It appears that there is a significant premium for houses new to the market. Thus it makes good sense to have the house ready to show the day it is opened, and not wait a few weeks. The people we bought our house from put the house on the market and then decided to renovate it, so when we saw it it had been on the market for months. We got a very good deal thanks to this.
Most people who are shopping for a house have zero imagination. When my SO and I look at a house, we’re looking at the basics of it. Is the foundation stable? Are the walls cracked? Are there signs of water damage? How does the flow of the house work? Can we move walls and make it what we want?
But for an astounding number of people, it’s all about the surface impressions. I don’t like the paint, I like that sofa, the lights are too dim. The last time we sold a house, the buyers asked to have the $35 fireplace set as part of the deal. So for these people, you don’t want to turn them off of a house, because they don’t like the pattern on your plates, or the location of the laundry hamper.
Generally, the kids and pets aren’t sold with the house. You’d probably have to lower the asking price.
That is why we refer to a couple of our favorite shows as Entitlement Whores US Edition and Entitlement Whores International.
They would pop a blood vessel if we showed them our little 800 sq foot 2 bedroom hovel on its best day. Our entire kitchen is 10 feet x 10 feet.
In my area the interesting thing nobody’s talking about are people selling their houses because they can no longer afford to maintain them. I’m one of those people. The house is 80+ years old, newer roof/windows/heating, but it hasn’t had a remodeling since I was in high school simply because my parents, and now myself, can’t afford it.
We needed to move last year/the year before. We can’t because nobody will buy my house in its current condition unless someone buys it for a teardown/build up.
My BIL is in the same boat. His house has been on the market more than a year with four price drops. No nibbles.
There are a lot like us around here. Pick up any RE guide or even look on Realtor.com.
It makes me wonder what will happen, say, within the next 5-10 or 20 years.
Selling a House with Kids Pets
That can be read two ways. The second may not be a bad idea.
Beat me to it! 
We rented the house next door and had ours professionally cleaned. This was after six months of keeping it as clean as possible with people and pets and getting no real offers. It took another couple months, but it moved.
Emphasizing the kids’ crap stuff. My parents are househunting (and I often tag along) and are very savvy/wise. They’ve been the only repeat visitors to houses that are cluttered because they can see beyond it and know they can get a steal because they’re the only ones who really can see beyond the clutter. Oh, and they’ve sold their houses within the first 48 hours (everything form the homes we lived in to rental properties) because they do the exact opposite.
Get a home stager; they should only be a couple hundred bucks. They’ll tell you what needs to go and how to put little touches on the whole place to really draw people in.
If you have carpets, get 'em cleaned and start making people take their shoes off at the door. Invest in some good water hog mats. Have shoe coverings at the door for those who see the house - people love that shit, it screams “I take better care of my house than you do, therefore this house is aspirational for you. It will make you a better person to live here”.
Paint if it’s been more than a few years.
How’s your attic? Your basement? Like others have said, move that shit out.
This, times a hundred million.
Also amazing information here. You would ah-mazed at people. “Oh, it’s just a trickle of water!” Uh, yeah, during a thunderstorm it becomes a FLOOD. “Just a little mold”…
Realtor[sup]TM[/sup] here.
I advise you to put it on the market right away. This thread has a lot of very good advice that I don’t need to repeat. But if a quick sale is needed, you need to price it much lower than you probably think it is worth. Right now buyers are not paying premiums even for luxury houses, and they aren’t even writing offers at “reasonable” values. They are only buying bargains.
Of course, you could get lucky. Good luck. 
I always thought it was REALTOR[sup]TM[/sup].
You mean all upper case? Probably, but I march[sup]*[/sup] to a Different Drummer.[sup]TM[/sup]
- more like boogie than march