New Jersey Real Estate Closing Costs Statistics (2024 Survey)
A new RealEstateBees.com survey of over 1,000 active real estate professionals found average closing costs for sellers and buyers in New Jersey.
We reached out to over 1,000 active real estate professionals from New Jersey to collect their insight on the real estate closing costs across the state.
The results are part of the large-scale survey—Nationwide Real Estate Closing Costs Index—conducted by the Real Estate Bees, a leading online real estate platform.
What Is Included in Closing Costs for a Seller in New Jersey?
Costs included in seller’s closing costs most commonly across New Jersey.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a Seller in New Jersey When Selling with a Realtor?
The most common amounts of seller’s closing costs across the state of New Jersey in an agent-assisted sale.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a Seller in New Jersey When Selling 'by Owner'?
The most common amounts of seller’s closing costs across the state of New Jersey in a FSBO sale.
How to Reduce Closing Costs for a Seller in New Jersey?
The only fee that really can change by being negotiated is the New Jersey brokerage‘s fee. Realtors that can show their value tend to sell homes for a higher dollar amount, which justifies their fee.
Try to sell on your own, though statistics show that the sale price for FSBO is lower than with a Realtor.
The best way is to shop around for the services such as attorney fees, mortgage fees, inspection cost, etc.
Find a good realtor who will conduct a preliminary check-up to avoid getting hit with buyer inspection remediation costs.
The only way a seller could reduce their closing costs would be to sell FSBO, but statistically, they would be losing more money than they think they would be saving.
Can a Seller Avoid Paying Closing Costs in New Jersey?
The only portion of seller closing costs that could be avoided would be selling without the assistance of a New Jersey Realtor.
However, studies show that one of the benefits of using a Realtor is that they will net you more on the overall sales price of your home.
No. There will be costs that a seller will incur in our state. I guess there is a possibility that a buyer could offer to pay the seller’s cost, but I have never seen it.
He can attempt to negotiate with the buyer to handle all his/her expenses.
Yes, if the buyer agrees to pay them.
Yes. The buyer may opt to pay as incentive.
Depending on the circumstance, a short sale or similar type of transaction may allow for reduced closing costs.
Having equity on a home before a sale will ensure the seller has the appropriate funds to cover all closing costs. If not, the sale may qualify as a bank-negotiated short sale.
Then there is also a chance the property would become a short sale and then the mortgage holder would likely have to cover.
Negotiate a purchase price that gives the seller the money needed to handle the closing costs.
What Is Included in Closing Costs for a Buyer in New Jersey?
Costs included in buyer’s closing costs most commonly across the state of New Jersey.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a Buyer in New Jersey When Buying with a Realtor?
The most common amounts of buyer’s closing costs across the state of New Jersey in an agent-assisted sale.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a Buyer in New Jersey When Buying Without a Realtor?
The most common amounts of buyer’s closing costs across the state of New Jersey in a FSBO sale.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a Cash Buyer in New Jersey When Buying with a Realtor?
The most common amounts of closing costs paid by New Jersey cash home buyers in an agent-assisted sale.
What Are Average Closing Costs for a First-Time Buyer in New Jersey When Buying with a Realtor?
The most common amounts of a first-time home buyer’s closing costs across the state of New Jersey in an agent-assisted sale.
How to Reduce Closing Costs for a Buyer in New Jersey?
Negotiate with the seller to handle some of those expenses.
They can also reduce their closing costs by paying cash and taking more risk by waiving New Jersey home inspector fees, New Jersey property appraiser fees, etc.
The only way to reduce costs for a buyer would be to find a seller willing to pay for some of their closing costs.
In our area of NJ and the country, it’s still a seller’s market, so this approach would be highly unlikely.
The seller could assist with closing costs.
Essentially, this means the closing costs could be rolled into the mortgage, thereby rolling out payments over length of mortgage vs cash upfront, which creates short-term savings.
How to Negotiate Closing Costs With a Seller in New Jersey?
Know your market and how business is practiced there.
In a seller’s market, seller concessions are rare. If you can offer above asking price, contingent on the home appraising for agreed upon value, the seller may consider if their net sales proceeds are the same.
Motivation is the key factor on both sides of the transaction.
You can ask the seller to pay some of the closing costs but in the current market conditions, sellers are getting multiple offers, so there is no incentive for them to do this.
