New Jersey offers several property tax relief programs for people who own or rent their main home, including ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ. You may also get a deduction or a $50 credit on the state income-tax return. Amounts and filing windows change with the budget, so check the current Division of Taxation rules.

What was ANCHOR for the 2025 benefit year?

ANCHOR, the Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters program, is a payment to eligible residents who own or rent their principal residence and meet income limits. For the 2025 benefit year, the Division of Taxation says:

• Homeowners with New Jersey gross income of $150,000 or less could receive $1,500. Homeowners with income from $150,001 to $250,000 could receive $1,000. Income above $250,000 made a homeowner ineligible.
• Renters with income up to $150,000 could receive $450 if they were 64 or younger in 2025, or $700 if they were 65 or older by December 31, 2025. Income above $150,000 made a renter ineligible.
• Homeowners generally had to own and occupy the home as of October 1, 2025. Vacation homes, rentals you own, and some tax-exempt or PILOT properties do not qualify for the homeowner benefit.

The filing deadline for that 2025 application was November 2, 2026. Payments for ANCHOR were described as starting September 15 and continuing on a rolling basis, often within 90 days of filing. If you already applied, you can check the status on the Division's site. If you missed the deadline, ask the Division whether any late-file path exists; don't assume one does.

The next benefit year will have its own income limits, amounts, and deadline. Watch propertytaxrelief.nj.gov and the application site at propertytaxreliefapp.nj.gov.

How do Senior Freeze and Stay NJ fit in?

Senior Freeze, formally the Property Tax Reimbursement, is for eligible older or disabled homeowners, including certain mobile homeowners. The Division's 2025-cycle materials described eligibility for homeowners born in 1960 or earlier, or who actually receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, and who meet the program's other rules. It is not available to renters.

Stay NJ is a newer program for New Jersey homeowners aged 65 or older who own and occupy a home as their principal residence for the entire year. The Fiscal Year 2027 budget, as described by the Division, provides Stay NJ payments in 2027 for applicants with incomes up to $200,000. Payment timing can be quarterly and can depend on the budget in effect, so use the Division's current Stay NJ page rather than an old news story.

You may qualify for more than one program. The Division says it will determine which benefits you are eligible for. The total of these property tax relief benefits, plus certain property tax deductions for seniors, disabled persons, or veterans, cannot exceed the property taxes paid on your principal residence for that year.

Seniors and disabled homeowners often file Form PAS-1, which the Division has used as a combined application for these programs. Other homeowners and renters often file Form ANC-1 for ANCHOR. A Property Tax Relief Hotline is listed at 1-888-238-1233.

What about the deduction on the NJ-1040?

Separately, homeowners and renters who pay property taxes on a New Jersey principal residence may qualify for a property tax deduction or a refundable $50 credit on the resident income-tax return. You can claim only one of those two income-tax benefits. The deduction is limited to property taxes paid or $15,000, whichever is less. For renters, 18% of rent paid during the year is generally treated as property taxes paid, subject to the Division's rules.

This income-tax benefit is not a substitute for ANCHOR, and the eligibility tests differ. Read the current NJ-1040 instructions for the year you're filing.

If you just bought or sold a home, keep the closing statement and the tax bills. You'll need them for these applications and for the income-tax return.

FAQ

Is the old Homestead Benefit the same as ANCHOR?

The Division now administers ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ as the main property tax relief programs. Use those current names and the current applications, not an outdated homestead form.

What were the 2025 ANCHOR amounts?

$1,500 or $1,000 for eligible homeowners, depending on income, and $450 or $700 for eligible renters, depending on age. Those figures are for the 2025 benefit year. Confirm the next year's amounts before you budget them.

Can I apply for ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ at the same time?

If you meet the tests, yes. Seniors and disabled homeowners often use Form PAS-1 as a combined application. The Division decides which benefits you receive, and the combined total cannot exceed property taxes paid.

I bought my first home this year. Can I apply right away?

Eligibility is tied to a specific occupancy date and tax year, such as owning and occupying as of October 1 for a given ANCHOR cycle. Check the current year's rules when the next filing window opens.

Next step

If you own or rent your main home in New Jersey, talk with a licensed local agent about how a purchase or sale affects your tax bills, and check the Division of Taxation's current property tax relief pages for the next filing window, income limits, and benefit amounts. Have last year's NJ-1040 and your tax bill handy.

