Fruit cake is a great smell - easiest way is to get some fruit mince pies, wack them in the oven on low to warm - or the Body Shop has christmas scent that smells divine in an oil burner.

When decluttering, think "do I want to keep this" and then put everything else into either "salvos" or "bin" pile. Start with your knick-knacks - a few photos is OK, but your collection of 500 cats is a bit much for anyone to see past. They say you want the buyer to have an idea of how they could use the space and be able to imagine their own stuff there.

When moving, I generally pack everything bar what I'm using. If you have a clothes dryer, then you only need one set of towels, sheets etc and then you can pack the rest up. Books - use smaller boxes cause they get really heavy. Baking stuff - the bare minimum - a cake pan, slice tin and cookie sheets are all you need. Everything else can get packed up. Same as tupperware - if you're like me and have drawers full of the stuff, pack up half so the drawers look like there's plenty of room for storage. Plates etc, one set / person and a couple of spares is enough.

With the cats, when there are buyers coming round, move the litter out of the house and cover it up - if possible put the cats into a cattery / parents / outdoor cage while you're having open house days (it will be less stress for them!). Also you don't want anyone who has a cat hate to be turned off your house for that very silly reason!

The kids might be too young yet for school, but put some stuff around that shows the area facilities - a church pamphlett with the school etc, any community events coming up, have information on public transport available.

Good luck!!!!