NJ Realty Transfer Fee and Closing Costs

The short version

New Jersey's Realty Transfer Fee is the seller's by law. On a $250,000 sale it's $1,325, and the state's own example puts it at $1,910 on a $325,000 sale.
Qualifying sellers who are 62 or older, blind or disabled pay a reduced rate. In the state's example, that's $475 on a $280,000 sale instead of $1,559.
Since July 10, 2025, a sale over $1 million also carries a seller-paid fee of 1% to 3.5% of the whole price. Buyers used to pay the old 1% fee.
Every one- or two-family sale needs a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm certificate, which no longer includes a fire extinguisher. Many towns add an inspection and a fee of their own.
If an agent writes your contract, each side's attorney gets three business days to review it and cancel.
Sell to us and there's no commission, and we pay all the closing costs. Anything you owe on the house, like a mortgage, is paid off from the sale.

How much is New Jersey's Realty Transfer Fee?

It depends on your price, and the state puts it on the seller. On a $250,000 sale, it's $1,325. The fee is figured on each $500 of the price, in brackets, and the brackets change once a sale goes over $350,000.

Regular rates per $500 of the price, from the NJ Division of Taxation. A sale over $350,000 uses the right-hand column for the whole price.
Part of the price	Sales of $350,000 or less	Sales over $350,000
Up to $150,000	$2.00	$2.90
$150,000 to $200,000	$3.35	$4.25
$200,000 to $350,000	$3.90	$4.80
$350,000 to $550,000		$4.80
$550,000 to $850,000		$5.30
$850,000 to $1,000,000		$5.80
Over $1,000,000		$6.05

Our math from the state's rate schedule; the $325,000 figure is the Division of Taxation's own example. Your title company or attorney figures the exact fee at closing.
Sale price	Regular fee	Reduced fee (qualifying sellers 62 or older, blind or disabled)
$150,000	$600	$150
$200,000	$935	$275
$250,000	$1,325	$400
$300,000	$1,715	$525
$325,000	$1,910	$587.50
$350,000	$2,105	$650
$400,000	$3,215	$1,495
$500,000	$4,175	$1,925

Watch the jump at $350,000. Go $500 over, and the whole price moves to the higher column: $2,105 at $350,000 becomes $2,739.80 at $350,500.

Some deeds owe nothing, like one between husband and wife or parent and child, or from an executor to an heir named in the will. But if the will says to sell the house and split the money, that sale isn't exempt. More in our guide to selling an inherited house in New Jersey.

Is the fee lower for seniors or people with disabilities?

Yes, a lot lower, if you qualify. New Jersey gives a partial exemption to qualifying sellers who are 62 or older, blind or disabled (and to low and moderate income housing). The state's own example: a qualifying senior selling for $280,000 pays $475. The regular fee would be $1,559.

The reduced rate is $0.50 per $500 on the first $150,000 and $1.25 per $500 from there to $350,000. Above that, a separate reduced table applies.
You claim it on Form RTF-1, the seller's Affidavit of Consideration. It has to be notarized and recorded with the deed.
It's a personal exemption. An estate or a trust can't use it, even if the person who died, or who set up the trust, was over 62.

What changed for sales over $1 million in July 2025?

If your house sells for more than $1 million, you now pay an extra fee of 1% to 3.5% of the whole price, on top of the regular transfer fee. Before July 10, 2025, buyers paid a flat 1% on these sales. A law that took effect that day (P.L. 2025, c.69) turned it into a Graduated Percent Fee and put it on the seller.

From the NJ Division of Taxation's July 2, 2025 memo. Its own example: $68,750 on a $2.75 million sale.
Sale price	Graduated Percent Fee
Over $1 million, up to $2 million	1% of the whole price
Over $2 million, up to $2.5 million	2%
Over $2.5 million, up to $3 million	2.5%
Over $3 million, up to $3.5 million	3%
Over $3.5 million	3.5%

So on a $1.2 million sale, the seller owes $12,000 plus the regular $11,995 fee, or $23,995 in all. If your contract says your buyer pays, the state calls that a private deal and says to ask your own attorney about it.

Who pays closing costs in New Jersey?

The transfer fee is the seller's by law. Most of the other costs get split however your contract says.

