The 5-minute floor plan. Helping buyers see what isn’t built yet
Floor plans, AI-rendered videos and digital staging give buyers a clearer picture of both existing homes and pre-construction properties.
During the pandemic, a “huge influx” of buyers from the Northeast purchased Florida properties, many without first seeing them in person. Margot Platt, co-principal agent with Premier Group at Compass in Delray Beach, noticed many of them spent more time on listings with interactive floor plans.
“Buyers want to understand the flow of a home before they ever step inside,” Platt says. “Photos and video create emotion, but the floor plan answers the practical questions buyers care about most: Where are the kids’ bedrooms? How does the kitchen connect to the family room? Is there a true office? Is the laundry room upstairs or downstairs? Those details are often difficult to fully understand through photos alone without seeing the actual layout of the home.”
Then Platt discovered CubiCasa, an app that creates floor plans in “just five minutes” after scanning a property with your phone. Now she uses it for every listing, she says. “CubiCasa has made it much easier to include a clean, polished floor plan as part of our regular listing package.” Along with improving the buyer experience, increasing engagement and helping serious buyers feel more confident before scheduling a showing, CubiCasa helps reduce friction with out-of-town buyers, she says.
AI-rendered lifestyle content facilitates new-development sales
Selling pre-construction can be challenging. “Buyers need help visualizing the finished product,” Platt says. AI-rendered lifestyle videos, virtual walkthroughs with toggles for design selections and digital staging can help, she says. Her team has been creating these materials for projects like Briskel Pointe, The Estates at Morikami Park Road and The Grove. “A buyer may not fully connect with a static rendering, but when they see a quick video showing the kitchen, backyard, pool or street presence in a more lifestyle-focused way, it helps them picture themselves there.”
“For a new development, we view it as part of the larger launch package, similar to renderings, brochures, website content and social media assets,” says Platt, who supplies content creators with each project’s renderings, architectural plans, finish packages, site maps and the overall lifestyle story, she says.
For those who haven’t yet experimented with AI-rendered videos and other content, Platt advises starting small. “You do not need a full cinematic production right away. Take one strong rendering or one room concept and test it as a short social video. … Just make sure it feels accurate to the project and not misleading.”
Consider social-media-first property launches
Sometimes Margot Platt’s team “teases” a listing on social media platforms. Whether through lifestyle clips, detail shots, behind-the-scenes prep, neighborhood content or a “coming soon” story. “Some of our listings receive thousands of impressions across Instagram and other platforms before traditional broker outreach even begins,” says Platt. Then, once the listing is live, the audience is already “warmed up,” she adds. This strategy works best for luxury listings and new-development projects with a strong visual hook, unique lifestyle amenities or a clear buyer profile, she says. “A more straightforward listing may not need a full media-style rollout.”
Good to know
AI usage: More than 80% of real estate agents are using AI. In order of usage, the most popular types of AI products include writing tools (77.93%), chatbots/AI assistants (47.03%), image editing tools (39.19%) and market analysis or pricing tools (38.74%). Sources: Housing Wire and Realtors® Property Resource®