would you pay for this?

[LarryDuff]

Just toying with an idea. If you could give someone details of your house and a basic floor plan (or link to rightmove) and they drew up a new layout based on your needs (open plan/extension etc), within permitted development and give you some 3D images based on actual location, how the sun moves throughout the year etc. and a rough idea of costs?

It would still need structural calcs etc and proper drawings if you actually went ahead but it's more a quick and cheap way to see the potential that a house might have without paying the full price of a detailed design by an architect or builder.

I can’t see there being much take-up as a standalone service without full calculations and costings because surely that’s the most important aspect? How could a rough idea of costs for conversion or refurb be provided without the other professionals who provide those services being involved?

yeah I get that but sometimes you just need some help seeing the possibilities, kind of like a property show like love it or list it or your home made better, those people are always amazed at what's possible and couldn't have imagined it themselves. It's something I love doing, every house I've ever viewed (been property searching for a while) I've done this exercise and I'm getting pretty good at it so it was just a thought, that maybe I could make into a little side gig.

We've done this ourselves. You can get use free online programmes to do your own floor plans, both 2D and 3D. You just need your own measurements!

Unless someone else was measuring accurately, I certainly wouldn't pay for a service I could do myself. Wouldn't that come under a draftsman service?

Fair enough, it's not just floor plans though, it's figuring out a good layout, whether it needs stairs moving, where the light would come in and how that affects where you put things. Having had conversations with people it seemed that most people can't do this stuff.

Sounds like the kind of thing you'd pay an architect for. They study for 7 years. Id rather pay for their expertise once, rather than having to pay twice. Good luck with it though.

I'd pay an architect. If I'm going to spend thousands on my house I'd pay for the expertise of an architect.

no. sorry. If I was considering having an extension done I'd get a professional in to look at the house.

I think it might be something you could get some word of mouth referrals for.

An architectural technologist will do this for you. Slightly cheaper than an architect usually but still someone who is qualified and studied to be able to provide this service. If you were planning to make changes to your property, you’d want a professional to do the final drawings anyway so it would just be an added cost.

The idea was more to give people a quick way of seeing what potential the house had without spending a fortune, you have to be 100% committed to get to that point. I'm thinking less than £100, maybe website based so you log in and see your plans and 3D model, as I said it was a fleeting thought I'm not pitching to the dragons here

I think it’s an interesting idea. I could measure and draw rough plans, but I don’t have the vision to see what would be possible beyond a standard extension.

The permitted development rules are a bit of minefield though, without researching the property’s planning history or understanding whether PD rights had already been used up.

I actually quite like this idea. I think there are a lot of people who have no vision or the ability to think of how a house could look. It would be good to have the option to do this for very cheap without the expense or commitment of finding an architect.

Perhaps people might use it when they’re at stages of house searching or if they own the house but playing around with layout, a few years before they’re looking to do anything. Ie, we will remodel our house at some point but not yet, we keep discussing it so it would be good to be able to think of the options without having to find a reputable architect.

What would be even better is if you could coordinate this with some sort of CAD options for interior design and layout.

Maybe have a priced structure - a free or very cheap version with real basic elements, then stepped up to the all-singing-all-dancing version.

Maybe called propertypotential.com or something

Going against the grain i probably would consider it. Would help to work through some ideas before paying an architect.

@LarryDuff I would use this, to get a rough idea before I possible your an offer in.

My offer, a meant

I think there is merit in the idea but it would need to be fairly cheap because if people are using this for early ideas they might want to try out 2 or 3 different options of layout which would then stack up in cost which could be off-putting.

I think if it involves moving walls I would want an architect /structural engineer involved. I think it's easy to say 'get rid of that wall, move the bathroom to the other side of the house etc.' without factoring in the structure/services of the building.
But why not give it go, if you charge a nominal fee, one nevers knows you may have found a unique service that no one has yet offers. Perhaps your service could be targeted at architects rather than the end users?

I love the idea!

Good idea. Who does the measuring? Our architect measured up - 3 hours to get everything which probably cost more than £100. Moving walls would need an engineers input from the beginning

Yes I absolutely would. To use as the first stage of discussion with DH pre planning an offer or extension. I've always fond this myself. But it's incredibly time consuming and my package is rubbish! So I'd pay, more likely 50-100.

I think you need to think long and hard about your costs. Your going to need decent software. How much of your time is it going to take, not just creating time, but thinking time.
At under £100 you are going to need a lot of clients to make any money, how and where are you going to advertise how much will that cost?

I'd use you! The architects we've spoken to want to know what we want, and that's what we don't know! A big standard kitchen diner family room extension doesn't really fit. I want someone to say "have you tight about...." and "you could consider....."

*thought about

I think it’s an interesting idea too - actually a service I kinda need right now, as debating whether to offer on a house that needs and extension and defo not a ‘vision’ person myself. Big but tho is, before offering I’d rather have someone tell me about the viability of the extension in terms of what’s under the ground, potential pitfalls etc and sounds like what you’re offering is more cosmetic. Also you’d need to be able to draw it up pretty quickly to help people with moving timescales wouldn’t you?

You don’t need a free sample client do you? Kidding

I don't see how you can do it for £100, that sounds far too cheap. How many hours do you think each job would take? (take detailed instructions and understand your clients' requirements, draw up existing house, thinking/design time, make new plans, relay back the end result) If you look at Your Home Made Perfect, Laura Jane Clark usually wins because she listens to her clients and that takes time.

However, I could see it working if aimed at potential-purchasers. If they were looking at a house (so the floorplan is already on the internet) and wanted an idea of possible changes / improvements, then they might go for it. If you pitch the concept as being similar to a survey, which people spend hundreds on, then it might be feasible.
Survey = review of the past; new layout = review of the future.

PS: please, no Robert Jamison- style banquettes!