Seller costs at a glance in a regular New Jersey sale
Cost	Who pays	What to expect
Realty Transfer Fee	The seller, by law	$1,325 on a $250,000 sale
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm certificate	The owner, before a one- or two-family house is sold	Set by your town or the state
Town resale inspection, where required	The seller applies	Set by the town
Agent commission	Only if you list	Negotiable
Your attorney	Only if you hire one	Ask for the fee in writing up front
Settlement charges	Whatever your contract says	Get a written estimate before you sign
Mortgage, liens and unpaid taxes	Paid off from the sale	Debts you already owe, not costs of selling
Estimated NJ income tax	Sellers who live outside New Jersey	10.75% of the gain, at least 2% of the price

When you sell to us, it's simpler. There's no commission, and we pay all the closing costs. Anything you already owe against the house, like a mortgage, liens or unpaid taxes, is paid off for you at closing. If you live outside New Jersey, the state's estimated income tax payment is still yours, though you may get some or all of it back when you file.

What's attorney review, and do you need a lawyer?

If an agent writes your contract, your attorney and your buyer's attorney each get three business days to look it over and cancel it. It's part of a 1983 settlement, approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court, that lets agents write sales contracts.

The three days start when the signed contract is delivered to you, not to your agent.
An attorney who disapproves has to tell the other side and the agent in time. Since a 2017 Supreme Court ruling, that notice can go by fax, email, personal delivery, or overnight mail with proof of delivery.
If nobody disapproves in time, the contract becomes binding as written.
Once your attorney approves it, you can't back out, even inside the three days.

Whoever you sell to, you can have a New Jersey attorney read the contract before you sign, and that includes ours.

What certificates does your town need, and what do they cost?

Every one- or two-family house sold in New Jersey needs a fire safety certificate, and many towns add an inspection of their own. When you sell to us, the repairs on those lists become ours, not yours.

It comes from your local fire official and covers smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. The fee is set by your town, or by the state where it does the inspection.
A state law signed February 3, 2025 (P.L. 2025, c.19) took the fire extinguisher out of it.
The same law added a label rule: a house with solar panels, a generator, battery storage or another second power source needs a warning label within 18 inches of the main electric panel and meter.
If the house needs so much work that it'll need a new certificate of occupancy, the law lets it change hands without the smoke alarm certificate, as long as nobody moves in until the new certificate is issued. Ask your town's fire official whether your sale qualifies.

From each town's website, checked November 10, 2026. Fees change, so call your town's code office or fire official early.
Town	What it wants before a sale	Fees
Cherry Hill (Camden County)	A Certificate of Continued Occupancy for single-family resales: an outside check of sidewalks, driveway, fences, trees, drainage and sump pump discharge. Plus the fire department's smoke and CO certificate, requested 3 to 4 weeks before closing.	$100 for the outside inspection. Fire department: $100 if you ask 8 or more days before closing, $115 at 7 days, $162 at 3 days or less, and $30 off for sellers 62 and older.
Camden City (Camden County)	A Camden Resale Occupancy Certificate (C.R.O.C.) before any sale. The seller applies, but the certificate goes to whoever buys, and they face penalties of up to $2,000 if they close without one.	$200, plus a $64 fire safety fee. The application is good for 6 months.
Gloucester Township (Camden County)	No resale certificate from the construction office. You still need the smoke detector certification from your local fire district.	Set by your fire district

Runnemede and Barrington have their own checklists, which we cover on our Runnemede and Barrington pages. For other towns, see our Camden County, Burlington County and Gloucester County pages, or call your town's code office.

How much do agents charge in New Jersey?

Whatever you agree to, and nothing when you sell to us. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says agent pay is "fully negotiable and not set by law." Under rule changes that took effect August 17, 2024:

Offers to pay buyers' agents are no longer allowed on the MLS, the shared listing service agents use.
Agents who use an MLS need a written agreement with the home shoppers they work with before touring a home together.

A May 2025 Federal Reserve research note found buyer's agents averaged about 2.7%, and the old 6% total for both agents still held to some extent. On a $250,000 sale, each 1% is $2,500, so ask every agent what the fee covers and whether you'll be asked to pay your buyer's agent too.

Do you owe the "exit tax" if you're moving out of New Jersey?

It isn't a separate tax. It's an estimated payment toward your New Jersey income tax, taken at closing, and you may get some of it back.

Living in New Jersey when you sell? You sign Form GIT/REP-3 and settle up at tax time.
If you move out on or after the closing day, the state counts you as a nonresident.
Unless an exemption applies, nonresidents pay 10.75% of the gain, but never less than 2% of the price, even with no gain.
If the house was your main home and the federal home sale rule excludes the whole gain, you're exempt from the payment. If only part of the gain is excluded, you're not.
Overpaid? You can ask for it back, or credit it forward, when you file a New Jersey nonresident return.