Sources: Division of Taxation, ANCHOR program; Division of Taxation, how ANCHOR benefits are calculated; Division of Taxation, ANCHOR eligibility; Division of Taxation, property tax relief program FAQs; Division of Taxation, property tax deduction or credit on the NJ-1040.

When a New Jersey real estate licensee prepares a contract to sell a one-to-four family home or a vacant one-family lot, the contract must include a three-business-day attorney review period. Either party's attorney can disapprove the contract in that time, or it becomes binding as written.

How does the three-day clock work?

The required notice at the top of the contract tells you it will become final within three business days, and that during that period you may consult an attorney who can review and cancel the contract. You count the three days from the date the signed contract is delivered to the buyer and the seller. You do not count Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. The buyer and the seller may agree in writing to extend the three-day period.

That means a contract delivered late on a Friday typically does not run its full three business days over the weekend. A delivery mid-week can expire faster than people expect if they wait until the last afternoon to call a lawyer. As soon as everyone has signed and the contract has been delivered, get it to an attorney.

The attorney-review language is required in licensee-prepared contracts for those residential sales, and a similar three-day review applies to licensee-prepared residential leases of one year or more when the licensee has a commission interest. A contract you and the other party draft privately, without a licensee preparing it, may not contain this clause. Don't assume every New Jersey real estate writing has a three-day escape hatch.

How does an attorney disapprove, and what should you do in those three days?

If an attorney reviews and disapproves of the contract, the attorney must notify the broker or brokers and the other party named in the contract within the three-day period. Otherwise the contract is legally binding as written. The regulation says the attorney must send the notice of disapproval to the brokers by certified mail, by telegram, or by personal delivery. Certified mail or a telegram is effective upon sending. Personal delivery is effective upon delivery to the broker's office. The attorney may, but need not, also suggest revisions that would make the contract satisfactory.

In those three business days, buyers and sellers often ask an attorney to review:

• The price, deposit, and what happens to the deposit if the deal fails.
• Inspection, mortgage, and appraisal contingencies, and their deadlines.
• The seller disclosure and Flood Risk Addendum, if they have been delivered.
• Personal property, repairs, and occupancy or lease-back terms.
• Who pays the Realty Transfer Fee or the Graduated Percent Fee.

If you want changes rather than a cancellation, the attorney can disapprove and propose revisions. Until those revisions are signed, you may not have a binding contract. Don't start packing, or stop showing the house, just because everyone seemed happy on signing night.

Use a New Jersey real estate attorney who handles residential closings often. Send the full contract, all riders, and the disclosure as soon as you have them. A late email on the third business day is a risky plan.

Sellers should also use the period. An offer that looks clean on signing night can still have a problem in the inspection timing, a personal-property list, or a request that you pay a fee the statute places on the other party. An attorney can flag those issues while you can still walk or rewrite the deal.

If you are in a bidding situation, attorney review is not a reason to skip reading the contract. It is a short, formal window. Have the attorney lined up before you write the offer, so the three days are used for review, not for finding a lawyer. Give the attorney the seller disclosure, the flood addendum, and any rider at the same time as the contract, so nothing important is reviewed at the last hour.

Some people try to "waive" attorney review in a text message. Follow the regulation and any written extension, and let the attorney send any disapproval in the method the clause requires.

FAQ

When does the three-business-day period start?

From the date the signed contract is delivered to both the buyer and the seller. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays do not count. The parties may extend the period in writing.

What if no attorney is involved?

If no attorney disapproves within the period, the contract becomes legally binding as written. You are not required to hire an attorney, but the clause exists so that you can.

How must the disapproval be sent?

The attorney must notify the brokers and the other party within the three-day period. Notice to the brokers must be by certified mail, telegram, or personal delivery to the broker's office, under the regulation's required language.

Does this apply to every New Jersey home sale?

It applies to contracts prepared by real estate licensees for one-to-four family dwellings and vacant one-family lots in transactions where the licensee has a commission or fee interest. Other kinds of deals may not include this clause.

Next step

If you're signing a New Jersey home contract prepared by a real estate licensee, talk with a licensed local agent about when the contract will be delivered, and send it to a real estate attorney the same day. Calendar the three business days, and don't treat a verbal "we're all set" as the end of attorney review.

Sources: N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.2, contracts of sale, leases and listing agreements; DOBI, New Jersey Real Estate Commission consumer information.

