Pre-Purchase Real Estate Visualization

I have always searched around for good deals online, especially when it comes to real estate. A lot of the residences I identify as a "good deal" disappear off the market in a matter of days. Of course, being a poor college student I don't really have the money to jump on one of these "investments", but I do play around with the ideas in Fantasy Land.

So this example is a Chicago condo that caught my eye a few weeks ago: Plaza 440, right around the corner from Trump's new tower. It was a two bedroom unit that was on the market for just under $280k. So I thought to myself... "What can be done with such a unit? And what does this thing look like anyways?"

A few easy steps later I had all the answers I needed!

First, I found the developer's website from which I grabbed the floor plan.



I then imported it into SketchUp and scaled it by way of known sizes (aka the width of the range in the kitchen, or the door in the main entry).



Once I was satisfied with the plan, I extruded it up and went from there.



Using SketchUp and basic construction knowledge, I was able to understand the "feel" of the condo without actually driving up to Chicago to see it. Apart from that, something like this can work as a great marketing piece. Any takers? :-)


in action!

"For the Interior Designers"

Efficiency saves money. Everything in today's market is geared toward efficiency. As a student, I often cross paths with those who major in Interior Design, due to the similarity of our interests. So over time I've developed some questions to the expectations of a designer, and the methods by which a design can be produced.

Most people are still asked (if not required) to render plans by hand. I know that hand-rendered layouts often look amazing, but as with construction and BIM, I'm certain that they could be phased out as people become more efficient in their careers. I am advocating SketchUp and its use in Interior Design. SketchUp's "styles" do the trick when it comes to presenting materials, and can make any model look like a hand-drawn picture. And when it's all done, a functional model is already completed! I haven't seen many people really harness the technology yet, and I highly recommend it!! :-)

*Visualization models used by way of creative commons license from the following Google Sketchup users: caspkeeley, HODAPPdesigns, IDW, gaj, l_a_scorpio, STONEFREE, zeuss, Acorn