How Developers Can Leverage 3D Printing When Selling New Homes

Just as a paper printer can recreate a document based on electronic files, a 3D printer can create a to-scale model of a planned property based on a house plan. This recently developed technology typically builds a scale model layer-by-layer, from the ground up. With a 3D printer, floor plans can be translated into a universally understood physical model.

Buyers may squeal in delight upon first seeing a 3D-printed house plan; their delight stems from the fact that developers rarely go to such lengths to create an easy-to-understand representation of a home plan. Below is a look at the benefits developers and real estate agents can achieve by creating a 3D model of a certain set of home plans.

Communicate a Property’s Location among nearby Structures

3D printing certainly makes a blueprint of a house plan easy to understand. However, it can also offer additional information a two-dimensional home plan would not include. For instance, with 3D printing you can create a model of entire blocks or subdivisions. This allows the viewer to immediately appreciate the space between homes, perspectives that may be open or blocked by nearby structures, and much more. Such valuable information can accelerate any home sale.

Wow City Developers and Other Bureaucrats

There are plenty of regulatory requirements developers must follow to turn a home plan into a physical structure. 3D printing can create a model all persons can easily understand, including government regulators.

For instance, as a developer, let’s say your designer will soon be presenting your subdivision house plans to city regulators. 3D printing can help you breeze through the city approval process, especially if you include details of various dimensions. Different cities have different requirements for new home building projects. For instance, one city might limit street-facing fence height to four feet. Another might require all homes to include a front yard of a certain size. These details may be printed directly onto a 3D model, making it a snap to convince city officials to approve your home plan or large-scale housing project.

Encourage Innovation

Seeing a project through a new lens can foster creativity and innovation. For instance, a contractor who is accustomed to seeing a home plan through a set of blueprints may be inspired to use a new approach after noticing something on the 3D print of a house plan.

Buyers Get a Sense of How the Home Will Be Placed on the Lot

One limitation of traditional floor plans is that they don’t quickly convey how a home will be situated in its environment. A 3D print of a home plan will instantly convey how a home will be placed on its lot, for instance. The slope of the yard, the space around the building and the potential for landscaping will be obvious at once if you provide potential buyers with a 3D house plan.

See What Neighbor’s New Home Will Look Like before It’s Built

Realtors are often concerned about how a new home plan will affect the value of nearby homes. A beautiful house plan can drive up property values, while a less attractive home plan can drive neighbors to scan real estate offerings, hoping to move. 3D printing allows neighbors to immediately understand what a certain home will look like once it’s completed. In this way, ordering a 3D model can smooth over any neighbor disputes that may be standing in the way of development.

Decrease Construction Time and Costs

Costs only blossom as time unfolds, as every developer knows. The more quickly you can turn a home plan into a physical structure, the less you’ll pay in labor. Generally, a 3D print of a house plan is a construction accelerator. If plumbers, electricians and other contractors can quickly consult a 3D model for the information they need, they’ll be more likely to finish their jobs on time – or even early. A 3D model quickly communicates the crucial data each builder needs to understand and manifest a home plan. In turn, this saves developers precious time and money.

By quickly expressing the dimensions, regulatory details and position of a housing project, 3D prints can benefit developers and real estate agents alike.

Note: The home shown above is The Caldersyke House Plan 21135.