If you’re looking to sell one of your investment properties in the coming months, you’ll want to get the best possible price for your home. 

Increasingly, home staging plays a key role in getting homes sold, even more so in a Covid-19 world where virtual viewings are still being prioritised and some people are choosing to purchase sight unseen.  

Investors are now being given a helping hand with the UK’s first home staging book, launched by property professional Elaine Penhaul. 

An experienced home staging expert and director of Lemon and Lime Interiors, Penhaul recently published her first tome – ‘Sell High, Sell Fast - How to sell your home for the best possible price, in the quickest possible time’.  

The book, written with vendors in mind, aims to equip sellers with the skills and knowledge to get their homes ready for sale. The goal is to help them to understand their market, find their ideal buyer and demonstrate how to create a home that will sell quickly, using tried and tested home staging techniques.   

“This book explains what I have learned about the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of selling a home as quickly as possible for the maximum financial gain,” Penhaul says. “For most of us, selling a home represents far more than simply a bricks and mortar transaction.”  

Covering topics such as marketing property in the 21st century, the importance of presentation, home staging, decluttering, and decorating, the book offers ‘well-rounded insight’ into all the elements of a property sale.  

Additionally, the book includes Penhaul’s ‘expertise and knowledge gained since setting up Lemon & Lime Interiors in 2012’.    

“When writing ‘Sell High, Sell Fast’, I aimed to equip vendors with all the skills they need to get their properties ready for sale,” Penhaul added. “There is a common misconception that home staging and interior design are the same – when actually they are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Home stagers are only interested in creating market appeal for a property. In essence, it is a marketing tool and as such can be taught.”  

Penhaul says that, during 2018/19, the occupied properties that Lemon & Lime Interiors worked with sold on average four times faster after staging, ‘showing just how effective home staging can be’.   

She said home staging is essential for those wanting to sell their home quickly and for the asking price or more, with it being important to create an environment that can resonate with buyers and help them to envision the property as their home.  

“Buyers don’t want to be greeted by an empty, dormant space when attending a viewing or looking at pictures online – rather they want to see how the space can be lived in and utilised by occupants, should they wish to make the purchase,” Penhaul advises.  

“If you are selling, planning to sell, or just want a new way to think about how you live in your own home then this is the book for you.”   

The book launch follows the introduction of Lemon & Lime Interiors’ new app, Stageflow, which launched earlier this month.  

The app aims to offer estate agents, property developers and home stagers the ability to evidence the benefits and return on investment when using a home staging service.  

‘Sell High, Sell Fast’ is available to purchase here via Amazon. 

A special offer is also running this week, which will reduce the price of the book’s Kindle edition to 99p and offer each buyer a free video consultation – where they can receive interior design tips or find out how to prepare their home for sale. To access this offer, please visit Lemon and Lime’s website  here between 9–10 October 2020.