How the Home Staging Process Works: From Consultation to Sale

We’ve said it many times before: buyers take just 27 minutes to decide whether to buy a property. And if you’ve read some of our other articles, you’ll already know that home staging is one of the most effective ways to achieve a faster sale and secure the best possible price.

But you may still be wondering exactly how the home staging process works.

Whether you’re an estate agent considering adding home staging to your property marketing strategy, or you’re a homeowner or investor looking to prepare your property for sale, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the professional home staging process step by step. You’ll see that it’s much simpler than you might expect.

Every property is unique, which makes the initial consultation one of the most important stages of the home staging process. Ideally, this takes place in person, although remote consultations are also possible when budgets are tighter or time is limited.

During the visit, we:

• Assess the property’s overall condition.
• Take measurements and prepare a basic floor plan.
• Photograph each room.
• Identify the property’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Determine whether the property requires a relooking (light cosmetic improvements) or whether home staging alone will be sufficient.

We also discuss the asking price with the estate agent and identify the target buyer. After all, staging a city apartment for a young professional couple is very different from preparing a family home or an investment property.

Using all this information, we prepare a tailored home staging quotation, together with a relooking proposal if required.

One of the questions we’re asked most often is, “How much does home staging cost?“ The answer is that every property is different. We always consider both the property’s value and the client’s budget to ensure the investment delivers the best possible return. To give you an idea, the Spanish Home Staging Association (AHSE) estimates that the average cost of home staging in Spain is around 0.83% of the property’s sale price, making it an affordable investment for most vendors.

Once the proposal has been approved, the home staging company takes care of everything else, starting with selecting the furniture and design style.

Successful home staging is all about creating a look that appeals to the widest possible audience.That said, furnishing a modern apartment in central Barcelona requires a different approach from staging a detached villa in Collbató or a holiday apartment in Sitges. The good news is that you won’t need to arrange furniture hire separately. Temporary furniture rental is included as part of the home staging service. This means the property isn’t furnished solely for the photographs. It remains fully staged so prospective buyers can experience the home exactly as it will appear in the marketing.

Furniture, textiles, artwork and accessories are carefully selected according to both the type of property and the target buyer. We also optimise:

• Furniture layout
• Colour palette
• Lighting
• Room flow
• Visual balance

This isn’t about personal taste. It’s about creating a carefully planned marketing strategy designed to help the property sell quickly and for the highest possible price.

A relooking is a cosmetic refresh that often includes painting, minor repairs, and updating tired or dated features. In some cases it may also involve removing old furniture that won’t be used in the staging. It’s not a full renovation, it’s a spruce-up to create a bright, fresh base that’s ready for home staging. 

For furnished properties, such as inherited homes, any furniture that won’t be used during staging will need to be removed, along with personal belongings. Homeowners usually prefer to handle the removal of personal possessions themselves, particularly valuable or sentimental items. Alternatively, specialist house clearance companies can carry out the work. Some even offer the service at little or no cost by reselling the furniture and household items they collect.

Next comes the deep clean. This isn’t an ordinary clean. It’s a presentation clean designed to prepare the property for photography and viewings, so we generally recommend using a professional cleaning company.

With the property spotless and ready, it’s finally time for the part we enjoy most: the home staging itself.

At this point, the home staging company takes over completely. Neither the estate agent nor the homeowner needs to worry about anything operational. The home staging company manages the entire logistics, including the transport of furniture and accessories, the stage, and the final styling. Depending on the size of the property and the number of rooms being staged, the whole process typically takes no more than one to two days.

Once the installation is complete, professional photography takes place either the same day or the following one. It’s worth noting that with property photography, the weather plays a crucial role. A rainy day can undo a great deal of the hard work done up to that point. The natural light of a sunny day adds a value to a property that simply can’t be replicated in post-production. Fortunately, the weather in Spain tends to be on our side. Yes, brightness can be improved in editing, but it’s never quite the same. We understand that time on the market is always a priority, but if waiting a few days means truly stunning photographs, it’s always worth it. First impressions count above all else! 

With the property fully prepared, it’s ready to go on the market. We know that today’s buyers start their search on property portals, and the good news is that 1 in 3 estate agents say prospective buyers are more likely to arrange a viewing after seeing a home staged property online. 

The time a property spends on the market comes at a cost. For the owner, the cost of maintaining a vacant property exceeds 2,000€ a year. Between utilities, council tax equivalent, service charges, and insurance, that’s already over 160€ a month for an 80 m² flat, and that’s without factoring in any mortgage payments. And the longer a property sits on the market, the greater the cost to the agent too: time spent on viewings that don’t convert, the cost of renewing listings on property portals, and the risk of the property going stale and requiring a price reduction.

According to AHSE, 96.6% of staged properties sell within the first three months, compared with the national average of just 53%. Even more impressively, 43% sell within the first month. The results of using home staging to sell your property in Spain speak for themselves.

Once the sale is finalised (in record time!), a date is agreed for the home staging company to collect everything. Simpler than the installation, the collection is typically completed in a matter of hours to a day, depending on the size of the property. As before, neither the estate agent nor the property owner needs to worry about the logistics. It’s a complete, fully managed service. The property is left empty and clear, ready to be handed over to the buyer.

As you’ve seen, the home staging process is far simpler than it might seem, and the results speak for themselves. If you have any questions about the process or would like to explore any of the steps in more detail, have a look at our other articles. And if you’re based in the Baix Llobregat, Barcelona, or Catalonia, stay tuned — our service will be coming to your area soon.