Is It Easy to Access Floor Plans
Are you an appraiser/realtor/photographer or an individual selling a house? Are you trying to create a perfect floor plan without investing in expensive hardware? In this article, we will discuss two affordable solutions for all: To manually sketch a floor plan or to use professional floor plan apps!
- Use case: Providing ANSI-aligned floor plans
- Method #1. Sketch a floor plan by hand
- Method #2. Use an app for floor plans
- 1. Download a floor plan app on your iPhone or Android phone and install it
- 2. Hold the phone and scan the entire space or each room separately
- 3. Get your ready floor plans
- 4. Export your floor plan in different formats
- The output: Scanning with a floor plan app
- Interested in CubiCasa?
Why are floor plans important for real estate appraisals?
Floor plans are an important part of real estate appraisals to show a clear overview and layout of the property. As of April 1, 2022, Fannie Mae requires appraisers to measure subject property improvements using ANSI Standard Z765-2021. Although it is one of the easier measurement standards, it is still a fairly challenging standard to align to – with specific considerations such as ceiling height, below-grade spaces, stairs, and more. Providing ANSI-aligned floor plans with GLA measurements and interior walls is essential for 1004 (Desktop) Appraisals, this industry change will be effective March 19th, 2022.
How can floor plans help real estate agents qualify a buyer quicker?
They provide an easy way for potential buyers to visualize how they will move through the space. A good floor plan not only enhances the visual identity of the home but also highlights the flow between spaces, increasing its perceived value. Floor plans are the second most important feature on a listing according to Zillow and it correlates with capturing leads. "It would be easy to show a buyer between 6 and 25 homes a weekend. After 25 homes, which are you going to remember? The ones you are holding paperwork on." (Cited from a New York Times article)
Use case: Providing ANSI-aligned floor plans
In order to meet Fannie Mae's requirement to provide a floor plan with interior walls for a 1004 (Desktop) Appraisal or for marketing purposes to enhance the property listing, you will need a professional floor plan.
Creating floor plans may seem like a tiresome process that requires endless training and expensive hardware at first. However, the good news is, there are plenty of great solutions on the market to help ease your job of creating floor plans on a daily basis.
While there is the option to manually sketch floor plans by hand, it's much easier to use a floor plan app — with a drawing or scanning ability. Let's take a look at the different methods of creating floor plans.
Method #1. Sketch a floor plan by hand
Sketching a floor plan by hand takes several hours, from measuring the rooms to converting data into a house plan. The process of sketching a floor plan typically goes as such:
- Start by determining the area you want to sketch.
- Decide how to illustrate the rooms, floor, and open spaces.
- Measure the walls, doors, and suitable furniture.
- Include architectural features such as doors, windows, and furniture
After all the above efforts, you will have a basic visual layout (depending on your drawing skills) even if the measurements may not be accurate.
While a floor plan with slight discrepancies may be enough for marketing purposes, it is a no-go for appraisals. According to Standardized Property Measuring Guidelines by Fannie Mae, floor plans for appraisals must be computer-generated and indicate all the dimensions needed to calculate the GLA.
Method #2. Use an app for floor plans
To save time and ensure accuracy, technology is your best friend. There are several user-friendly floor plan apps on the market to help you get the job done.
Floor plan apps are designed to reduce tiresome work — no sketching, tapping on corners, crouching through spaces, or assembling data measurements.
Better yet, instead of spending hours on manual sketches, you only need a fraction of that time to create accurate floor plans that are aligned with Fannie Mae requirements.
It is not hard to learn how to use an app for floor plans. All it takes is four simple steps:
1. Download a floor plan app on your iPhone or Android phone and install it
Run a search for the best floor plan apps and make an assessment using the reviews. You can also search directly on the App Store or Google Play. Select one that meets your expectations and download it to your mobile. Depending on the app, you may need to sign up on their website first before downloading it (especially if you want to access their free offers/trials).
2. Hold the phone and scan the entire space or each room separately
Each app has its own recommendations. For example, in some apps, you would need to tap on the screen while holding the phone to mark the doors and corners. With the CubiCasa app, you don't need to do anything else other than scanning (5 min scan, and you are done).
3. Get your ready floor plans
After the scanning process, you may need to edit the floor plans with the materials from the scan. They may also be immediately available for download, or within 24 hours, depending on the service provider. CubiCasa's floor plan app does not require you to edit the floor plans after scanning. Your job is pretty much done, and you're ready to submit the order. Simple as that!
4. Export your floor plan in different formats
Once your floor plan is ready, you can download it in your preferred format. Most of the apps have the final floor plan available in PDF, JPG, and PNG. However, some floor plan creator apps will also provide the final floor plan in SVG.
What do you need to create a floor plan?
For most of the room scanning apps, you only need a mobile phone since it can scan almost any indoor space. Indeed, the technical capabilities of the devices are becoming better and better e.g. ARkit and ARcore. But, some apps require you to use special hardware and software for doing the whole scanning process e.g Matterport.
What are the best apps for floor plan?
There are several floor planning apps available in the market. For example, MagicPlan, Room Scan Pro, Floor Plan Creator, Room Creator,CubiCasa, iGuide, Cupix, Matterport, RoomSketcher, PLNAR, etc. Most of the apps are suitable for both Android and iOS.
How to use a floor plan app to get the best result?
Is it possible to create a GLA (Gross Living Area) sketch with a floor plan app?
Yes, after scanning the property with CubiCasa in 24 hours you will receive an ANSI-aligned floor plan with GLA measurements, interior walls. In addition to that, we'll provide you with an area calculation in text format that demonstrates how each area was calculated along with highly-detailed CubiCasa floor plans.
The output: Scanning with a floor plan app
In the image below, you can see a floor plan generated by the revolutionary CubiCasa app. This particular result required only a few minutes of the user's time:
- 1 min: Download and install the CubiCasa app from the App Store or Google Store
- 5-7 min: Scan property.
And, voila!
Interested in CubiCasa?
CubiCasa offers standardized, fast, and accurate floor plans & GLA solutions for most iOS and Android devices. There's no upfront investment or expensive hardware needed. All you need is to download the app and start scanning — the first floor plan's on us.
Have more questions about our top-notch floor plan and GLA sketch software? Book a demo with one of our sales representatives.
Source: https://www.cubi.casa/best-floor-plan-apps/
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