Downsizing Your Home Insider Insights
Moving From One NJ Home to Another: What Happens to ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ?
A move from one New Jersey home to another can change all three programs. ANCHOR follows whichever home you owned and lived in on October 1, Stay NJ looks at whether you owned and lived in a home for the full year and…
Bigger or Smaller? How to Figure Out What the Next Home Needs After a Life Change
Start with how you'll use the next home every day for the next several years, not with the square footage. Write down what the change added or took away, then test every house against that list and against what it…
Capital Gains on a Home You've Owned for Decades: Figuring Your Gain Before You Downsize
Most people who downsize from a home they've lived in owe no capital gains tax, because the IRS lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. A home owned for decades is the…
Co-op vs. Condo in New Jersey: What You Own and How Buying One Works
With a condo, you own your unit and a share of the common areas, and the unit has its own property tax bill. With a co-op, you own shares in a corporation that owns the property, plus a proprietary lease that gives you…
HECM for Purchase: Buying Your Next Home With a Reverse Mortgage in New Jersey
HECM for Purchase is an FHA-insured reverse mortgage that lets an eligible borrower buy a new principal residence and take out the reverse mortgage in the same transaction. You pay the difference between the loan…
How to Hire a Licensed Mover in New Jersey
Check the license first: a company that moves household goods within New Jersey must be licensed by the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs, and its ads have to show the license number. Then get a written estimate after an…
Is a Townhouse a Condo in New Jersey? Fee Simple vs Condominium Ownership
Not always. A townhouse is a building style, homes attached side by side, while a condominium is a form of ownership created when a master deed is recorded under New Jersey's Condominium Act. So a townhouse can be a…
Moving From a House to a Condo or Townhouse in NJ: What Changes
When you trade a house for a condo in New Jersey, you hand the shared parts of the property to an association: it maintains the common areas, carries a master insurance policy, charges a monthly fee and sets the rules.…
Moving Within New Jersey: The Address Changes to Make After You Close
Start with the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission, because New Jersey requires drivers to report an address change within one week, and you can do it online. Then update your voter registration, the NJ Division of Taxation,…
The NJ "Exit Tax": What Happens at Closing When You Sell and Move Out of New Jersey
New Jersey doesn't have a separate "exit tax." What people call the exit tax is an estimated income tax payment a nonresident seller may have to make at closing: the gain times 10.75%, but not less than 2% of the sale…
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…
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 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…
Buying New Construction When You Downsize in New Jersey: Warranties and the Public Offering Statement
New homes in New Jersey come with a State-backed warranty: one year on materials and workmanship, two years on heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems, and ten years on major structural defects. If…
HOA and Condo Fees in New Jersey: What They Cover and What to Read Before You Buy
HOA and condo fees in New Jersey pay for whatever the association is responsible for, and that changes from one community to the next. In a condominium, the fee covers the common expenses, including the association's…
Home Sale Contingency in New Jersey: Can You Buy the Next Home Before Yours Sells?
Yes, you can make an offer on your next home that depends on selling your current one. It's called a home sale contingency, and in New Jersey its exact terms are written into the contract and finalized during attorney…
How Do You Downsize Your Home in New Jersey? A Step-by-Step Plan
Downsizing in New Jersey comes down to five decisions made in the right order: what your home will sell for, what the next home needs, whether you sell or buy first, what the move does to your taxes and property tax…
Is Downsizing Worth It? How to Run the Numbers on a Smaller Home in NJ
Downsizing is worth it when the next home fits how you live and the numbers hold up on paper: what your current home nets after the sale, set next to the full cost of owning the next one. A smaller home doesn't always…
Is There a Senior Citizen Exemption From New Jersey's Realty Transfer Fee? How Form RTF-1 Works
Yes. New Jersey has a partial exemption from the realty transfer fee for a seller who is 62 or older, legally blind, or permanently and totally disabled, when the home is a one- or two-family residence the seller owns…
Can You Stay in Your Home After Closing? How a Seller Rent-Back Works in NJ
Yes, you can stay in your home after closing if the buyer agrees to it in writing. It's called a seller rent-back, or post-closing occupancy, and when the buyer has a standard Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage on a…
Selling Your Home to a Family Member in New Jersey
You can sell your home to a family member in New Jersey the same way you'd sell to anyone else, with a contract, a closing and a deed, but the price matters more than usual. If you sell for less than the home is worth,…
Underground Heating Oil Tanks When You Sell an Older Home in New Jersey
New Jersey doesn't require you to remove an underground heating oil tank that isn't leaking, but buyers, inspectors and the seller's disclosure form will all ask about it. If a tank is tested or removed, only a…