When potential buyers walk into your home, they should picture their family living in that house, not yours. They don't need to see your family photos or be able to tell your political or religious views as they walk through the house.

"There should be a sense of neutrality in the house," Saatchi says. "You want to depersonalize the house. Remove personal photos (and) religious, political and racy art. And if your husband has a picture of a naked girl in his office, get rid of that, too."

It's a temporary effort, Da Silva says. Once you get a buyer to sign a contract to purchase your house, then you can put everything back where it belongs or simply pack and get ready to move out.