Why no floorplans? (real estate, jobs, townhome)

[P51]

Why do most real estate listings not have a floorplan included? In fact, except for new homes where you can get the floorplan from the builder's web site, I've seen none.

To me, the floorplan is the most important thing that will tell me if I want to look at the house or not. With so many houses on the market and so little time to look, it would be nice to be able to narrow the search down.

[bta]

Originally Posted by P51

Why do most real estate listings not have a floorplan included? In fact, except for new homes where you can get the floorplan from the builder's web site, I've seen none.

To me, the floorplan is the most important thing that will tell me if I want to look at the house or not. With so many houses on the market and so little time to look, it would be nice to be able to narrow the search down.

Most people don't have a floor plan to show. I know when we sold our townhome, we didn't have a copy of our floor plan we could post. I guess we could have tried to draw it - but I don't think it would have looked very professional.

I do however agree that having a floor plan in a listing is nice. Maybe real estate agents should look into offering this service to their clients. I'm sure their's some program they could buy and use for all their clients.

[tigerlily]

After location, the floorplan is certainly the most important to us as we have very specific requirements as to where the bedrooms are located, and it's a waste of everyone's time to look at houses that don't meet our requirements.

[Todd M.]

Originally Posted by bta

Most people don't have a floor plan to show. I know when we sold our townhome, we didn't have a copy of our floor plan we could post. I guess we could have tried to draw it - but I don't think it would have looked very professional.

I do however agree that having a floor plan in a listing is nice. Maybe real estate agents should look into offering this service to their clients. I'm sure their's some program they could buy and use for all their clients.

Like BTA said, most people don't have a floor plan. Unless you bought our house as a new construction and saved all the information.

There are services available to agents. There is one that I am very excited to try on the next listing I get. This company will come to the house, professionally takes the pictures, makes an interactive floor plan (the plan is online, you click the room on the plan to see the photo), professionally measures the house, and creates an interactive tour. On top of that, you get your own web site for your house, ex. 123mainstreet.com.

Any Realtors who want the info, feel free to PM me. No, I'm not affiliated with company in any way.

[Jdatlas]

I have a feeling it is for security reasons. People would feel uncomfortable letting people know exactly where their kids' rooms and other rooms are in their homes. Would make the thieves' or pervs' jobs a whole lot easier.

[Erin1264]

We recently purchased a home in Roanoke, VA. Many of the listings on realtor.com featured floor plans. It was a HUGE help to us because layout is very important for efficiency purposes. For example, we ruled out homes where the garage was not on the main level of the home. (why walk up a flight of stairs with your arms full of groceries?!)

[MikeJaquish]

With the MLS limited to 10 photos, putting up three levels of a floor plan takes a big bite.
One of the biggest issues is many Listing Agents not taking and posting enough photos. (Some don't post photos, which is an entirely different topic...)
But, I agree, it is nice to have floor plans when available.
I just upgraded my scanner so I can offer them in MLS, by email, or on alternate sites.

[Erin1264]

This listing is typical of those in the Roanoke area that helped us immensely!! The company is graphicdimensionsinc and I really like this type of virtual tour. I hope this post doesn't get cut due to advertising (because it isn't) but I wanted the realtors to see this to see if it's an option for the Triangle area too!

Moderator cut: url removed

[ADVentive]

I agree, I would love to see floorplans in the listing. I have seen it on a few resales around here, but hardly any. We have a floorplan on the website for our house, but not on the MLS or on realtor.com or anyplace like that, so it's only available to those who are really looking for it. The only reason we have it is because I thought about how I like to see it on other listings so maybe someone would like to see it on ours. I have the original plans for the home (even though I'm not the first owner), so I was able to look up the architect and the house plan was on his site. I changed it a little in photoshop to reflect the options that were in our house and sent it to our realtor to add to our site.

[wagggie]

If you are worried about people knowing the layout of your house, does it matter that you are trying to sell it? If you dont plan on living there much longer is it an issue that someone sees the plan? Instead of saying Kids room, just say bedroom.

I think it would be invaluable to have access to a plan when looking since many people like to think of themselves as armchair architects anyway- more people than you might think could relate to seeing a plan of a house than just a bunch of disconnected photos. Virtual tours are really nice, but they are pricy for what you get.