Blog

When it comes to selling your property you only have a few precious seconds to grab the attention of your prospective buyers and create a great first impression. Your sales information needs to be as attractive and accessible as possible. If not, then your advertisement shall become over shadowed by the competition and an opportunity will be missed..

When selling an existing property attracting a prospective buyer can be done through the use of a great set of photographs.

If taken well, photographs provide the most effective selling tool. They instantly convey the mood and the potential lifestyle on offer, drawing you in... until finally you book a viewing of the property on offer.

BUT WHAT IF YOUR PROPERTY IS YET TO BE BUILT...?

Helped by the popularity of television programs such as Property Ladder and Grand Design more and more people are deciding to extensively develop their properties. Perhaps with a straight forward extension or even a complete rebuild of the site to maximise the financial return of the development.

This requires a significant amount of design and development and let’s not forget, money.

The problem with a proposed development is that it is more difficult to sell immediately. It is yet to exist meaning that photographs are not an option yet for marketing, so what is the best way forward?

DO I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE PROPERTY IS BUILT TO MARKET IT FOR SALE...?

If your main aim is to sell your finished development then waiting for the build to complete before marketing the property makes little financial sense, due to prolonged mortgage payments etc, the list goes on and on.

An outdated method to sell a property under going development is to display the architectural plans and elevation drawings, along with perhaps an artists impression of the proposed development.

IS THAT IDEAL..?

In a word, no. For most people architects drawings are complicated and difficult to read. Put next to a photograph of a similar (existing) development, it is unlikely that the extra time needed to see the potential of your proposed development will be invested and your sale will be lost.

WHAT ABOUT THE ARTIST IMPRESSION THOUGH...?

An artists impression (typically a water colour painting) will of course help but it is unable to show the finished article in an a photo-realistic context, leaving an element of doubt in a potential buyers mind.

You are also opening yourself to human error within the image, hence the name artist impression i.e. the finished product will look similar but not exactly as shown.

IS THERE ANOTHER WAY..?

Yes. In these modern times a new way to market an un-built property is to use a new service, 3d visualisation. 3d visualisation is the process of using skilled computer graphics to produce a highly accurate 3d model of your proposed development. This 3d model can then be super imposed on to photographs of the existing site, lighting is then matched and a photo-realistic image is produced.

This image is known as a photo-montage and is completely verifiable for accuracy. It can also be used to help obtain planning permission.

By using a photo-montage the guess work is taken out of the equation, allowing your potential buyer (or planning authority) to see exactly what shall be available for purchase . This method can help you to obtain planning permission and generate a sale of the development even before any work takes place on the site.

SOUNDS GREAT BUT ISNT THAT EXPENSIVE...?

I would be lying if I said that it was cheap but it is all in context with the development.

The cost of each image will depend on many factors including how complicated the design is to create in 3d. For example, a small extension will not take as much time to model as a complete building, so the costs will be bespoke to you, reflecting the amount of time needed.

As a guideline a good studio will charge upwards of £250 per day. You are paying for expertise and the knowledge that the image will be accurate and great to look at. If you choose to cut costs in this area you will compromise accuracy and image quality defeating the point of using 3d visualisation.

This initial investment will be worth it though allowing you to market for a sale as soon as possible, avoiding the mounting costs incurred whilst hanging onto a finished development.

Havendale Design Visualisation Ltd specialise in 3d visualisation for architecture. For more inspiration and examples of our work, please visit us at www.havendaledesign.co.uk