Are you selling your New Jersey property? If so, you should definitely know your typical closing costs for the average seller. The most important number you need to know is the bottom line figure that you will be walking away with after closing. What you walk away with is far more important than your gross sales price!
In order to be well informed about your bottom line figure, you NEED an accurate net sheet. This will help you know your walk-away figure from the beginning so that you can be prepared to make a decision quickly on any offer presented!
Without knowing the typical closing costs involved for a seller, how can you determine what an acceptable sale price for your property? Let me tell you about the fees and costs that go into selling your New Jersey property.
Mortgage Payoff
If you have a mortgage, you’re going to have a mortgage payoff. This might be the largest of your closing costs. This means the proceeds of your sale will actually pay off the mortgage that you currently have on your property
Real Estate Comission
This will the real estate agent commission or brokerage fee. I don’t know what this will look like for you but you NEED to talk to your agent about their fee in order to correctly figure out your walk-away number.
Realty Transfer Tax in New Jersey
When you sell a home in the state of NJ, the state charges a realty transfer fee. This fee will be based on the bracket of your sale price. Just like your income tax; there will be a different percentage for each bracket. On average, this fee tends to be .8 or less than 1% of your sale price. Make sure to check out the discounts that New Jersey offers! If you are a veteran, disabled, or senior, make sure to ask your title company to ensure you don’t miss out on these discounts!
Settlement Fee
This will the charge from the title company for handling the closing. This will be split evenly between the seller and buyer. It usually tends to run $250 per person.
Deed Prep
The title company will take care of ordering the deed for you but you will need to pay an attorney to prepare the deed for you. This can range anywhere from $100-$300 depending on the attorney.
Miscellaneous Fees
You’ll also probably see a list of miscellaneous fees on your settlement statement. Some of these charges can come from paying off your mortgage, recording fees, or some sort of UPS or overnighting fee to get your documents to you.
Home Inspections/ Repairs (if necessary)
Beware, you may not see these fees on the settlement fee! I always like to warn sellers that if a home inspection repair is needed or defects with the house, this might be something you are paying for either before or at the time of settlement
Well Water Certificate
If you happen to own a home in a county with well water, the county will also require you to get a Well Water Certification. This usually runs the seller about $465
Certificate of Occupancy/ Smoke Detector Inspection
This depends upon the city that you are selling in but usually, this will cost about $50 to $100
2% Non-Resident Withholding
Lastly, I want to clear one thing up. This fee does not mean that the state of new jersey has an “exit tax” for sellers. This means that if you are not a resident of NJ and you are selling your property, the state will withhold 2% of the sale price. This is just like when your taxes and withheld in your paycheck. Depending on your taxes, you may or may not be getting some of the 2% back.
When selling your home, there isn’t a flat percentage of how much it will cost to sell! I highly advise you or your realtor to put together an accurate net sheet. I cannot stress the importance of knowing your walk-away figure enough! If you would like to receive an estimated net sheet for selling your home, please don’t hesitate to reach out and we can get that prepared for you!