How to Sell a House in South Jersey

We checked every fee, deadline and rule here against New Jersey law and the state, county and town websites on November 10, 2026. Selling on the other side of the river? See our guide to selling in Philadelphia and the PA suburbs.

What are your options for selling a house in South Jersey?

You've got five: list it fixed up, list it as-is, sell it yourself, rent it out, or sell it to us. At Vivid Properties, we buy houses as-is all over Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties. But if your house is in good shape and you have time, listing often brings more, and we'll tell you when it does.

Want the money side? Our cash sale vs listing comparison lines up each way to sell, and what each one leaves you.

What are the steps to sell a house in New Jersey?

Most South Jersey sales go through the same nine steps, whoever buys. The New Jersey parts are the state's disclosure form, your town's resale certificate, the fire official's alarm check, attorney review when an agent writes the contract, and the state tax form that goes with the deed at closing.

1. Get real numbers. Ask two agents for a price opinion and their fee, get our written offer if you might sell as-is, and ask your lender for a payoff figure.
2. Pull your papers together. Your deed, tax bill, mortgage statement, permits for past work, oil tank papers, and leases and deposit records for a rental. If the owner has died, the county Surrogate's papers come first.
3. Fill out the disclosure form. Your buyer signs that they got it before signing a contract.
4. Call your town. Ask what a resale needs. Burlington City wants your application 30 business days before closing, so call early.
5. Sign a contract and get through attorney review. If an agent wrote it, each side's attorney has three business days to cancel. After that, it's binding.
6. Let your buyer do their checks. A home inspection, and if your buyer is borrowing, the lender's appraisal and loan approval. A house built before 1978 comes with a 10-day lead paint inspection window unless your buyer waives it.
7. Clear the title. A title company or attorney checks for liens, orders your payoff and collects estate or tax papers, like an inheritance tax waiver.
8. Finish the certificates. Time them to closing, since many expire. Cherry Hill's alarm certificate lasts 90 days; Willingboro's certificate of occupancy lasts 30.
9. Close. You sign the deed and a GIT/REP form, the state income tax form every seller signs. Your mortgage and any liens are paid off, the deed is recorded with the county, and the rest of the money is yours.

How long does it take to sell a house in New Jersey?

Nobody keeps an official count, but a listed house runs on three clocks: weeks on the market, the time your buyer needs to get a mortgage and close, and your town's paperwork. When you sell to us, there's no market time and no mortgage to wait on, and you pick the closing day.

Our cash sale vs listing page shows the latest median days on market for each South Jersey county. The paperwork clock is the one you can plan, and it runs backward from closing day:

Do you need a lawyer to sell a house in New Jersey?

It's smart to have one read your contract. If an agent writes it, your lawyer and your buyer's lawyer each get three business days to review it and cancel. Whoever you sell to, us included, you're welcome to have a New Jersey attorney look over the contract before you sign.

The three days come from a 1983 settlement, approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court, that lets agents write sales contracts on a standard form with an attorney review clause. In a 2017 case, Conley v. Guerrero, the Court said an attorney can send a notice of disapproval by fax, email, personal delivery or overnight mail with proof of delivery, still within three business days. If nobody disapproves in time, the contract stands.

Selling without an agent? That clause comes with the agents' forms, so your contract may have no review period at all. Have your own attorney write or read it. Our New Jersey cost guide covers when the three days start.

What do you have to tell your buyer in New Jersey?

Everything you know is wrong with the house, and selling as-is doesn't change that. The state's disclosure form opens by reminding sellers they have to disclose known material defects, even ones the form doesn't ask about. And every seller has to answer New Jersey's flood questions before your buyer is bound by the contract.

• The form. The Seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement, posted by the New Jersey Attorney General's office, runs past 100 questions: the roof, basement, plumbing, septic, heating, electrical, drainage, tanks, radon, permits for past work and more. An executor, administrator or trustee who never lived in the house can check a box saying so.
• Flooding. A 2023 law (P.L. 2023, c.93) makes every seller say whether the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (the 100-year floodplain) or Moderate Risk area (the 500-year floodplain), and answer questions about past flood damage, insurance claims and FEMA aid.
• Lead paint. For a house built before 1978, federal law says you hand over the EPA pamphlet, what you know and any reports, and a Lead Warning Statement, and offer 10 days for an inspection, which your buyer can waive. Foreclosure sales are exempt.
• Private wells. Under the Private Well Testing Act, the contract has to require a water test, and closing can't happen until you and your buyer have both received and reviewed the results. The law doesn't say who pays.
• Oil tanks. The form asks about tanks more than once. See selling a house with an oil tank in NJ.

