Life Events & Your Home Insider Insights
Will an Addition or Finished Basement Raise Your Property Taxes in New Jersey?
It can. When an improvement like an addition or a finished basement adds value, New Jersey lets the municipal assessor bill an "added assessment" for the part of the tax year after the work is completed, and the…
Selling and Buying on the Same Day: How Back-to-Back Closings Work in New Jersey
Yes, you can sell your home and buy your next one on the same day in New Jersey. Usually the sale closes first, and the money from it goes toward the purchase later that day. It works when both contracts, both sets of…
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…
Your Buyer Backed Out While You're Buying the Next Home: What Now?
Call your attorney the same day, because the deadlines in your purchase contract are still running, then sit down with your lender to see whether the purchase can go ahead without the sale, and get your home back on…
Changing Jobs While Buying a House in New Jersey: What Does Your Lender Look At?
You can change jobs while buying a house, but talk to your lender before you accept the offer or give notice, because your approval is built on your income and lenders check your employment again right before closing.…
Combining Two Homes Into One in New Jersey: Sell Both, Keep One, or Rent One Out?
When two homeowners combine households, there are three main paths: sell both and buy one home that fits everyone, keep one and sell the other, or keep one and rent the other out. The right one depends on what each…
Employer Relocation Packages: How Home-Sale Help Works, and Is It Taxable?
Relocation packages differ from employer to employer, but home-sale help usually comes as payments toward your selling and moving costs, a program where a relocation company buys your home or helps you sell it, or…
FEMA Disaster Assistance for Homeowners: What It Covers and How It Works With Insurance
After a presidentially declared disaster, FEMA's Individuals and Households Program can help homeowners with needs insurance doesn't cover, such as temporary housing and repairs to a primary residence. It isn't a…
Inherited a House in New Jersey When You Already Own One: Keep It, Rent It or Sell It?
When you inherit a house and already own your own home, you have three main choices: sell it, keep it as a second home, or rent it out. The right one depends on what it's worth, what it costs to carry, what work it…
Insurance Check Made Out to You and Your Mortgage Company: How Repair Money Gets Released
If you have a mortgage, your lender is almost always listed on your homeowners policy as a loss payee, so the insurance check for damage to the house is made out to both of you. You endorse it, your mortgage company…
Where Do You Live While Your Home Is Being Repaired? Loss-of-Use Coverage Explained
If a covered loss like a fire makes your home unlivable, most New Jersey homeowners policies pay your additional living expenses under Coverage D, loss of use: the extra cost of living somewhere else, above what you'd…
Getting a Mortgage on Retirement Income: Buy Before or After Your Retirement Date?
Lenders can count retirement income such as a pension, an annuity or regular distributions from a retirement account, but they qualify you on the income you'll have, not the paycheck you're leaving. Under Fannie Mae's…
New Job in Another State: Should You Sell or Rent Out Your New Jersey Home?
Sell if you're not planning to come back, you need the equity for the next home, or you don't want to be a landlord from far away. Rent it out if the rent covers the full cost of owning it, you're ready to manage it or…
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,…
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 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…
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…
Bridge Loan or HELOC? How to Buy Your Next Home Before Yours Sells in New Jersey
A bridge loan and a home equity line of credit (HELOC) are two ways to borrow against the home you're selling so you can buy the next one before yours sells. A bridge loan is short-term financing meant to be paid off…
Do You Have to Disclose Past Fire or Storm Damage When You Sell in New Jersey?
In general, yes. New Jersey's Seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement has been mandatory for residential sellers since August 1, 2024, and it asks whether you're aware of the property ever being damaged by…
Hiring a Contractor After Storm or Fire Damage in New Jersey: Registration, Contracts and Permits
Hire a home improvement contractor who is registered with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, get a written contract with the registration number, the price and the dates, make sure the permits the work needs…
How Do You Sell Your Home on a Deadline in New Jersey?
Work backward from the date you can't move. Put the closing a safe distance ahead of it, then count back through the contract and attorney review, the weeks on the market, the prep, and the plan, and start the plan…
Can You Sell Your House if You're Behind on Mortgage Payments in New Jersey?
Yes. You can sell your home in New Jersey while you're behind on your mortgage, and the loan, including what's past due, is paid off from the sale at closing. The earlier you start, the more time you have to sell well…
Cash Offers and Foreclosure Rescue Scams: How to Protect Your Equity in New Jersey
A cash offer can be a fair way to sell, but when you're under financial pressure, compare it with what the home would bring on the open market, have your own attorney read the contract, and never sign over your deed or…
How Do You Plan a Move Around a Big Life Change in New Jersey?
Start with the house, not the calendar: what it's worth today, what it costs to sell, what the next place costs, and the one date you can't move. Then put two or three options side by side, with the numbers for each,…