NJHMFA offers a 30-year fixed-rate First-Time Homebuyer mortgage and down payment assistance of up to $15,000 in many counties, or $10,000 in others. The assistance is interest-free and forgiven after five years if you occupy the home as your principal residence. You apply through a participating lender, not by mailing a form to the Agency.

Who can use the First-Time Homebuyer program?

NJHMFA's consumer fact sheet, updated June 17, 2026, says borrowers must purchase and occupy a residential home in New Jersey. A first-time homebuyer is someone who has not had an ownership interest in a primary residence during the previous three years. Borrowers buying in an Urban Target Area, and qualified veterans, do not need to be first-time buyers, but they must not own another primary residence at closing. The home has to be occupied as the borrower's principal residence within 60 days of closing.

Eligible property types include a single-family home, condominium, townhome, a manufactured or mobile home permanently affixed to land the borrower owns, or a two- to four-family dwelling if the borrower will occupy one unit. The property must also meet the rules of the insurer or guarantor, such as FHA, VA, or USDA. FHA and VA maximum mortgage amounts can be more restrictive than the Agency's purchase-price limits.

Income limits and purchase-price limits vary by county and by household size, and they are higher in Urban Target Areas. The June 17, 2026 fact sheet lists those figures in detail. Because the numbers can change, get the current limits from a participating lender and from njhousing.gov before you write an offer. You can check whether an address is in an Urban Target Area with the Agency's Site Evaluator.

Credit-score and debt-to-income rules also apply. This is a mortgage, with monthly payments and closing costs, not a grant and not a lottery.

How does the down payment assistance work?

The assistance may be used toward the down payment and certain closing costs, up to $15,000 or $10,000 depending on the county. The June 2026 fact sheet lists $15,000 for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, and Union, and $10,000 for Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem, Sussex, and Warren.

The loan has no interest and no monthly payment. It is forgiven if you live in the home as your principal residence for five years from closing and do not refinance or otherwise convey the first mortgage. You may use the assistance only once. It may not be used to cover closing costs the seller customarily pays, or to cover an appraisal shortfall when the value comes in below the purchase price.

Down payment requirements still follow the first-mortgage insurer's guidelines. Budget for costs the assistance will not cover, and complete any required education early so a certificate does not delay the closing.

Apply only through an NJHMFA-participating lender. The Agency publishes a lender list on its homebuyer pages. A bank that "has first-time buyer programs" is not necessarily in this program.

What should you do before you make an offer?

• Confirm that the lender is on the current NJHMFA list.
• Get the current income limit, purchase-price cap, and assistance amount for the county, in writing.
• If you are a repeat buyer, check whether the property is in an Urban Target Area or whether you qualify as a veteran under the program rules.
• Tell the seller's agent early if the file may need extra documentation, so the closing date is realistic.
• Complete homebuyer education if the lender requires it, and gather tax returns, W-2s, and asset statements.

Program rules and limits can change. Use the figures on the current fact sheet and have the lender confirm them for your closing date. The Agency's consumer line is 1-800-NJ-HOUSE, and the website is njhousing.gov. If a condo or a manufactured home is in the mix, ask the lender about property-type approval before you spend money on an inspection you may not be able to use.

FAQ

Do I apply to NJHMFA directly?

No. You apply through a participating lender. The Agency publishes the rules, the lender list, and a Site Evaluator for Urban Target Areas.

How much down payment assistance can I get?

Up to $15,000 in the counties listed for that amount on the current fact sheet, and up to $10,000 in the others. Confirm the county amount with your lender.

When is the assistance forgiven?

After five years, if you continuously occupy the home as your principal residence and do not refinance or convey the first mortgage. If you sell or refinance earlier, expect the assistance to be due.

I owned a home four years ago. Am I a first-time buyer?

For this program, a first-time buyer is someone who has not had an ownership interest in a primary residence during the previous three years. If that describes you, you may qualify statewide. In an Urban Target Area, or if you are a qualified veteran, the first-time rule may not apply, but you still cannot own another primary residence at closing.

Next step

If you're buying a New Jersey home and think you may qualify, talk with a licensed local agent and an NJHMFA-participating lender about the First-Time Homebuyer mortgage, the current county price and income limits, and whether the $10,000 or $15,000 assistance can be part of your offer. Complete any required education early so it doesn't delay a closing.

Sources: NJHMFA, homebuyer programs; NJHMFA, First-Time Homebuyer and DPA consumer fact sheet (PDF, updated June 17, 2026); NJHMFA participating lenders; NJHMFA Urban Target Area Site Evaluator.

