Preparing Your Home For Sale in Fredericton

Despite the complications the Fredericton real estate market has experienced from COVID-19, our city is currently experiencing an intense seller’s market. The Fredericton real estate market hasn’t seen such low inventory levels and high buyer demand in decades. Properly preparing your home for sale during such a competitive time will help drive demand and achieve a multiple-offer situation, thus, a higher selling price. The combination of impressionable presentation and strategic pricing can result in preferred outcomes for sellers. 

Here is how to prepare your home for the Fredericton real estate market in 2024:

1. Presentation
2. Pricing
3. Safety Precautions

Presentation

The presentation of your home is just as important as properly pricing your home when preparing your home for sale in 2024. Because we’re in a seller’s market, a lot of eager home sellers prefer to put their house on the market as is and see how it reacts. Although this strategy can work, you can potentially lose a lot of money on your home doing this. A tip for sellers is to think of your home as a product for sale. Taking the time to effectively display your home will help it stand out and compete amongst the rest of the homes on the market. 

• Start with decluttering, depersonalizing and deep cleaning your home. Showcasing a sparkling clean and impersonal environment will help buyers visualize how their belongings will look in the home.
  
• Cosmetics touch-ups are the smallest expense with the largest return on investment. A fresh coat of paint and new light fixtures, bedding, throw pillows and curtains are all small touch-ups that can make the biggest difference. Opt for neutral paint colours and simple bedding and decor. If you’re looking for help with staging your home, The Right Choice Realty offers professional services to help you impressively present your home.
  
• Minor and functional repairs are important, though the cosmetic touch-ups mentioned above can help them feel less drastic. Sellers will benefit from doing minor repairs such as fixing leaky faucets or changing burnt-out light bulbs before putting your home on the market. Although having all repairs fixed is ideal, in many cases, functional repairs such as a new roof or new appliances can be negotiated in the selling agreement.
  
• Curb appeal can truly make or break a sale. Oftentimes, home buyers are immediately turned off by a home if the exterior doesn’t offer any curb appeal. Having modern and visible house numbers, a paved driveway, green grass and well-kept hedges can make a world of difference here.
  
• Photography is another important piece of the puzzle here. It has certainly proven to play a significant role in selling homes throughout the pandemic. Having professional photos of your home taken is highly recommended. For this, The Right Choice Realty uses a combination of photography, drone footage and 3D Matterport camera footage for all of our clients. Having an online gallery of high-quality photos of your home allows for interested buyers to get an in-depth look at your home without having to physically tour it. The use of cutting-edge technology and photography has proven to be extremely powerful in the current sellers’ market Fredericton is experiencing.

Pricing 

Deciding on the price of your home is challenging for many people. It can be hard for sellers to take emotions out of this decision as your home can hold such sentimental value. That said, it’s crucial to strategically price your home in a competitive seller’s market. If your asking price is initially too high, sellers often end up chasing buyers, rather than the alternative. Asking a fair price for your home in a seller’s market will typically result in multiple-offer situations. With this, sellers typically receive higher than their asking price due to bidding wars between buyers. This is why strategic pricing is so important!

An effective way to decide on a strategic price for your home is to compare it with other homes for sale in the neighbourhood. Comparing the location, size and condition of your home with others will help you nail down a price range. With this information, you can add or subtract a dollar amount depending on potential repairs or unique characteristics your home has to offer. 

Safety Precautions

Given the severity of COVID-19, the Fredericton real estate market has experienced several additional safety precautions. To name a few, sellers must sign a “COVID-19 Sellers Form” stating they allow people to enter and view their home, given they’ve answered and passed several screen questions. Additionally, everyone going in and out of the house must be documented. 

Home vendors must provide a safe space that has been thoroughly cleaned before viewings. Vendors are encouraged to leave sanitizer and face masks for potential buyers to use while touring. Homes must also be sanitized between each viewing. Ensuring the safety of both buyers and sellers is a critical part of the real estate market we are experiencing in 2024.

Investing time into preparing your home for sale has proven to be beneficial for many sellers in the Fredericton real estate market. If your house shines and looks its best, it will drive the price up, which is exactly what we strive for in a sellers’ market. After all, your goal should be to try to make it easy for someone to spend several thousands of dollars. With proper presentation and strategic pricing, you make it easier for buyers to do so!

At The Right Choice Realty, we’re a team of passionate real estate agents in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with a focus on personalized service and local expertise. We’re here to help you achieve your buying or selling goals, whether you’re looking for a commercial or residential property. Our team is highly familiar with the different neighbourhoods in the area and can offer personalized recommendations you can trust.

We have a Client Care Manager to help with administrative tasks and an in-house photographer to capture high-quality images of properties. Our marketing specialist helps us understand and plan how to best market listings and make informed decisions for buyers, and we use innovative multimedia marketing tools such as Matterport 360 and a drone to showcase properties to their full potential.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Fredericton, don’t go it alone. Call The Right Choice Realty and see how we can help you reach your real estate goals. Contact us today to learn more.