2D or not 2D? That is the question for estate agents as Metropix celebrates ten years of floor plan success

It is ten years since Metropix introduced its floor plan software to the residential property market. Founded by former estate agent, Brian Farrell, Metropix enables agents to draw out 2D floor plans, giving prospective tenants and buyers an instant visualisation of the size and layout of a property. Estate and lettings agents have created more than 6.7 million Metropix floor plans in the past decade.

“In 2005 floorplans were a novelty, today more consumers demand to see a floor plan included in property details,” reports Metropix Managing Director, Brian Farrell. 

The Metropix PLANBANK® contains a wealth of ready-made floor plans, including unusually-shaped layouts, giving an insight into the wide variety of properties that have been drawn using the software. The smallest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in London, measured just 188 square feet, or 4.78m x 3.66m. That’s a living space the equivalent size of 24 shopping trolleys. The largest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in Auckland, measured an impressive 31,415 square feet: large enough to accommodate two Olympic swimming pools and still have space for furniture.

The number of letting and estate agents using Metropix floor planning software to help with marketing properties continues to rise. Some of the first to use the service include corporate clients, such as Romans, and independent agents, Slades Estate Agents, based on the South coast, both have used Metropix since day one.

The very first Metropix customer was Berkshire-based agent, Atkinson Keene, acquired by Romans in 2012. Peter Fuller, FARLA, Letting Managing Director at Romans, explains his reasons for continuing to use the software today, “We produce between thirty and fifty floor plans per week, via Metropix. Many of our competitors don’t include floor plans as standard and this makes us stand out from the crowd. We regularly hear from prospective tenants that they have been frustrated at not having access to a floor plan. We find that if a property is being marketed online across multiple agency listings and we’re the only agent who offers a floor plan, it gives us a distinct advantage. Including floor plans helps to improve our click through rates,” asserts Peter Fuller.

In a recent survey by property portal RightMove, over half of 10,000 consumer respondents stated that they would not instruct agents that didn't include floor plans as part of their properties marketing. The research also highlighted that one in five consumers would ignore property adverts that didn't have a floor plan.

 

Brian Farrell adds: “We would like to thank all our customers for contributing to Metropix’ continued success. Back in the early days, the market for computer-generated floor plans was agents who were looking to offer better marketing to their clients. Nowadays, we are seeing increasing consumer demand for floor plans on agents' websites, because it helps them to assess a property’s suitability. More agents are realising they are at a competitive disadvantage if they don't provide a floor plan to prospective buyers and tenants.” 

Throughout 2015, Metropix will be sharing fun facts and competitions; join in at: www.metropixten.co.uk or on social media, using hashtag #metropixisten. 

More information on Metropix can be found at http://www.metropix.co.uk