Selling Your Home, Should Family Photos Stay or Go?

I am still on the fence on this one, and have been for a while now.  Which is typically not like me.  But, I have mixed feelings on this subject. 

When placing a home on the market, should the personal, family photos stay in the house or should they go before the house goes on the market? 

Maybe as a seller this thought has never entered your mind.  Put my family photos away to sell your own home...what do you mean?  Why? What's the big deal?  Well, it depends on who's looking at it (or should I say; looking at them).

When placing a home on the market a REALTOR's job is to make the home  appeal to as many buyers, as we can.  Today, many homes are professionally staged. Kudos to all of you professional stagers, you make our job so much easier!  Those that aren't staged are typically critiqued by the listing agent, prior to the sign going up.  The idea is to clear out as much "excess stuff" and to neutralize the furnishings in a way as to appeal to the broadest range of buyers that we can.  And many times the feeling is...if there are an excess number of personal, family photos, THEY MUST GO or at least the majority of them must go! I feel that it is fine to leave a couple of photos out.

During a showing, we ask that the seller not be home when a buyer is looking at the property.  We want the buyer to feel as warm and comfortable in the home as possible.  We want the buyer to "see and feel" himself living there.  If the seller is there, the buyer often feels uncomfortable being in someone else's place.  And, if the buyer walks through and it is "filled" with family photos, it can make it difficult for some to envision themselves living there.

In the past I have kindly asked a number of sellers to "thin out" some of the pictures in order to make the home more buyer friendly. I have received responses ranging from polite and agreeable to flaming red hot.  One seller told me in no uncertain terms would she remove any of her nearly 75 family photos. She said she would not even put the house on the market!  She was absolutely furious and wanted no explanations of why it was necessary.  I thought I would be escorted to the door!  She did not list the home for sale.

I have been in a number of homes that felt as if all eyes on the wall were staring at me.  In some cases, it  scared buyers off. So what is a seller to do? 

Should the personal photographs stay or go?  You tell me...