CubiCasa, a real estate software firm with head offices in Oulu, Finland, will now be providing a free floor plan option for its mobile floor plan scanning technology in the United States, “available on the App Store and Google Play Store.”
Thanks to recent advances in its computer vision tech, CubiCasa now “offers a free version in the U.S., with lower pricing for all products, globally.” This move is “designed to make floor plans ubiquitous in the U.S., something that the market has needed for some time but has never had a clear path to reach.”
According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, homebuyers “consider floor plans the top most desired feature on a home listing, after standard listing photos and property data.”
However, only a small share of home listings in the U.S. have floor plans today, “whereas in many other countries around the world, they are standard because of the massive benefits they create for a better functioning real estate market.”
The inclusion of a floor plan can “make a property listing more attractive, contributing to a higher sales price and faster closing time, and provide real estate agents, real estate photographers, appraisers, mortgage lenders, home insurance carriers, homeowners and homebuyers with a better experience throughout the homebuying process.”
Jeff Allen, President of CubiCasa, said:
“Despite significant consumer demand for floor plans, they’re still a niche product in our country. In other real estate markets around the world, floor plans are quite common, and we think it’s time the U.S. caught up. With our recent technology advancements, we’re now in a position to make our product more accessible than it’s ever been.”
Allen added:
“By offering a free version of our mobile scanning technology in the U.S., we’re helping potential buyers make more informed decisions, while empowering agents and sellers to market their properties more effectively, and supporting a modern valuation process for both appraisers and lenders. We envision a future where every property in America has a floor plan.”
By making it easier than ever to produce a floor plan — and now at no cost in the U.S. – agents are using CubiCasa’s technology “to make their listings more attractive and competitive to potential buyers, despite the changing market conditions.”
The app has been “adopted by the MLS community, major real estate brokerages and individual agents alike.”
Annie Ives, CEO of TheMLS.com, one of the nation’s larger Multiple Listing Services, remarked:
“We love how easy-to-use CubiCasa’s product is. CubiCasa’s new free floor plan option and lower pricing makes it even easier to be adopted by our agents, and to forge a partnership between the MLS community and CubiCasa.”
Trey Miley, a broker and owner of 1 Percent Lists Legacy, said:
“We’re very happy that we found CubiCasa. The app is simple to use, accurate, and really takes the guesswork out of collecting property measurements. Within a few minutes we can complete a scan and move on to our next appointment, saving valuable time. CubiCasa’s state of the art technology has allowed us to spend more time on what we do best, and helps show clients that we use the best tools out there to get their home sold.”
As the GSEs continue to roll out new programs “to drive appraisal modernization in the industry, quality Gross Living Area (GLA), floor plans and property data are essential to powering that transformation.”
CubiCasa will be “offering upgrades to each free floor plan, available on every scan.”
These add-ons “include adding fixed furniture and feature details to the floor plan, American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-aligned GLA outputs for the appraisal process, and an expedited six-hour delivery window.”
Users can “produce a floor plan using CubiCasa’s technology on their own, or can access the Company’s deep network of more than 2,000 certified photographers across all 50 states, who are available to help add value to a listing.”
CubiCasa’s mobile capture technology, which has produced more than 1 million floor plans to date, “can be used without prior training by anyone with a smartphone.”
From a simple walk-through of a home, the technology “produces a highly-precise floor plan sketch with the option to calculate GLA aligned with ANSI standards.”
Square footage is “the second-highest driver of a home’s value (the first being location), and CubiCasa’s technology helps minimize inconsistencies and variations in the property data collection and inspection process.”