Turnkey Tier 1 — The Rental

A rental property in San Miguel de Allende earns exactly what its photographs deserve. Guests scrolling a listing page make a decision in seconds, from images — which means furnishing a rental is not decorating, it is building the asset that sets your nightly rate. Tier 1 exists to do that one job extremely well, on a fixed timeline, for a controlled number.

What does the Rental package include?

Everything a paying guest will see or touch, with nothing left for you to source: all furniture for every room, lighting, rugs, art on the walls, and plants. Then the layer most owners underestimate — the guest-ready essentials: bed linens, towels, a fully equipped kitchen, and the basics kit that separates a five-star review from a polite three.

On top of the physical goods, three deliverables that exist purely to make the property perform: professional listing photography taken the day styling finishes, a digital home inventory the property manager will thank you for, and thirty days of post-install support for the inevitable “the lamp in bedroom two flickers” messages.

The price is $18,000 to $22,000 USD per bedroom, all inclusive. Where a project lands in that band depends on the property — a compact casita with existing built-ins sits at the bottom; tall colonial rooms that demand larger furniture sit at the top. You get the exact number before you commit a peso.

How does the six-to-eight-week process work?

Week one: kickoff. You complete the questionnaire, we take a floor plan or visit the property, and you choose from our look book — three to four signature styles, each pre-sourced and pre-costed. This is the decision that makes the whole timeline possible.

Weeks one to two: confirmation. We present the selected look applied to your actual property: what goes in each room, what it costs, what it will photograph like. One revision round is included, per contract. You sign off, and the machine starts.

Weeks two to six: procurement. We purchase, receive, inspect, and store every item. You do nothing except open WhatsApp once a week for the photo update.

Weeks six to eight: install and styling. The full installation takes two to four days. We don’t hand over a furnished house — we hand over a styled one: beds made, kitchen stocked, art hung, plants placed.

Handover. A walkthrough in person or a video reveal if you are abroad, keys, the photography, and the inventory list.

Why do rentals get their own tier?

Because the economics are different. A home you live in should be exactly you; a rental should be exactly what books. Those are different design problems, and pretending otherwise wastes money in both directions.

The look book approach is the heart of it. Each signature look has been sourced, priced, installed, and photographed before — we know what the sofa costs, how long the workshop takes, and how the room reads on a phone screen. That is what lets us promise six to eight weeks and a price band instead of “it depends.” Custom requests are wonderful, and they belong in Tier 2, where the timeline and budget make room for them.

What is the return on professional furnishing?

The honest frame: furnishing quality shows up in three numbers — nightly rate, occupancy, and review scores, which feed the first two. A designed property with professional photography does not compete on price with the sea of beige listings; it competes on desirability, which is a much better market to be in.

Run your own math before committing: take your realistic nightly rate at the occupancy your property manager projects, and compare the annual difference between “furnished from a warehouse sale” and “designed and photographed.” For most San Miguel properties in decent locations, the furnishing investment is recovered in rate premium within a horizon that makes sense for an owner planning to hold. We will happily walk that math with you during a consultation using your actual property.

What do you need from the owner?

Almost nothing, by design. One look-book selection, one sign-off on the presentation, one revision round if you want changes, and payments on the standard schedule: 50% at booking, 40% at design approval when orders release, 10% at reveal. Every payment is in USD by wire.

If you are abroad the entire time, that is normal. The weekly WhatsApp update keeps you close, and the reveal video is usually the first time owners see their property finished. Several clients have told us that video is what convinced them the property was real again.

What happens after handover?

The property lists. Because photography is part of the package, there is no gap between “furnished” and “earning” — your listing goes live with magazine-grade images the same week.

The inventory list goes to your property manager, who now knows exactly what is in the house, down to the count of forks. For thirty days after install we handle replacements and adjustments — a wobbly chair, a rug that wants swapping between rooms. After that, the property is a machine that runs.

When a guest breaks something in year two, the inventory list tells your manager exactly what to reorder. And when you eventually decide to stop renting and move in yourself — it happens more often than you would think — Tier 2 picks up where Tier 1 left off.

Is Tier 1 right for your property?

It is if: you own (or are closing on) a property intended to rent, you want it earning within two months, and you want one number and one accountable party instead of forty vendor relationships.

It is not if: the property needs renovation first — walls, plumbing, roofs — in which case Project Shepherding comes before furniture. And if the property is your own home rather than a rental, the look book will feel too impersonal; that is what Tier 2 is for.

The first step is the same either way: a two-hour consultation at the property, $400, credited toward the package. You leave with a number, a timeline, and a plan — whether or not you use us to execute it.