If you're listing with a real estate agent, you will likely be asked to leave when the house is shown. I know that "there's no place like home" but, even if your agent doesn't suggest it, you should make sure you are not home.

Take "Spot" and the kids for a walk or a drive while the buyers look. Lurking sellers make buyers very nervous--they don't feel comfortable inspecting the house when they feel they are intruding.

The nervous feeling does not make the buyers feel the comfort and ease that they need to get emotionally attached to your home. Buying a home is more of an emotional decision than it is financial, so you want buyers to feel comfortable.

Unless there's a real reason for it, don't ask your agent to be present for all showings. That's the kiss of death for showing activity. Other agents want privacy with their buyers and they don't usually have time to work around your agent's schedule. Buyers often have restricted schedules to look at homes, and you want your home to be available when they want to look.

Which brings us to the next point, make the house accessible. That means it's always ready to show. I cannot stress this enough! Many agents won't bother showing a house that takes jumping through hoops to get an appointment. As I said before, buyers buy on emotion, when the mood is right and they are hot on a property, don't scare them away by not letting them come through when it's convenient. There was a seller I once came across that only wanted to show their home from 6-7 pm on Wednesday evenings. You don't need to guess that they did not sell their home, and if they did they would not get as much as they would have, had they been more accommodating. Many buyers said "forget it" because of work or other obligations that they had during that time.