Property Perspectives Local Insight
Insights, Trends, and Strategies for Today's Home Buyers and Sellers. Page 6 of 27.
Renovate or Move? How to Decide When You've Outgrown Your New Jersey Home
Renovate when your house can become what you need for less than it costs to move, the lot and the town's rules allow it, and you'd still want to live there years from now. Move when the fix is bigger than the house,…
Can You Renovate or Add On to a Home in a 55+ Community?
Yes, you can usually renovate or add on to a home in a 55+ community, but most projects need two approvals: the association's, under its architectural rules, and the township's, under New Jersey's construction code.…
Renting Out a Jersey Shore Second Home: NJ Taxes and Fees on Short-Term Rentals
A short-term rental of a New Jersey shore home owes 6.625% sales tax and the 5% State Occupancy Fee, plus any municipal occupancy tax, when the guest books and pays through a platform or when the owner offers three or…
Reverse Mortgage After the Owner Dies: What Heirs Need to Know
When the last borrower on a reverse mortgage dies, the loan becomes due, and the heirs or the estate generally have three choices: pay it off, sell the house, or give the house to the lender. If the home is worth less…
Selling a House With Fire Damage in New Jersey: Repair It or Sell As-Is?
Yes, you can sell a house with fire damage in New Jersey, either after the repairs or as-is. The better choice depends on what your insurance will pay, how much work the house needs, how long the repairs would take,…
Selling the House After Your Spouse Dies in New Jersey: The 2-Year Rule and What Else to Know
If you and your spouse owned the house as tenants by the entirety, it's already yours: in New Jersey it passes to the surviving spouse without probate and without a state inheritance tax waiver. If you sell within two…
Selling Your First Home to Buy a Bigger One in Monmouth or Ocean County
Most people buy their bigger home with the equity in their first one, so the plan starts with what your current home will sell for and works forward to what you can buy and how to time the two closings. Price the sale…
Selling Your House and Buying in a 55+ Community: How to Time the Two Closings
Put the 55+ purchase's extra steps on the same calendar as your sale, then choose the order: sell first, buy first with a home sale contingency, or close both on the same day. The extra steps are age verification, the…
Single-Level Homes in Monmouth and Ocean County: Ranch, Raised Ranch or First-Floor Primary Suite?
A true single-level home puts the kitchen, a bedroom, a full bathroom and the laundry on the floor you walk in on, with few or no steps at the door. A ranch is usually the closest fit; a raised ranch and a split-level…
How Do You File a Storm Damage Insurance Claim in New Jersey, and Do You Need a Public Adjuster?
Report the damage to your insurance company as soon as you can, photograph everything before you throw anything out, make temporary repairs to stop more damage, and work with the adjuster your insurer assigns. In New…
What Does a VA Appraisal Check? Minimum Property Requirements in New Jersey
A VA appraisal does two jobs: it gives an opinion of what the home is worth, and it checks the home against VA's minimum property requirements, the basic condition standards a home has to meet for a VA-backed loan. In…
What Is the VA Funding Fee, and Who Doesn't Pay It?
The VA funding fee is a one-time fee on a VA-backed home loan, and on a first purchase with less than 5% down it's 2.15% of the loan amount. You don't pay it at all if you receive VA compensation for a…
VA Home Loan Benefits for Surviving Spouses in New Jersey
Many surviving spouses can use the VA home loan benefit, generally when they're eligible for or receiving certain Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and those receiving DIC don't pay the VA funding fee. In…
Can Someone Assume My VA Loan? VA Loan Assumptions in New Jersey
Yes, someone can assume your VA loan, which means the buyer takes over your existing loan instead of getting a new mortgage, but the loan servicer has to approve the buyer first, and in some cases VA does too. Anyone…
VA Loan Limits in 2026: Do They Apply in Monmouth and Ocean County?
If you have full VA entitlement, VA doesn't set a loan limit at all, so the 2026 county limit of $1,209,750 in Monmouth and Ocean County doesn't cap what VA will guarantee for you. The county limit matters when part of…
VA Loan Occupancy Rules: When You Have to Move In, and Renting It Out Later
A VA purchase loan is for a home you're going to live in: you certify, when you apply and again at closing, that you intend to move in personally within a reasonable time after you buy it. Federal law makes room for…
VA Specially Adapted Housing Grants: Adapting a Home in New Jersey
VA's Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) and Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grants help Veterans and service members with certain service-connected disabilities buy, build or change a permanent home, with maximums for…
What Does It Cost to Buy a Home in New Jersey? Buyer Closing Costs Explained
Plan for more than the down payment. In New Jersey, a buyer's closing costs are mostly lender charges, title insurance and title services, your attorney's fee, and prepaid items like homeowners insurance and the first…
What Is a 55+ Community, and How Do the Rules Work in New Jersey?
A 55+ community is housing that qualifies under federal law as housing for older persons, which allows it to operate as age-restricted. Under HUD's rules, at least 80% of its occupied homes must have at least one…
What Is a Jumbo Loan in Monmouth and Ocean County?
A jumbo loan is a mortgage larger than the conforming loan limit, the most that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy. For 2026, the Federal Housing Finance Agency set that limit for a one-unit home at $1,209,750 in both…
What Is a Riparian Grant? Tidelands Grants, Licenses and Claims in New Jersey
A riparian grant is a deed from the State of New Jersey selling land the State owns as tidelands, land that is or was once flowed by the mean high tide. If part of a property was once tidal, the State may hold a claim…
What to Do With Your Furniture and Belongings When You Downsize
Measure the next home first, then sort everything into five piles: keep, give to family or friends, sell, donate, and dispose. Start weeks before you list, not the week you move, and use your county's drop-off programs…
Will a Smaller Home Lower Your Property Taxes in New Jersey?
Not automatically. A New Jersey property tax bill is the home's assessed value times the town's general tax rate, so a smaller home in a town with a higher rate can carry a bigger bill than the house you're leaving.…
Add a First-Floor Bedroom or Move to a Single-Level Home in New Jersey?
It depends on the house, the lot and the budget. If your home has room on the first floor for a bedroom and a full bath, a remodel can work; if it doesn't, a single-level home is usually the cleaner answer. The way to…