Industry Insight #3

For the third interview in our industry insight feature we’re talking to the owner of a company that produces floor plans for property listings.

Q1: There’s been a lot of talk recently about the impact that Brexit is having on the property market, what’s your take on it all?

Local estate agents in my area all seem very busy and confident about the near future. It seems like business as usual at the moment.

What will happen after we leave remain to be seen. My own view is that it won’t be quite as dramatic as some are predicting.

Q2: What do you think would happen to UK property prices both if we left the EU with the current proposed deal, and in a ‘no-deal’ situation?

I believe that regardless of how we leave, I think things will carry on without too much change.

There was a lot of hype about the property market being affected if the referendum outcome was to leave the EU. The referendum result has had very little impact as far as I can see in my local area.

Q3: Property portals have also been in the news a lot throughout 2018, who do you think will be the success story of 2019?

In my opinion, as creatures of habit, we are still drawn towards the established portals.  Such as Rightmove, Zoopla and OnThe Market etc. It seems that there are a lot of exciting new players coming to the lettings market. This could be an area where there is room for some new faces competing for business.

Q4: What’s your take on the high street agent vs online agent debate? Is there room for both or will one eventually defeat the other?

I heard a sad statistic recently which gave a very large number of high street estate agency’s shutting down each year. It seems like it is survival of the fittest in this industry. 

Traditionally many of us like a face to face relationship with an agent and expect a high standard of service. The good agents in my area seem to be doing very well even in this very price conscious and competitive climate.

Q5: You specialize in floor plans and research by Rightmove has shown that listings with floor plans typically get 30% more interest than those without. What is it about floor plans that house hunters love so much?

I think that it’s easier to visualize moving into the property. Sometimes photographs of a property can be a little bit deceptive whereas a floor plan cannot lie as the exact dimensions are usually listed.

Q6: Tell us a little bit about how you work, its not just estate agents you deal with, is it?

It is mainly estate agents at the moment but I started the company to engage with individual sellers and provide a quick and easy online service.

The idea is that anybody wanting to sell their property could spend an hour or two drawing a basic sketch noting dimensions, windows and doors etc . Once complete send it to us and we will quickly convert the sketch into a professional looking floor plan to assist with the marketing of the property.

Prices start from just £22 for up to two bedrooms so there is a chance for the vendor to save money in their marketing campaign regardless if using a traditional agent or an online based selling facility.

Q7: What has been the most unusual or challenging floor plan you’ve been asked to produce?

Undoubtedly the request to plan up a 9 hole pitch and putt indoor golf course…. and to scale!!

Even though I’m a keen golfer, I gracefully declined.

Q8: And if you could produce a floor plan for any building in the world, which would it be and why?

Listed and period buildings are great as they are quirky and often have huge rooms. I’ve been lucky enough to produce floor plans for some beautiful old properties locally on behalf of some high end estate agents.

To answer your question – it would be any National Trust property.

Q9: Floor plans aren’t just used for property listings, tell us about some of the other ways your customers have used them?

I have had enquiries to create a floor plan so the client can measure up for new furniture. As well as this I have done floor plans for people who want to start considering making alterations to their property like knocking down walls or extending a property.

Whilst an architectural drawing is required for most work, a simple floor plan can be a good way to start visualizing ideas before you meet with an architect.

Q10: What should we expect to see from your company over the next 12 months?

As a new business it’s important to start ranking higher on Google and various other search engines. This will be key to growing the business at a national level because as I mentioned earlier, the intention is to be an online facility to supply high quality property floor plans to people all over the UK.

In the meantime I will continue to combine online orders with making site visits to take measurements and produce floor plans for our local client base of estate agents.

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