Floor Plans Are Free And Take 4 Minutes. So Why Do Agents Still Hire Us?

Floor plans have become one of the most-requested items in a listing package. Buyers want them. Sellers ask about them at listing appointments. And yet a lot of agents either skip them entirely or assume they require a professional visit.

Here's the honest answer: they don't always. The CubiCasa app lets you scan a floor plan using nothing but your phone, and the whole process — from opening the app to a finished, exportable floor plan — takes around 4 minutes on a typical home.

This post walks you through exactly how to do it, what gear actually helps, and — because we're going to be straight with you — why plenty of agents who can do it themselves still hire us to handle it instead.

What Is CubiCasa?

CubiCasa is a mobile app that uses your phone's camera (and LiDAR, if your phone has it) to scan a property and generate a professional 2D floor plan. You walk the home, the app maps it, and within a few hours you have a clean, labeled floor plan you can drop into your MLS listing, your marketing kit, or your listing presentation.

It's legitimate technology. We use it ourselves on a daily basis. And yes — agents can absolutely use it without hiring anyone.

What You Need Before You Start

The App

Download CubiCasa for free from the App Store or Google Play. The scan itself is free. Certain floor plan output types and extra square footage carry a charge — more on that below.

The Right Phone

CubiCasa works on most modern smartphones, but if you want the best results, a phone with a LiDAR sensor is a real advantage. LiDAR lets the app measure depth and map rooms with significantly more accuracy — especially in tricky spaces like L-shaped rooms, stairwells, and tight hallways.

Phones with LiDAR (as of 2025):

• iPhone 12 Pro / 12 Pro Max through iPhone 17 Pro / 17 Pro Max (Pro models only — the standard iPhone does not have LiDAR)

• No mainstream Android phones currently ship with a true LiDAR sensor, though standard camera scanning still works reasonably well on most flagship Android devices

If you're shooting with a standard (non-Pro) iPhone or Android, the app still works — you'll just want to move more slowly and deliberately through the space.

A Small Stabilizer (Optional, But Worth It)

CubiCasa recommends using a small phone stabilizer or gimbal when scanning. It keeps the phone level and smooth, which reduces geometry errors — especially in longer hallways or open-concept layouts. A basic phone gimbal runs $30–$80 and makes a noticeable difference in scan quality if you're doing this regularly.

How to Scan: Step-by-Step

Before you start scanning:

• Open all interior doors, closets, and any outbuildings (garage, porch before you begin. Stopping mid-scan to open a door throws off the map.

• Turn on all the lights. The app reads wall-floor boundaries — better lighting means better reads.

• Set up the property correctly in the app (address, dwelling type) before you arrive or before you hit record.

During the scan:

• For multi-story homes, start in the basement or at the stairs so CubiCasa can correctly connect the floors.

• Move in a smooth, steady loop around each room — hugging the walls rather than cutting through the center.

• Hold the phone at a consistent height (roughly chest height works well) and avoid whipping it around corners. Think slow and deliberate, not fast and efficient.

• The app gives you real-time feedback while scanning. Watch the on-screen map fill in — if a room looks incomplete, loop back through it before moving on.

After the scan:

Most floor plans are returned within 24 hours of submission. The scan itself is quick — the wait is in the processing queue. Where turnaround gets unpredictable is revisions. If a room rendered incorrectly or a wall needs to be moved, going back through CubiCasa's editing process or support team can add meaningful time to your delivery. If you're on a tight listing timeline, build in a buffer.

One more thing worth noting: the square footage generated by CubiCasa is an estimate. It's useful context for buyers, but it is not a substitute for a licensed appraiser's measurement and should not be represented as official GLA in any legal or transactional context.

Before You Submit Your First Scan: Two Account Settings to Turn Off

Before you hit submit on any scan, log into your CubiCasa account and check your default settings — there are two that agents are frequently surprised by.

Realtor.com auto-publishing. CubiCasa has a partnership with realtor.com, and by default, your completed floor plan gets pushed to realtor.com automatically — even if the home isn't listed yet. If you're scanning ahead of a launch date or before a seller has approved the listing, that floor plan can go public before you're ready. Turn this off in your account settings before your first scan.

