Selling a Home in Fredericton

Most pages about selling a home are written to talk you into hiring someone. This one is written to tell you what it actually costs, what you get, and when you might not need me at all.

Do you need a REALTOR® to sell a house in Fredericton?

Not always. If you already have a buyer, or your home is recent, tidy and clearly priced in a neighbourhood people already want, you can sell privately with a real estate lawyer and do perfectly well. A REALTOR® earns the fee on the harder sales — older builds, rural lots, septic systems, prices that are genuinely arguable, and offers that arrive with conditions you have not seen before.

The honest test is which of those two your home is, and it is worth asking before anyone else does. On a home with something to explain, the gap between the price you hoped for and the price you get is usually larger than the commission. If you decide to go it alone, the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick publishes a plain guide to selling privately, and I would rather you read it than get talked into something.

If you want the fuller version of that argument, I wrote one: why work with a REALTOR® goes through what the fee actually buys, and where it does not earn itself.

How much does it cost to sell a house in Fredericton?

My listing fee is 2.5% of the sale price, and I recommend offering 2.5% to the brokerage that brings the buyer — 5% in total, plus New Brunswick’s 15% HST, which is 5.75% all in. On a $400,000 sale that is $23,000. Commission is always negotiable and is set by each brokerage, not by any board. Your lawyer’s fee, any mortgage prepayment penalty and your moving costs are on top of that. New Brunswick’s 1% land transfer tax is normally the buyer’s cost, not the seller’s.

Here it is in public, line by line, which almost nobody in this market does.

• I charge 2.5% to list and sell your property.
• I strongly recommend offering 2.5% to the brokerage that brings the buyer. That part is your decision, not mine — but a listing that offers less than the going rate gets shown less, and you feel that in the number at the end.
• Together that is 5%, plus HST. New Brunswick's HST is 15%, so the all-in cost is 5.75% of the sale price.

On a $400,000 sale that works out to:

• My side: $10,000 + $1,500 HST = $11,500
• Buyer's brokerage: $10,000 + $1,500 HST = $11,500
• Total: $23,000

No surprises at the closing table. If someone quotes you a percentage without saying whether it is one side or both, ask. The costs that are not commission, and that people forget:

• Your lawyer. Discharging the mortgage, preparing the deed, handling the closing.
• Mortgage prepayment penalty. FCNB is blunt about this one: read your mortgage agreement before you list. Breaking a fixed term early can cost thousands, and it is far better to know in August than to find out in November.
• Moving, and the overlap. If your purchase and sale do not close the same day, you are carrying two places for a while.
• Land transfer tax is not yours. New Brunswick's 1% transfer tax is normally the buyer's cost, not the seller's.

What does the listing commission actually pay for?

Every listing I take includes professional photography, a Matterport 3D tour, cinematic video, drone work where the lot matters, floor plans, and MLS® copy I write myself — as standard, not as a paid upgrade.

A sign on the lawn and an MLS® entry is not a marketing plan. How I market your home sets out each piece, why it is there, and the things I will not do — and you can check the standard yourself on a live listing before you ever call me.

How should you price a home in Fredericton?

Price it where the comparable sales actually are, not above them. Every serious buyer working with an agent in Greater Fredericton sees a new listing inside the first two weeks, and that is the only fresh audience the home ever gets. Homes that sell below their real value usually got there by starting above it.

Price it high “to leave room” and the people who would have paid the most never come, the listing goes stale, and the reductions that follow tell everyone watching that something is wrong with it. I go through this properly before we list. Here is how I work out what a Fredericton home is worth, and why your Service New Brunswick assessment is not the answer.

What should you fix before selling your house?

Usually less than people expect. Paint, light, decluttering, and the small deferred repairs a buyer reads as evidence the house has been looked after — the door that sticks, the tap that drips. Big-ticket items such as a roof near the end of its life are a calculation rather than an automatic spend: sometimes it costs less to price for it than to replace it.

I spent years in residential construction before I sold real estate, and it changes what I notice walking through your home. Buyers cannot assess a furnace, so they use the things they can assess as a proxy for everything they cannot. When it is bigger — a roof with two years left is a real negotiating point for every buyer who walks in — I will do the replace-it-versus-price-for-it calculation with you rather than reflexively telling you to spend money. And sometimes the answer is: do nothing, we list it Thursday.

What are the steps to selling a house in New Brunswick?

Seven: evaluation, preparing the home, marketing, going live on MLS®, offers, conditions, and closing. The median Fredericton home took 33 days to sell in August 2026; the closing date after that is whatever you and the buyer agree to in the offer.

1. Evaluation. I come through, look at the house properly, and give you a range with the comparable sales behind it.
2. Plan and prepare. What to do, what to skip, and when to list.
3. Marketing. Photography, Matterport, drone, video, copy that is written rather than generated.
4. Live on MLS®. Showings, feedback, and honest reporting of what buyers are actually saying.
5. Offers. Every offer carries a price, an expiry, conditions and a deposit. FCNB is clear that if you do not respond before the expiry, the buyer is no longer bound by it. We go through all of it together before you sign anything.
6. Conditions. Financing, inspection, sometimes water tests or a septic inspection. This is where deals wobble and where having someone who understands buildings is worth having.
7. Closing. Lawyers do their part, keys change hands.

Is now a good time to sell a house in Fredericton?

Yes, with one caveat. In August 2026 the Fredericton benchmark price was $364,200, up 5.8% on the year, and the sale-to-list ratio held at 98.7%. But inventory rose to 3.4 months and the median home took 33 days to sell against 25 a year earlier. Buyers have choice again and they negotiate, so the price you set in week one matters more than it did last spring.

The Fredericton market update has the full figures for all 33 sub-areas the board reports, and is rebuilt every month.

A client on what the marketing actually looked like

Rob is an amazing realtor! He sold our minihome and helped us find our new home. He basically does the job of a home inspector and realtor when viewing properties, and is very knowledgeable with potential issues and how to fix it. He takes the time to answer all questions and help figure out if a home is right for you. He also goes above and beyond with his sales, whether big or small. Including in the realtor fee comes the pictures, video, 3D Matterport, etc. During our open house, he had brochures and everything. He makes your house stand out. We cannot recommend him enough, and we would without a doubt use him again (but hopefully not because we don’t plan on moving 😂)

Nathalie C. — Google review, August 2026

More client reviews, reproduced word for word.

Before you list, two things worth reading

Start with what your home is actually worth. My home evaluation page explains why your Service New Brunswick assessment is not your market value, and why the online estimators struggle in a market like this one. Then look at your own area. The Fredericton neighbourhoods page carries the benchmark price for all 33 sub-areas the board reports. Two of them have barely moved this year while the region is up 5.9% — if yours is one of them, that changes how you price. If you are buying as well as selling, buying a home in Fredericton covers what the purchase side actually costs. Before you set a price, read the Fredericton market update — it is rebuilt every month and it is where you will see what the sale-to-list ratio and days on market are actually doing. Shorter questions are answered on the Fredericton real estate FAQ.

If this is the family home and the next move is something smaller, downsizing in Fredericton covers where people actually go, what to check in a one-level house, and the deferred property tax that settles the day you sell.

Get a straight answer about your home

No fee, no obligation, and no pressure to list. Call or text (506) 261-7373, email info@hamelrealty.com, or send a message below. I sell across Fredericton, Oromocto, Hanwell, New Maryland, Lincoln, Kingsclear, Douglas, Burton, Rusagonis and the surrounding rural communities.