When you sell to us, tell us what you know, even if you're not sure what it means, and we'll build it into our offer.

Does your town require a certificate of occupancy to sell?

Many South Jersey towns do, and the rules swing a lot from one town to the next. Gloucester Township needs no resale certificate at all, while Willingboro wants a housing inspection, a heating certificate and a camera run through your sewer line. And every one- or two-family sale needs the state's smoke and carbon monoxide alarm certificate.

That alarm certificate comes from your local fire official, at a fee set locally. A state law signed February 3, 2025 (P.L. 2025, c.19) dropped the fire extinguisher from it and added a warning label, within 18 inches of the main electric panel and meter, for houses with solar panels, a generator or battery storage. It also lets a house that needs enough work to require a new certificate of occupancy change hands without the alarm certificate, as long as nobody lives there until that certificate is issued. Ask your fire official whether yours qualifies.

Whatever the inspection finds goes on our repair list, not yours. Here's what each town posts:

Florence, Mount Laurel, National Park and West Deptford also require a resale certificate; call them for current fees. For any other town, ask the code office whether it requires one, what it costs, how early to apply, how long it lasts, and whether your buyer can take on the repairs.

What does it cost to sell a house in New Jersey?

The state's transfer fee is far smaller than Philadelphia's transfer tax, but a regular sale still adds up. You'll usually pay an agent's commission, the Realty Transfer Fee, the alarm certificate and any town fees, plus an attorney if you hire one. Here's a made-up $300,000 Cherry Hill listing.

Add any repairs or credits your buyer asks for, and the bills you keep paying while the house is on the market. Our guide to what it costs to sell a house in New Jersey has the full transfer fee table, the state's own examples and a Philadelphia comparison.

Selling to us is simpler. There's no commission and no repairs to haggle over, and we pay all the closing costs. Anything you already owe against the house, like a mortgage, liens or unpaid taxes, is paid off from the sale, and your written offer shows what you'll walk away with before you sign.

Do you owe New Jersey's "exit tax" if you sell and move out of state?

There's no separate exit tax, but there is a payment at closing. If you won't be a New Jersey resident after the sale, the state takes an estimated income tax payment: 10.75% of your gain, but never less than 2% of the price. If that's more than you end up owing, you get the difference back.

• Who's moving out. The Division of Taxation says that if you move out of New Jersey on or after the day of the transfer, you're a nonresident for the sale, and you sign Form GIT/REP-1. Keeping a permanent home here? You sign GIT/REP-3 and settle up on your regular return.
• An example. On a $300,000 sale, the payment is at least $6,000, or 10.75% of your gain if that's more.
• The main home exemption. If it was your main home and the federal home sale rule excludes your whole gain, you owe no payment. That rule excludes up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned and lived in the house at least two of the last five years. A partial exclusion doesn't qualify.
• Getting it back. File a New Jersey nonresident return, or ask sooner with Form A-3128.

It works the same when you sell to us, because it's your income tax, not a closing cost. Can't come back for closing? Selling a house from out of state covers signing before a notary where you live, remote notarization and powers of attorney.

Can you sell a house as-is in New Jersey?

Yes. At Vivid Properties, we buy South Jersey houses as they are, with no repairs and no cleanout. Selling as-is changes who fixes things, not the paperwork. You still fill out the disclosure form, your town's resale rules still apply, and the house still needs the alarm certificate unless it qualifies for the 2025 rehab exception.

Town checklists get handled one of two ways. Some towns want the work done before closing: Runnemede won't issue its certificate until it's finished. Others let the new owner take it on: in Pennsauken and Washington Township, your buyer can agree to make the repairs and sign an affidavit for a temporary certificate. Either way, when you sell to us, you won't be the one lining up contractors.

Our price will be less than your house would bring fixed up and listed, because the repairs, the carrying costs and the risk of what's behind the walls become ours. If listing your house would put more money in your pocket, we'll tell you. No pressure either way. See selling a house as-is in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and how we calculate our offer, which shows what changes for a South Jersey house.

Where do probate and sheriff sales happen in South Jersey?

Each county runs its own. Estates go through the county Surrogate's Court in Blackwood, Mount Holly or Woodbury, and sheriff sales happen in Camden City Hall, Mount Holly or Woodbury. Until the sheriff sale, the house is still yours to sell, and New Jersey gives you 10 days after it to redeem.