The federal rule lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain on your main home, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you qualify. More in our guide to selling from out of state.

How do New Jersey's costs compare with Philadelphia's?

The transfer cost is far lower on this side of the river. We buy on both sides, so here's a South Jersey seller's transfer fee next to a Philadelphia seller's usual half of the transfer tax:

NJ figured from the Division of Taxation's rate schedule. Philadelphia at 4.578% (3.578% City plus 1% state), split evenly by custom.
Sale price	NJ Realty Transfer Fee (seller)	Philadelphia seller's usual half	Difference
$150,000	$600	$3,433.50	$2,833.50
$250,000	$1,325	$5,722.50	$4,397.50
$350,000	$2,105	$8,011.50	$5,906.50

One difference cuts the other way: in Philadelphia, the even split is only a custom, and the City can collect the whole tax from either side. In New Jersey, the fee is the seller's by law. Our Philadelphia cost guide has the Pennsylvania side.

What would you walk away with? An example

Take a made-up $250,000 listing in Cherry Hill with a $120,000 mortgage:

Example only, with made-up numbers. Your own figures will differ.
Line	Amount
Sale price	$250,000
Minus the commission (example: 5%; yours is negotiable)	$12,500
Minus the Realty Transfer Fee	$1,325
Minus Cherry Hill's outside inspection and the fire department's certificate, asked for 8 or more days ahead	$200
Minus the mortgage payoff (example)	$120,000
Minus your attorney, settlement charges, and any repairs or credits your buyer asks for	Get written estimates
You walk away with, before those last items	$115,975

Sell to us, and there's no commission and no repairs or credits to haggle over. Your mortgage is still paid off at closing. Our price will be less than a fixed-up house would list for, because we take on the repairs and the risk, so compare what each road leaves you, not just the prices. Our offer math page and selling to us vs listing comparison show the numbers side by side.

Selling a rental or an apartment building?

At Vivid Properties, we buy rentals with the tenants in place, Section 8 tenants and tenants behind on rent included, and we take over the leases. One rental, a whole portfolio, or apartment buildings with 5 or more units. See selling your rental properties and selling a house with tenants.

One note for big buildings: the state's list of property types that owe the 2025 fee over $1 million leaves out apartment buildings, other than co-op units. If yours could sell for more than $1 million, ask your title company how it's classified.

How can Vivid help?

We're a local, family-owned real estate investment company, and we buy houses as-is all over South Jersey. You'll usually have our written offer within 24 hours, it shows exactly what you'll walk away with, and you pick the closing day. If listing your house would put more money in your pocket, we'll tell you. No pressure either way.

Old oil tank? See selling a house with an oil tank. Behind on payments? See foreclosure in New Jersey or selling with liens or back taxes.

Get my cash offer Text or call (267) 551-5554

Questions about New Jersey selling costs

Who pays the realty transfer fee in NJ?

The seller. New Jersey law puts the Realty Transfer Fee, and the extra fee on sales over $1 million, on the seller. On a $250,000 sale, the regular fee is $1,325.

Is there a senior discount on the NJ transfer fee?

Yes, for qualifying sellers who are 62 or older, blind or disabled. In the state's example, a qualifying senior selling for $280,000 pays $475. An estate or trust can't use it.

Do sellers pay the NJ mansion tax now?

Yes. For deeds sent for recording on or after July 10, 2025, the old 1% buyer's fee on sales over $1 million became the seller's Graduated Percent Fee: 1% to 3.5% of the whole price, on top of the regular transfer fee.

How long is attorney review in NJ?

Three business days, for contracts a real estate agent writes. They start when the signed contract is delivered to you. If neither side's attorney disapproves in time, the contract becomes binding.

Do I need a certificate of occupancy to sell my house in NJ?

It depends on your town. Cherry Hill and Camden City want one; Gloucester Township's construction office doesn't. Every one- or two-family sale still needs the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm certificate.

Do I pay closing costs if I sell my house to Vivid?

No. We pay all the closing costs, and there's no commission. Anything you owe on the house, like a mortgage, liens or unpaid taxes, is paid off from the sale at closing.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, talk to a New Jersey attorney or tax professional.

What Does It Cost to Sell a House in New Jersey?