FLOORPLANS


Virtual viewing


Floorplans are a key part of the agent’s particulars. Andrea Kirkby looks at how technology is upping the game.


T


hirty years ago, Stern Studios was almost the only agent to use floorplans, selling small flats in London, it found that floorplans did better than photos at


showing the space actually available. In those days, floorplans were a real differentiator. Now, on the other hand, if you haven’t got floorplans, you’ve missed the boat. One of the differences from the old days


is that technology has made it increasingly easy, and much cheaper, to produce a floorplan. Brian Farrell of Metropix, which


provides floorplan software, says that in the past “most agents would accept that a floorplan was a good thing, but to get one they had to get someone to go out and measure and then use very complex


‘Floorplans are coming on in leaps and bounds. It’s not the


technology that is the limit now, it’s whether estate agents have the imagination to use it to the full.’ BRIAN FARRELL METROPIX


software like AutoCAD or Visio to draw a plan.” That could cost as much as £100 per house, so it was obviously going to be reserved only for top end properties. Now, on the other hand, software such


as Metropix and The Mobile Agent enables agents to draw floorplans in as little


Traditional floorplans are the agent’s staple, but now augmented by 3D CGI imagery, giving a virtual impression.


as ten minutes. James Davis, of The Mobile Agent, says


that has made floorplans mainstream. “We have seen a steady trend for floorplans,” he says, “especially over the last 5-6 years, and with Domestic Energy Assessors coming on the scene around 3 years ago this seems


PROPERTYdrum SEPTEMBER 2010 29


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