In Camden County, the Surrogate probates a will and issues the executor's letters only after the 11th day after the death. In any county, New Jersey real estate can't leave the owner's name without a state tax waiver (Form 0-1), unless it was owned with a spouse as tenants by the entirety. Our guide to selling an inherited house in New Jersey covers the waiver forms and Surrogate fees, and our New Jersey foreclosure guide covers every step before a sale date.

What if the house is inherited, behind on payments or part of a divorce?

We buy houses in every one of those situations, and each one comes with its own New Jersey rules. Start with the guide that fits yours. Each covers the official steps, the deadlines and your options, including the ones that have nothing to do with selling to us.

• A parent's house. After a death, someone has to be appointed by the Surrogate before anyone can sell; see our New Jersey inherited house guide. If your parent is living, selling a parent's house covers powers of attorney, guardianship and Medicaid in both states.
• Behind on payments. New Jersey foreclosures go through the courts, you get 30 days after the Notice of Intent to Foreclose to catch up or make arrangements, and court mediation is free. See foreclosure in New Jersey. Behind on mortgage payments is mostly about Pennsylvania, with a short New Jersey section.
• Back taxes or liens. Selling with back taxes or liens is mostly about Philadelphia, with a section on how New Jersey towns sell tax sale certificates.
• A divorce. Selling during a divorce covers both states: who signs, forcing a sale, buyouts and splitting the money.
• Damage or clutter. Selling after fire or water damage covers the insurance claim (Pennsylvania's deadlines) and New Jersey's flood questions. Selling a hoarder house covers the papers to find first.
• A listing that didn't sell. My house won't sell is written around Pennsylvania listing agreements, but its choices work here too.

Do you buy rentals and apartment buildings in South Jersey?

Yes. At Vivid Properties, we can buy one rental or all of them in one deal, with the tenants in place, on a closing day you pick. We buy with Section 8 tenants and with tenants who are behind on rent, and we buy 2 to 4 unit buildings and apartment buildings with 5 or more units too.

• Your tenants stay. New Jersey lets a landlord remove most tenants only for a reason the law lists. A sale counts only in a few narrow cases, each with a new owner who'll live there, like a building with three or fewer units under contract with the unit empty at closing. We're not moving in, so we take over the leases.
• Deposits move with the house. Within five days of delivering the deed, the selling landlord turns the deposits and the tenants' interest over to the new owner and tells each tenant, by registered or certified mail, who holds them now.
• The bulk sale notice. The state's bulk sale law exempts a one- or two-family house owned by a person, an estate or a trust. For anything else, like a building with three or more units, your buyer files Form C-9600 with the Division of Taxation at least 10 business days before closing, and the state can have money held in escrow if you may owe state taxes.

Here's how to sell your rental properties to us, and selling a house with tenants covers leases, deposits and Section 8 in both states.

How does selling to us work in South Jersey?

It's four steps, and you're in charge of the timing. We're a local, family-owned real estate investment company that buys houses straight from owners, so there's no listing, no showings and no waiting on a mortgage. You'll usually have our written cash offer within 24 hours, with no fees from us.

1. Tell us about the house. Call or text (267) 551-5554, or send the form. A real local person answers.
2. We see it with you. The condition, any tenants, your town's rules, and any estate or sheriff sale date.
3. You get our written offer. It shows what you'll walk away with after anything you owe is paid off.
4. You pick the closing day. We'll plan around your town's certificate and the alarm check. Leave behind whatever you don't want.

Every step is on how we buy houses, including a New Jersey closing. Getting investor letters? Ours may be among them, and you can text or call to stop ours. Before you trust anyone with your house, us included, read why you're getting mail about your house.

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

What should you do this week?

Four small things, and none of them commit you to anything. Together they tell you what your house could bring, what your town will ask for and which New Jersey steps apply to you, so whichever road you pick, nothing surprises you a week before closing.

• Find your deed, tax bill and mortgage statement, and ask your lender for a payoff figure.
• Find your town in the tables above, then call its code office to confirm.
• Start the disclosure form, and gather permit, repair, tank, well and flood papers.
• Get two agents' price opinions and our written offer, so you can compare real numbers.

Which of our pages cover your town or situation?

Every New Jersey page we have is here. The county pages cover local offices, tax bills and town rules. The town pages go deep on one town's resale certificate. The guides take one situation, like an estate or a sheriff sale date, from start to finish.

Questions South Jersey sellers ask

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