application that enables users to create virtual designs for their homes. It has a built-in floor design tool that makes it easy to create. It offers many ready-to-use furniture menus, plus access to various design ideas, thanks to templates accessible in its library. Drag-and-drop functionality has been built into the interface across the entire design. 

Through RoomSketcher, users can visually walk through interactive 3D floor plans and quickly access a breathtaking 360-degree image of the designed space. It is ideal for developing floor plans in 3D for your listings, and especially for new-construction projects.

Pros

  • It creates high-resolution 3D floor plans in PNG, JPG and PDF formats.
  • It has over 20 potential floor plan settings available to simplify the process.
  • It gives you an authentic “feel” of the layout.
  • It allows you to import a blueprint/2D floor plan to trace over.
  • It is reliable and effective.

Cons

  • There are a lot of features, so getting started can be a bit overwhelming. Start with the free version and go from there.
  • The free version is limited, and the Pro version is pricey but offers many features.
  • RoomSketcher is not available on phones. It is available only on Macs, PCs, iPads and Android tablets.

Note: You can test out RoomSketcher’s simplicity by using the free subscription’s basic capabilities, which are accessible to all users. For more advanced features, upgrade your subscription. The basic price is $38, and the Pro is $99.

2. Houzz Pro and how it works

Houzz Pro is a comprehensive project-management, marketing and customer-management tool for the design and remodeling industry, but can be adapted for our real estate needs.

Houzz Pro goes far beyond just 3D floor plans and allows users to personalize profiles and marketing settings online to generate leads. In addition, users can use a central project portal to engage with clients, get estimates and find proposal templates — this can be useful for agents who work a lot with developers on new-construction projects.

Pros

  • Your clients can experience not only 3D floor plans, but also an augmented-reality tour of their future house.
  • It allows you to modify every detail of your design.
  • You can manage leads and projects while on the go with the Houzz Pro mobile app that is available for iOS and Android.

Cons

  • It has many features, and the learning curve can be a challenge, so start off with the basics.
  • The Projects pages can be challenging to edit, but if you are using the program only for 3D floor plans, it is doable.
  • The platform still has a few quirks; all the features don’t always appear on some of the pages.

Note: There is a free version available. However, you won’t have access to major features with the free version. Houzz offers three subscription options starting at $65/month for the starter, $99/month for the essential and $399/month for the full-blown version. 

The bottom line

Allowing prospects to be able to “feel” the space that they may potentially be buying has really grown in popularity, almost becoming the norm. Get familiar with these tools, and start using immersive technology with 3D floor plans in your marketing strategy. You will be happy that you did. It will generate more leads, sell your listings faster and take your real estate business to a higher level. 

Anne Ewasko is a veteran Realtor in the Chicago area and a longtime techie. Visit her at anne.luxhomechicago.com.

How to stay safe while working with clients: A cautionary tale about cyber-stalking

Tim Inklebarger Leave a comment

Katie Gambla had only been working as a real estate agent for about a year, when in spring of 2018, she got her first phone call from a man posing as a potential homebuyer.

But after speaking briefly, she realized something didn’t seem right. Instead of asking the typical questions she’d become used to hearing, the man on the other end of the line wanted to know when Gambla was typically in the office and where she would be at open houses in her hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina.

“I asked, ‘Is there a property you’re interested in, specifically?’” she said in a recent interview.

From there, he began babbling and hung up, but the calls didn’t stop there. The man, who was later identified as Andy Castillo, continued calling repeatedly from different phone numbers and leaving sexually explicit and threatening voicemails.

Gambla went to her local police department and reported the calls, but Castillo used a so-called voiceover IP system that allowed him to conceal his identity and the location from where he was making the calls.

“I’m a pretty safety conscious person, in general,” Gambla said, but the calls made her fear for her safety. “When this all started, I was assuming he was here, so I was more on guard.”

She began taking new precautions, such as letting others know when and where she was meeting new clients. Gambla also changed her routine when showing properties, particularly making sure she could quickly exit the home and parking on the street, rather than in the driveway, so she could not be blocked in by another vehicle. She also began taking her boyfriend or a male listing agent to meetings with new clients.

Following numerous complaints from various real estate agents across the country about the anonymous calls, law enforcement officials tracked Castillo down to his apartment in Lubbock, Texas, and arrested him on Jan. 6, 2020.

The ensuing investigation revealed that Castillo had been making the threatening calls to more than 120 real estate agents in different cities throughout the country, and a DNA test connected him to the 2003 murder of Cynthia Palacio, a 21-year-old Lubbock resident, and her best friend, Linda Carbajal, 21, who was murdered in 2004.

Castillo was incarcerated and awaiting trial for capital murder in the two cases when he died of COVID-19 in 2021.

Gambla and several other agents targeted by Castillo were highlighted in the television show “Devil in the Web” earlier this year on the Investigation Discovery channel.

She said that having worked in the business for several years now, she finds most of her clientele is based on referrals and past clients, but as a rookie agent, she was much more exposed to the unknown. She advises new agents to “cultivate a more referral-based business so you’re not meeting with as many strangers.”

Also, vet new clients when you’re speaking with them over the phone during that first phone consultation, she advised. “I ask, ‘Who can I thank for giving you my information?’ and people usually have a legitimate answer for that,” she said.

Gambla can now more easily determine whether potential new clients have been following the market, and she asks if they’ve already met with a lender. New agents often are eager to jump in the car and rush over to show a new client a house, but that eagerness can put you in a precarious position, she said. “I think a lot of new agents get excited about those kinds of calls, but it’s smarter from a safety perspective to pause,” she said. “If people are really interested, they’ll work around your schedule.”

The National Association of REALTORS® offers a number of tips on how to stay safe on their REALTOR® Safety Program website (https://www.nar.realtor/safety), which includes the following:

• Always meet new clients at the office or in a neutral location, like a coffee shop.

• Share your schedule with a colleague, assistant or family member.

• Communicate safety concerns on your listing (poor cell phone signal, etc.).

• Do not overshare about your personal life.

• Do not host open houses alone.

• Check your cell phone battery and signal before heading to an appointment.

• Direct clients to walk in front of you when touring a property, do not lead them.

• Never go into attics, crawl spaces or garages, where you could be trapped.