When a property only has one offer, there is often an opportunity for the seller to help with some of the closing costs, if asked, and especially if necessary, to ensure there will be a closing.
Request a credit that the buyer can use towards closing costs.
Can a Buyer Avoid Paying Closing Costs in New Jersey?
This would be difficult but if it is a cash deal, the cash home buyer can request a credit that would handle most of the other closing expenses.
There is no way to avoid closing costs, unless the seller is willing to cover them.
No. Some loan programs require the buyer to pay some closing costs.
With seller concessions, it is a possibility.
Are There Closing Costs Assistance Programs Available for Buyers in New Jersey?
There are some New Jersey lenders offering assistance for buyers, for first-time buyers, and for buyers buying in enterprise zones.
There are grant programs that will help with down payment and/or closing costs assistance.
At this time, there may be a few first-time buyer grants from the State.
Who Pays Closing Costs in a Conventional Sale in New Jersey?
Who Pays Closing Costs in a Cash Sale in New Jersey?
Are Closing Costs Negotiable in New Jersey?
What Are the Available Ways to Pay Closing Costs in New Jersey?
Why Are Closing Costs So High in New Jersey?
There are a lot of moving pieces in a real estate transaction. All the pieces come with a cost associated with it.
In our state, a buyer or seller can choose to use an attorney or a New Jersey title company to handle their closing. They risk not having the right legal advice without the services of a New Jersey real estate attorney.
Closing costs for a cash transaction will be a little less. Closing costs will normally be about 3-4% of the sale price.
Depending on when you close, property tax escrow can be a very large portion of closing costs.
In NJ, taxes are paid quarterly, on the 1st of the middle month. That said some banks may require up to 3 months of property tax escrow.
If there is an HOA, 3 months is also typically escrowed.
Taxes are generally high in my area of NJ. Taxes are usually the biggest expense for a buyer because you can be paying for multiple months at closing.
Generally, taxes in escrow drive up the closing costs, particularly in NJ which is noted for high residential taxes in comparison to many states.
Housing prices are on the rise and the bank does not give the middle-class assistance at all.
Mostly because the median sale price in New Jersey is higher than other states.
Who Pays Closing Costs in a Divorce in New Jersey?
Generally speaking, if the parties are dividing the proceeds from the sale of real estate as part of their equitable distribution, the closing costs will be shared equally between the couple who is divorcing.
However, like marriages, no two divorces are exactly the same, so there may exist facts in a particular case that can lead to a different result.
For example, if the parties to a divorce are not splitting the proceeds equally because maybe one party contributed premarital monies to the purchase or owned the property prior to the marriage, then it may be fair to split the closing costs commensurate with how the equity is being shared.
Also, in a scenario where one party is buying out the others’ equity from the home, the closing costs are not factored into the amount of the buyout, so in that scenario, the person who is receiving the buyout is not paying the closing costs as part of that transaction.
Understanding the facts and how they interplay with the law in divorce really matters, especially when it comes to real estate.
Generally what happens when a house is sold as part of divorce is that all debts and costs related to the home, which can include closing costs, are completely paid off.
The leftover proceeds are then equitably distributed between the spouses. In some cases, a decision might be made for one spouse to shoulder the closing costs on their own.
This might happen if one spouse really wants to sell, but the other does not. As a point of negotiation, getting a little bit more from the sale could win over a reluctant spouse to get moving on the sale.
What Are the Transfer Taxes in Closing Costs in New Jersey?
The realty transfer fee (RTF) is not charged as a flat percentage but rather, is calculated according to a tiered schedule based on sales price.
For a breakdown of how the fee is calculated, I recommend visiting the state’s treasury site for more information: https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/lpt/rtffaqs.shtml.
You can also speak to your attorney or title company for more details.
Who Pays Transfer Taxes in Closing Costs in New Jersey?
In New Jersey, the realty transfer fee is paid at closing and is the responsibility of the seller.
For properties selling for $1M or higher, a 1% fee is paid at closing by the buyer.
This fee, commonly known as the “mansion tax”, is based on the total sales price.
For properties with listing prices near this threshold, there is frequently downward pressure on the sale price as buyers seek to avoid the additional expense.
Transfer tax is paid by the seller upon deed transfer recording (at closing). For properties over $1,000,000, the buyer pays an additional 1% transfer fee.