The housing market in Spain continues to remain stable despite the turmoil in world economics, and many people are still choosing Spain as a destination to invest in property, especially in pre-owned housing. One trend that is also making a name for itself nowadays in the Spanish property market is the real estate marketing technique called "Home Staging". The professionals who apply and master them, baptised "Home Stagers", are known for speeding up the process of buying and selling a house and emphasise the importance of why it pays to prepare your home well before you sell it in Spain.
Home stagers in Spain are making a name for themselves by applying a series of simple tricks, such as:
- Tidying up and de-cluttering rooms
- Depersonalising the property for sale or rental
- Presenting the properties with an appearance in keeping with the times we live in
- Showing properties to the future buyer or tenant through expert photography
Thanks to the proper application of these simple techniques, the properties look more attractive, interest the target group more, keep their price in line with the market and are sold or rented faster. The result is a win-win situation for all parties involved: the homeowner benefits from a quick sale without a price drop, the real estate agent benefits from customer satisfaction and the resulting commission and recognition, the home stager benefits from seeing another successful project, and the buyer or tenant benefits from the achievement of their goal: finding their dream home.
It is clear that investing in the preparation of your home in Spain, before selling it, is very profitable. It is important to be clear that we are talking about investing and not spending, because if you sell before and you do it at a good price, you will recover your investment. Let's take a practical example:
Although the above picture is nice, an unfurnished flat does not show potential buyers all the possibilities that the house has. In this case, and taking into account that the living room is narrow, it is difficult to estimate what kind of furniture could fit. That is why in this case it is necessary to apply home staging techniques. This would be the result:
In case you are still not completely convinced, we explain the 5 reasons why investing in a home staging project is profitable:
1. You will have the right and attractive photos of your home, attracting more visits.
When you search for a house on a real estate portal such as idealista, after entering the logical parameters (i.e. area, price, size and some other characteristics), you are unconsciously seduced by the cover photo. And it is these listings that click on to see the house in more detail. If the rest of the photos also catch your eye, you'll be ready to call and arrange a viewing. Conclusion: if you are able to make your house stand out from the rest with your photos, you will generate many more visits and with more visits you will increase the probability of selling sooner.
2. The optimal state of the house will not lead to having to negotiate the price.
Your house may be in good condition, but we all know that after some time living in a house, wear and tear starts to show and the house will have its flaws. By fixing and maintaining these points, you get the house in an impeccable state and that means less room to negotiate the selling price.
3. The property will have more value
Statistically, in 37% of the cases in which a 'Home Staging' project has been carried out, the sale price rises up to 25% (2016 statistics published by the AHSE). When your home is tidy, without excess furniture or personal belongings, with all the flaws fixed and a neutral decorating style, your home really shines. It often happens that real estate agents value a property more highly when a home stager has been there, as your house stands out from the rest.
4. You will sell it sooner
In 62% of cases it has been found that a well prepared property sells in less than 40 days and in general, 8 times faster than the average in Spain. When a house sells fast, there is no time to lower the asking price. Think, how much will that first price drop be? 5,000 euros? 10,000 euros? Maybe more? Remember that the investment in 'Home Staging' is always less than this first price drop.
5. You save on fixed costs of the property.
By selling your flat earlier you won't have to continue paying monthly and annual property charges (mortgage, IBI, community fees, water, electricity etc.) and in many cases you won't have to bear double expenses if you already live in a new house. You can turn over a new leaf and start a new chapter in your life.
Home Staging works and in Spain more and more of sellers are confirming this every day with quick sales successes, satisfied clients and achieved objectives, hence we confirm that investing in the preparation of your home before selling can be the difference between selling or not selling your home.