Property Floor Plans: DIY on an iPhone vs Hiring a Photographer
By Salar Kiabi, Founder, FIMIT · · 6 min read
Last reviewed
For years, an accurate floor plan meant booking a specialist: a floor-plan photographer or a draughtsman who visited, measured and returned a drawing a day or two later. That still works — but it is no longer the only option, and for most agents it is no longer the fastest or cheapest one. Here is an honest comparison.
Hiring it out: the trade-offs
- A per-property fee that adds up quickly across a busy pipeline.
- A separate appointment to arrange, on top of the photography visit.
- A turnaround wait before you can list — which can cost you the launch window.
- Consistent, professional output when you find a good supplier — the genuine upside.
Doing it yourself with an iPhone: the trade-offs
- No per-property fee and no waiting on a third party.
- Capture the plan during the same visit as your photos — one trip, done.
- Consistency depends on your process, so it helps to use software that measures from real geometry rather than freehand drawing.
- You keep the data in-house, organised and reusable.
The real question: accuracy and consistency
The worry with DIY has always been quality — will a self-made plan be accurate and look professional? That is exactly what modern LiDAR capture solves. When the plan is computed from the actual geometry of the space rather than sketched by hand, a walk-through produces a to-scale plan and a floor area you can stand behind, every time, regardless of who captured it.
A middle path that scales
FIMIT gives agents the professional output without the booking: walk each property once with an iPhone or iPad Pro and get a to-scale 2D floor plan and a 3D model automatically, with floor areas computed from the capture. It is the consistency of a specialist with the speed and cost of doing it yourself — and every plan is organised by property for your whole team.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to make property floor plans yourself?
For most agents, yes — doing it yourself removes the per-property fee and the wait on a third party. A recent iPhone or iPad Pro captures the plan during the same visit as your photos, so there is no separate appointment. The trade-off used to be quality, but LiDAR capture that measures from real geometry now produces professional, to-scale results.
Are DIY iPhone floor plans accurate enough for listings?
Yes, for a listing floor area. In good conditions an iPhone LiDAR capture is usually accurate to within a few centimetres — comfortably inside the tolerance a listing needs — though the exact figure varies with the device, room size, surfaces and how carefully you scan. Because the plan is computed from the actual geometry of the space rather than sketched freehand, it stays to-scale regardless of who captured it, and FIMIT characterises how accurate each scan is so you can check the figure rather than take it on trust. Validate any dimension that matters contractually before you rely on it.
How long does it take to make a floor plan yourself?
Minutes. You walk the property once with an iPhone or iPad Pro, and software turns the capture into a to-scale 2D floor plan and a 3D model automatically. There is no return visit and no waiting on a supplier’s turnaround, so you can capture the plan on the same trip as your photography and list without delay.
Do estate agents still hire floor-plan photographers?
Some do, and a good supplier delivers consistent, polished output — the genuine upside of hiring out. But the per-property fee, the extra appointment and the turnaround wait add up across a busy pipeline. Many agents now capture plans in-house with an iPhone to keep the speed and cost down while still getting professional, to-scale results.
What do estate agents use to make floor plans on an iPhone?
Agents use a LiDAR-equipped iPhone Pro (12 Pro onwards) or iPad Pro together with software that turns the scan into a plan. FIMIT is built for this: one walk-through produces a to-scale 2D floor plan and a 3D model, with floor areas computed from the capture. It is EU-hosted, GDPR-ready and organises every plan by property for the whole team.
Sources and further reading
About the author
Salar Kiabi, Founder, FIMIT
Salar Kiabi is the founder of FIMIT, which turns a single iPhone LiDAR walk-through into an accurate, to-scale 2D floor plan and 3D model for property and facility teams. He writes about measurement accuracy, capture technique, and getting a floor area from a phone that you can actually stand behind.
Related reading
- How to Measure Floor Area for a Property Listing (Accurately)Floor area is a number buyers act on. How to measure it accurately and consistently, which standards matter, and how to capture it from an iPhone.
- What Makes a Great Real Estate Floor PlanThe seven things that separate a floor plan buyers trust from one they ignore — accuracy, labelling, scale and more — and how to hit them every time.
- Floor Plans for Real Estate Listings: Why Serious Buyers Expect ThemA floor plan answers the questions photos cannot, so viewings are better qualified. What makes a great one, and how to make it from an iPhone.