People sell their houses for different reasons.  They may have to relocate because of employment or the military.  They may be considering a larger house or a smaller one, because their family needs have changed.  A more prevalent reason lately has been because of economic hardship, maybe caused by unemployment.  What ever the reason, there is usually emotion attached to making the decision and throughout the process.  The reason that a person is selling maybe involuntary and so there may be anguish about a move.  Even if the move is voluntary, there is often an emotional attachment to the house because of family events that occurred while you resided there or maybe you  personalized the house and put a lot of yourself in it.  Either way, it is a huge, important decision and you have to be very careful that the decisions that you are making are not based off of emotion.  One of the largest stumbling blocks for most sellers to get past is their impression of what their house is worth and what it is really worth in the market today.  Having the right real estate advisor guiding you through this process is extremely important.  The advisor can give you an impartial, informed comparative analysis of your home.  They will pull statistics of comparable houses that have sold recently and show you how your house compares.
The real estate advisor can give you unbiased advise on how to present your house.  Yes, maybe your favorite color is hot pink and you are really happy that your living room and your dining room reflect your personality, but $100 of paint may be the difference in whether you home sells or not.  Remember, the final decisions on any aspects of selling your home are entirely up to you, but do consider getting professional advice from a trained realtor to help you get the most out of the transaction.