"Recent media" on CubiCasa's public website. CubiCasa also displays recently completed floor plans on their public-facing website, with your name attached. Most agents don't want their client's floor plan showing up in a public gallery without consent. This can also be disabled in your account settings.

Neither of these is a dealbreaker, but they're both on by default and easy to miss during setup. Check them before your first scan, not after.

So Why Do Agents Still Hire Us?

If the app is free, the scan takes 8 minutes, and the floor plan comes back the same day — why does Motion 46 do floor plans on a daily basis for agents who are fully capable of doing this themselves?

Here's the honest breakdown.

1. Technique matters more than the app suggests.

CubiCasa makes the process look simple in their demos — and it is, once you've done it 50 or 100 times. But on your first few scans, you'll likely get rooms that don't close properly, walls that cut off, or a second floor that didn't connect right. Our team has scanned hundreds of homes. We don't guess at the path — we know it. That consistency shows up in the finished product.

2. Customer support is a real friction point.

When something goes wrong with a scan — a room renders incorrectly, square footage is off, a wall is in the wrong place — you have to go through CubiCasa's support team to get it fixed. We deal with their support a few times a month on behalf of our clients. It's not a terrible process, but it takes time, follow-up, and knowing the right way to flag the issue. If you're a busy agent with three listings active at once, that's a headache you probably don't want to own.

3. Editing the render isn't intuitive — and it's browser-locked.

Once your floor plan comes back, making edits (like changing a room label or adjusting a dimension) has to be done through CubiCasa's web editor — and that editor only works properly on certain browsers. If you're a Safari user on a Mac or iPhone, you'll need to open Chrome, log in again, and do your edits there. It's a small thing, but it's the kind of friction that adds up when you're trying to wrap up a listing package before a deadline.

4. There's still a cost.

The basic scan is free, but certain floor plan output formats — the cleaner 2D versions with dimensions, furniture, or GLA calculations — carry a per-scan charge. There's also an additional charge for properties over a certain square footage. When you factor those in across a full year of listings, the savings over hiring a pro start to shrink, especially when you're also paying with your own time.

5. When it's part of a full media package, it just makes sense to bundle.

Most of our clients booking photos, drone, and video don't want to coordinate a separate trip back to the house for a floor plan scan. We do it during the shoot. One trip. One timeline. One delivery.

When DIY Actually Makes Sense

There are situations where doing this yourself is totally reasonable:

• You're a newer agent managing your own media budget tightly and need a floor plan without adding to your vendor costs.

• It's a smaller listing where a floor plan is nice-to-have, not essential.

• You have an iPhone Pro, you've practiced a few times, and you're comfortable with the CubiCasa portal.

• Your market or price point doesn't demand the precision of a professionally managed scan.

In those cases? Download the app, follow the steps above, and you'll get a solid result.

Motion 46's Floor Plan Options (If You'd Rather Hand It Off)

For agents who want floor plans as part of their listing package without managing the process themselves, here's what we offer:

• Base Floor Plan — 2D, room dimensions, black & white, no total sq ft — starting at $55

• Pro Floor Plan — 2D, room dimensions, fixed furniture, GLA/total sq ft — starting at $85

• Plus Floor Plan — Everything in Pro, plus a colored/textured 3D floor plan with furniture — starting at $135

All floor plans are delivered within 36 hours (Plus within 3 days), and they pair directly with our photo, drone, and video packages for a single-shoot, single-delivery workflow.

Bottom Line

CubiCasa is genuinely good technology, and the DIY path is real. If you want to try it, this walkthrough gives you everything you need to get a clean result on your first attempt — just make sure your account settings are dialed in before you submit that first scan.

But if your time is worth something, if you'd rather not deal with browser quirks and support tickets, and if you're already booking a full media package — let us handle it. That's what we're here for.

Questions about listing media in the Brainerd Lakes Area? Reach out at hello@motion46media.com or visit motion46media.com.