Floor plans

bylromarha

We're currently choosing which agent to put our house on the market with. One has a higher fee (which we've wangled as low as he'll agree to) and uses floor plans with the particulars.

The other agent, lower fee, no floor plans and even if we get the floor plan done ourselves won't use in the particulars he gives out.

We really see the value in using floor plans to weed out people who really won't be interested in once they've seen the layout of the property and saving everyone's time etc etc etc.

What do you guys think about using the floor plans estate agent (which to me says better seller service) or saving the money with cheaper non floor plan agent

kamaran

Why wont he use your floorplan - sounds weird?

What type of property are we talking about here? If its a flat I wouldnt worry, if its a 3 bed house or bigger then floor plans can be important.

Also whats the different in fees and which agent has a bigger market share in the area?

bunking_off

kamaran wrote:

Why wont he use your floorplan - sounds weird?

Probably worried about the Property Misdescriptions Act....if he uses the OP's plans and they're incorrect, chances are he'd be liable. There's probably a suitable form of words to get around it, but then he'd have to pay a lawyer ££££s to devise it.

Mumstheword

bunking_off wrote:

he'd have to pay a lawyer ££££s to devise it.

Nah, he could just copy the wording other agents use!!

I always go straight to the floor plans on house details. It's the most important part of it to me, i don't care what colour the walls or carpet are, buying a house is much bigger than a bit of decorating!

Jacster_2

It really annoys me when I don't have floor plans. But the main reason I want them is to check the rooms are big enough.

If the dimensions of your house are small (small rooms) go without the floor plans, and then you won't put people off who might be tempted by other things in the house. If you have generous room sizes, the floor plans will be a real selling point.

HTH

sneekymum

The "Floor Plans Agent" will have a disclaimer on his brochures - why not get a copy and show it to a third agent who could be persuaded to include plans? You could get an "official" set done (at 1:100) quite cheaply by a local architect / surveyor's office that's just big enough to send the office lad out. If you do them yourself make sure they're metric as selling in feet and inches is not allowed.

Also - We've always used the newest agents we can find as they're keen to please.

bylromarha

The cheaper agent won't use the floor plans as he thinks they're "gimmicky" plus if he uses them for us, he'll get other customer wanting him to do it for them too...I think he's worried that he may have to start using floor plans, thus extra expense for him...which I think he should pay as it'll get him more money in the long run, but who am I to judge?!

So you guys agree with me that floor plans will help sell the (3 bed semi + ensuite) house more efficiently? If you do, I'm glad as I thought it was just me going mad and falling for the "gimmick".

John_M_Business

bylromarha wrote:

The cheaper agent won't use the floor plans as he thinks they're "gimmicky" plus if he uses them for us, he'll get other customer wanting him to do it for them too...I think he's worried that he may have to start using floor plans, thus extra expense for him...which I think he should pay as it'll get him more money in the long run, but who am I to judge?!

So you guys agree with me that floor plans will help sell the (3 bed semi + ensuite) house more efficiently? If you do, I'm glad as I thought it was just me going mad and falling for the "gimmick".

If your potential EA has that attitude (gimmicky, cost) then how well do you think that he's going to do in investing in the marketing of your property - advertising ... <sharp intake of breath> .... professional photos .... tut tut tut...

I've always maintained that you should try to choose the EA that's going to get the best offer for your property... not the one with the lowest commissions for these very reasons.

sneekymum

On a recent sale (of commercial property) we chose an agent who charged 5%. We sold for almost twice what we expected... yes he got twice as much as the huge amount we had thought he was going to get - but he earned us the other 95% of that 'extra'.

heraldic

As a FTB who is looking for the first time, I'm a great fan of floor plans!

Revelation

Floorplans are great!
EA descriptions tend to be confusing to me... they often don't explain things in sufficient detail... In one house I've seen I was told by the description that the room was 15' x 18'...a decent size I thought... what they didn't mention was the fact that it was an L-shaped room that was virtually 2 corridors stuck together. A floorplan would have shown me this to begin with.

Also IMO with the new home information packs coming in next year more agents will have to provide extra information so maybe more of them will start using plans?