What Is an Interactive Floor Plan Tour — and Why Auckland Agents Are Using Them
Most Auckland agents are familiar with floor plans. Fewer are familiar with what happens when you take a floor plan and connect every room on it to the actual photos taken inside that property.
That is what an Interactive Floor Plan Tour does. It is not a separate product requiring specialist equipment or a second visit. It is generated from your existing listing photos and your 2D floor plan, and it gives buyers an experience that static images alone can't replicate.
This article explains exactly what it is, how it works, who it is for, and how to get it on your listings.
What is an Interactive Floor Plan Tour?
An Interactive Floor Plan Tour is a shareable link that opens on any device — phone, tablet, or desktop — without an app or login. When a buyer opens it, they see the floor plan of the property laid over the screen. Hotspots mark positions throughout the plan. The buyer clicks on any room in the house, and the actual listing photo taken from that point inside the property appears.
They can move through the entire property this way, room by room, always with the floor plan visible so they understand exactly where in the home they are looking. Similar to 3D Tours, Interactive Floor Plan Tours help buyers to walk through a property without being there.
You may also see this referred to as a CubiCasa Tour — that is the name used by the platform that generates it. At Bash & Co we call it an Interactive Floor Plan Tour because that is what it actually does: it makes the floor plan interactive using your listing photos.
How is it different from a standard floor plan?
A standard 2D floor plan is a static image. It shows buyers the layout, the dimensions, the room relationships, and the fixtures. It is essential — 86% of buyers are more likely to view a property if the listing includes a floor plan, according to Zillow's 2024 Consumer Housing Trends report — but it is a diagram. Buyers read it. They do not experience it.
An Interactive Floor Plan Tour is an experience. Buyers navigate through it. The floor plan is the map and the listing photos are the destination. Instead of imagining what the kitchen looks like from the living room, a buyer clicks the living room hotspot and sees exactly that view from that position.
It answers a different set of questions than a standard floor plan. Not just "how big is this room?" but "what does it actually feel like to stand in it?"
How is it different from a virtual tour?
This is the question most agents ask first, and it is a fair one.
A traditional virtual tour — like a Matterport or iGuide tour — requires a 360-degree camera. The result is an immersive walkthrough, but the production cost and equipment investment are significant.
An Interactive Floor Plan Tour requires none of that. It is generated automatically from the same photos taken at your standard listing shoot and the floor plan scan captured at the same time. There is no extra visit, no specialist camera, and no hosting subscription. For agents who want buyers to experience a property before the open home without the overhead of a full virtual tour, it fills that gap at no additional cost.
It is also worth noting that an Interactive Floor Plan Tour is anchored to the floor plan in a way a virtual tour is not. Buyers always know where in the property they are — the floor plan is always on screen. That spatial context makes the experience more useful for decision-making, not just more engaging.
What does it require to generate one?
Two things: a 2D floor plan and listing photos. Both must be ordered together from the same shoot.
The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is generated by matching your listing photos to positions on the floor plan. For that to work, you need both — the floor plan for the layout and the photos for the room views. It cannot be generated from a floor plan alone, and it does not apply to 3D floor plans, which are used for vacant, tenanted, or off-the-plan properties where standard listing photography may not exist.
At Bash & Co, the Interactive Floor Plan Tour is included at no extra cost when photography and a 2D floor plan are booked together. It is not an add-on. It comes with the order.
Who is it most useful for?
The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is useful for every listing, but it is particularly valuable in three situations.
Buyers who cannot attend the open home. Buyers relocating from another city, buyers based overseas, or buyers with family members who cannot make the Saturday morning open home time — all of them can experience the property fully through the Interactive Floor Plan Tour before a decision is made.
Buyers who are shortlisting online. Most Auckland property searches happen in the evening, on a phone, during the week. Buyers comparing three or four properties in the same suburb use every piece of information available to narrow their shortlist before committing to an open home visit. An Interactive Floor Plan Tour gives them significantly more information than competing listings without it.
Agents managing multiple open home appointments. When buyers arrive at an open home having already navigated the property through the Interactive Floor Plan Tour, the conversation changes. They already know how the rooms connect, what the kitchen looks like from the dining area, whether the backyard is accessible from the living room. They are asking vendor-specific questions and making decisions. That is a more productive open home for everyone.
Where can you share or embed the link?
The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is delivered as a URL — a link you can place anywhere.
Realestate.co.nz supports embedding the link directly within your listing. Buyers see the interactive tour as part of the listing experience without needing to navigate away. Harcourts listings also support direct embedding.
For other listing portals and agency platforms, the link can be pasted into the property description field where it is fully functional. Agents across Ray White, Bayleys, and other major networks share the link in their listing descriptions and buyer communications. The real estate industry is moving toward wider embed support across platforms — some agencies are building this capability now — but in every case the link itself works.
Beyond listing portals, the link is shareable in email, text message, and social media posts. It works on any device without an app or account.
Why is this not yet standard on Auckland listings?
Largely because agents are not aware it exists, or assume it requires more effort than it does. The perception that interactive property experiences require a specialist camera, a separate booking, and additional cost has meant many agents have not explored what is available through their standard listing photography workflow.
The Interactive Floor Plan Tour requires none of that. If you are already booking photography and a floor plan together — which every agent should be, given that 42% of buyers say they would not hire an agent who does not provide a floor plan — the Interactive Floor Plan Tour comes with it.
At the time of writing, no other Auckland real estate media provider offers this as standard inclusion with every photography and floor plan booking. It is a genuine point of difference that is available to every agent who works with Bash & Co without any change to their existing booking process.
Frequently asked questions
Is an Interactive Floor Plan Tour the same as a CubiCasa Tour?
Yes. CubiCasa Tour is the name used by the platform that generates the product. At Bash & Co we call it an Interactive Floor Plan Tour because that describes exactly what it does — it turns your 2D floor plan into an interactive experience using your listing photos. Both names refer to the same product.
Does the Interactive Floor Plan Tour replace a standard floor plan?
No. The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is delivered alongside your standard 2D floor plan image files. You still receive the downloadable floor plan in JPG and PNG for use in brochures, print marketing, and listing portals that display static images. The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is the same floor plan made navigable — it does not replace the static version.
Can I use the Interactive Floor Plan Tour without booking photography through Bash & Co?
No. The Interactive Floor Plan Tour requires both listing photos and a 2D floor plan from the same shoot. It is generated by mapping your photos to positions on the floor plan, so both elements must be present. It is included at no extra cost when photography and a 2D floor plan are ordered together through Bash & Co.
How long does it take to receive the Interactive Floor Plan Tour?
The Interactive Floor Plan Tour is delivered alongside your 2D floor plan — within 24 hours of your listing shoot. No additional turnaround time is required beyond the standard floor plan delivery window.
Can buyers use the Interactive Floor Plan Tour on their phone?
Yes. The link opens in any mobile browser without an app or login. It is fully functional on iPhone and Android, and scales correctly to phone and tablet screen sizes. Most buyers who use it do so on a mobile device.
Do I need to do anything special to set it up?
No. When your order is delivered, the Interactive Floor Plan Tour link is included with your floor plan files. Copy the link and paste it into your listing portal, your email, or any other channel you use to communicate with buyers. On realestate.co.nz and Harcourts, you can embed it directly. On other platforms, paste it into the property description field.