Most New Jersey property tax appeals must reach the county board of taxation by April 1. The deadline is May 1 after a town-wide revaluation or reassessment, and January 15 in Burlington, Gloucester, and Monmouth Counties. Assessments over $1 million may go directly to Tax Court.

What are you actually appealing?

You appeal the assessed value, not the tax rate and not a high tax bill by itself. The Division of Taxation says you have to show that the assessment is unreasonable compared with market value. An assessment can be challenged as not fairly representing true market value, or as outside the common level range. That range is plus or minus 15% of the average ratio for the taxing district.

In other words, a number that "went up" is not, standing alone, proof that the assessment is wrong. Comparable sales, the property record card, photos, and condition issues the assessor may have missed are more useful than a general sense that taxes are high.

All property owners may file with the county board, regardless of the size of the assessment. For assessments greater than $1 million, filing directly with the Tax Court is also an option. Added or omitted assessments, which can appear after mid-year improvements or a property left off the tax list, have their own form, AA-1. If the aggregate assessed value in an added or omitted case exceeds $750,000, you may appeal that directly to the Tax Court.

How do you file, and what happens after the board?

File Form A-1, and Form A-1 Comp. Sale when you are using comparable sales, with the county board of taxation. The Division of Taxation publishes a statewide list of county board contacts. The petition has to be filed and received by the deadline, so don't treat a postmark on April 1 as a plan. Confirm the board's delivery rules, fees, and hearing dates.

Bring organized evidence. Useful items include:

• The assessment notice and a copy of your property record card.
• Recent sales of similar homes, adjusted for size, condition, and location.
• Photos or contractor estimates for damage or deferred maintenance.
• A closing statement or appraisal, used as evidence, not as an automatic new value.

If you disagree with the county board's judgment, you generally may file with the Tax Court of New Jersey within 45 days of the date of that judgment. The Tax Court is a state court, not a second meeting of the local board. Many homeowners handle the county hearing themselves and hire help only if they go on to the Tax Court, but you can have a representative at either stage.

If you just bought the house, compare the assessment and the sale price, then look at the district's average ratio before you assume a reduction is automatic. An uncapped or recently adjusted assessment can still be correct.

What should you calendar?

• In most counties, April 1.
• May 1 in a year when your municipality has completed a revaluation or reassessment.
• January 15 if you are in Burlington, Gloucester, or Monmouth County. Those boards can be reached at the numbers the Division publishes: Burlington 609-265-5056, Gloucester 856-307-6445, and Monmouth 732-431-7404.

Deadlines are easy to miss if you wait for a summer tax bill. Start when the assessment postcard arrives. If you're buying or selling around the deadline, ask your agent and attorney who will file, and in whose name.

A successful appeal changes the assessment used to compute the tax. It does not, by itself, change ANCHOR or other relief programs, though a lower tax bill can affect how those benefits are capped.

If you can't attend the hearing, ask the county board whether a written submission will be accepted and whether a representative can appear for you. Missed hearings are a poor reason to lose a well-documented case.

Neighbors sometimes compare bills and assume the board will average the numbers. That's not the test. Your evidence has to speak to the value of your property, or to the common level range, not to a sense that someone else's tax looks lower. If you need more time to gather sales, file the petition first so you do not miss the deadline, then supplement the file if the board allows it.

FAQ

What is the usual appeal deadline in New Jersey?

April 1, for the petition to be filed and received by the county board of taxation. It is May 1 after a municipal-wide revaluation or reassessment, and January 15 in Burlington, Gloucester, and Monmouth Counties.

Can I skip the county board and go straight to Tax Court?

If the assessment is more than $1 million, yes, you may file directly with the Tax Court. Otherwise, the county board is the usual first step, with a 45-day window to the Tax Court after the board's judgment.

What do I have to prove?

That the assessment does not fairly represent true market value, or that it falls outside the common level range, which is plus or minus 15% of the district's average ratio.

Which forms do I use?

Form A-1, and Form A-1 Comp. Sale for comparable sales, with the county board. Added or omitted assessments use Form AA-1.

Next step

If your New Jersey assessment looks wrong, talk with a licensed local agent, request your property record card, and calendar the correct county deadline. File Form A-1 on time, and keep comparable sales and condition evidence ready for the hearing.

Sources: Division of Taxation, assessment and appeals; Tax Court of New Jersey.

