
The President meets: Esperanza Bugallo
In this episode, The IAHSP® EU President meets Esperenza Bugallo, the Vice President of the Spanish Home Staging Association. AHSE, is an Affiliate Association to IAHSP® Europe and IAHSP® INTERNATIONAL.
S.R.: Could you please tell us more about AHSE and the medium-term goals of the Association?
E.B.: The AHSE is the official association for Home Staging in Spain. Day by day we are growing but our goal is not only to promote this beautiful profession that is home staging but also to build a reputation and recognition based on Quality.
S.R.: What is the average time that it takes to sell a property in Spain and do you have any official data or statistics on how much faster the Staged properties sell?
E.B.: The Spanish real estate market is extremely heterogeneous, therefore, it is not possible to speak of a specific time of sale, for all of Spain. It is in the big cities like Madrid, Barcelona, or Valencia where the real estate market accelerates due to the demand that it has. Taken into consideration, those cities that present faster sales; It is estimated that in Madrid and Valencia, it takes 3 months to sell a flat, while in Barcelona it is estimated that it is 2. On the other hand, in smaller ones such as Lugo, Palencia or Zamora, the sale time can be one year. According to our latest 2020-2021 statistics (which we still have yet to publish), 72.80% of home staging projects were sold on the first visit. Home Staging is a very powerful tool.
S.R.: What geographic area or which cities have major requests for Home Staging services?
E.B.: As one would expect, the largest ones like Madrid or Barcelona.
S.R.: Which type of properties are staged the most and who among the Real Estate Agents, Property Developers, or R.E. Investors, are using Home Staging as a marketing tool?
E.B.: In old or obsolete housing, change is so powerful that today it is the most staged. Little by little, home staging is being introduced as an “essential” in marketing for the sale of a property. Real estate agents are beginning to recognise home staging and demand it.
S.R.: How many Professional Home Stagers are actively working in Spain, and what are the major obstacles they are facing (if any)?
E.B.: Approximately 135 belong to the AHSE, but I do not have total data since, unfortunately, there is no registry where that information can be collected.