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Virtual Tours and Floor Plans for Rural Homes: Getting the Numbers Right

Writer: Jonathan G. Browning
Jonathan G. Browning
Oct 7
4 min read

Rural listings have a distance problem. The buyer for a farmhouse in Macon County might live in Nashville, Bowling Green, or another state. Every showing is a long drive. A good virtual tour and floor plan cut down on wasted trips for both sides.

But a tour or a plan is also a set of claims. It says this room connects to that one, and the house has this much space. If those claims are off, the tool that was supposed to build trust does the opposite.


What a virtual tour actually does

A virtual tour lets someone move through a house at their own pace. It answers questions photos cannot:

  • How do the rooms connect?

  • What do you see when you walk in the front door?

  • How far is the laundry from the bedrooms?

  • What does the view look like from the kitchen sink?

For a rural home, extend that beyond the walls. The walk from the house to the barn, the view from the porch, and the layout of outbuildings matter as much as the hallway.

A tour does not replace a visit. It qualifies one. A buyer who has already walked the house online and still wants to see it in person is a more serious buyer.


Floor plans and square footage

A floor plan is the map that makes a tour make sense. It is also where measurement mistakes show up.

Square footage has historically been measured in different ways by different people. The ANSI Z765 standard was written to fix that. According to Home Innovation Research Labs' FAQ on the ANSI Z765 Square Footage Method, it is a voluntary standard for single-family detached and attached homes that covers calculating and reporting above-grade and below-grade square footage. It is not applicable to apartment or multifamily buildings, and it does not cover room dimensions.

The standard matters for financing too. The same FAQ notes that Fannie Mae requires ANSI Z765-2021 to be used by appraisers to determine gross living area and non-GLA areas for properties requiring interior and exterior inspections.


Hand-drawn architectural floor plan of a building on aged paper

Why this is coming up more often

Fannie Mae has explained its reasoning in a published FAQ on standardizing property measuring guidelines. It points to new technologies, such as phone apps, that can measure houses, generate floor plans, and calculate square footage. It also notes that desktop and hybrid appraisal options require a floor plan, and that because appraisers are not inspecting the property in person for those appraisals, they will commonly receive the floor plan from a third party.

Fannie Mae describes ANSI Z765-2021 as a standard that technologies can build to, that other parties such as real estate agents can anticipate, and that appraisers can create or consume with confidence.

The takeaway for anyone producing floor plans: the plan you make for marketing may end up in front of an appraiser. Make it accurate, and say how it was measured.


Label what you measured

Honest labeling solves most of the risk. A floor plan should state:

  1. The method. Was it measured to ANSI Z765, or is it an approximate marketing plan?

  2. What is included. Finished above-grade space, below-grade space, porches, garages.

  3. The source. Laser measurement, scan, or existing drawings.

  4. A disclaimer. "Dimensions are approximate" when they are.

This lines up with what the National Association of Realtors asks of its members. Article 12 of the NAR Code of Ethics says Realtors shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing, and other representations. A floor plan with an unlabeled square footage number is a representation.


Making tours work for rural property

A few habits make rural tours more useful:

  • Start outside. Begin the tour at the driveway or porch so the viewer understands arrival.

  • Include outbuildings. A shop or barn may be why the buyer is looking.

  • Pair with an overhead image. An aerial photo shows where everything sits on the land. The tour shows what it is like inside.

  • Keep it current. If a room changes after the tour is made, update it or note it.


Practical takeaways

  1. Use virtual tours to qualify showings, not replace them.

  2. Extend tours past the walls to porches, outbuildings, and views.

  3. State how a floor plan was measured and whether it follows ANSI Z765.

  4. Label approximate dimensions as approximate.

  5. Pair tours with an overhead image so viewers understand the whole property.

If you have a rural home that would benefit from a clear walk-through and plan, contact 48 Pegasus, serving properties within 75 miles of Macon County, Tennessee, across Middle Tennessee and South Central Kentucky.


Sources

Photos: cover by Gustavo Hvenegaard / Unsplash; inline by Amsterdam City Archives / Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

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