New Jersey charges a Realty Transfer Fee on most deed recordings, generally paid by the seller, using a graduated rate per $500 of consideration. For many properties selling for more than $1 million, a Graduated Percent Fee also applies. Since July 10, 2025, that extra fee has been imposed on the seller.

How is the Realty Transfer Fee calculated?

The Division of Taxation publishes two standard-rate schedules: one when total consideration is not over $350,000, and a higher schedule when consideration is over $350,000. On the lower schedule, the rates per $500 are $2.00 on the first $150,000, $3.35 on the next $50,000, and $3.90 on the amount from $200,000 to $350,000. On the higher schedule, the rates per $500 start at $2.90 on the first $150,000 and rise, in bands, to $6.05 on consideration over $1 million.

A sale of $300,000 uses the lower schedule. The fee is $2.00 per $500 on the first $150,000 ($600), $3.35 per $500 on the next $50,000 ($335), and $3.90 per $500 on the remaining $100,000 ($780), or $1,715 in all, before any exemption. A sale over $350,000 uses the other schedule, including on the first dollars of consideration, so the fee is not just "the extra amount above $350,000."

Partial exemptions, with lower rates, apply to qualifying senior citizens aged 62 or older, qualifying blind or disabled persons, and certain low- and moderate-income housing. If you claim a full or partial exemption, an Affidavit of Consideration for Use by Seller, Form RTF-1, generally has to be filed with the deed.

The parties can agree in the contract that the buyer will pay or that the cost will be split. That agreement does not change what the recording office expects to collect. If the contract shifts the economic cost, it should show clearly on the closing statement.

What is the Graduated Percent Fee on sales over $1 million?

This is the fee many people still call a "mansion tax," but the rules changed in 2025. P.L. 2025, c. 69, effective July 10, 2025, replaced the old flat 1% fee with a graduated percentage of total consideration, and it placed the legal duty on the grantor. For deeds submitted for recording on or after that date, the Division says the fee is:

• 1% of total consideration if it is more than $1 million but not more than $2 million.
• 2% if it is more than $2 million but not more than $2.5 million.
• 2.5% if it is more than $2.5 million but not more than $3 million.
• 3% if it is more than $3 million but not more than $3.5 million.
• 3.5% if it is more than $3.5 million.

The percentage applies to the entire consideration, not only the amount over the last threshold. The Division's example is a $2.75 million deed, taxed at 2.5%, or $68,750, in addition to the Realty Transfer Fee.

The Graduated Percent Fee applies to specified classes, including Class 2 residential, certain farms with a residential building, Class 4A commercial, and Class 4C cooperative units. Form RTF-1EE, an affidavit for this fee, is used on deeds over $1 million and on commercial transfers. Some transfers are exempt. If you think yours is, ask the title company and the Division which affidavit has to be attached.

Sellers of higher-priced New Jersey homes should build both fees into their net-proceeds worksheet early. Buyers should not assume they still pay the old 1% buyer-side mansion tax on a deed recorded after July 9, 2025, unless the contract specifically shifts the cost.

Title companies and county clerks work from the consideration recited in the deed, or, in some cases, from assessed value divided by the Director's Ratio. The price on the deed and the closing statement need to match reality. If personal property is part of the deal, ask how that amount should be allocated so you do not inflate the fee by accident.

Recording fees charged by the county are separate from these state fees. The closing estimate should list them on different lines so you can see which figure is which. Ask for that estimate a week ahead, not the morning of closing.

FAQ

Who usually pays the Realty Transfer Fee?

The seller, as the grantor, is statutorily responsible. The purchase agreement can shift the economic cost, but the fee is collected when the deed is recorded.

Who pays the Graduated Percent Fee on a sale over $1 million?

For deeds submitted on or after July 10, 2025, the fee is imposed on the grantor, usually the seller. Before that date, the older 1% fee had been imposed on the grantee.

Are the per-$500 rates the same on a $200,000 sale and a $400,000 sale?

No. There is one schedule for consideration not over $350,000 and a higher schedule for consideration over $350,000. The higher schedule applies to the early bands as well, not only to the dollars above $350,000.

Can seniors pay a lower Realty Transfer Fee?

Qualifying senior citizens aged 62 or older, and qualifying blind or disabled persons, may use a partial-exemption rate schedule. File the required affidavit and confirm eligibility with the title company.

Next step

Before you close on a New Jersey home, ask a licensed local agent and the title company for a line-item estimate of the Realty Transfer Fee and, if the price is over $1 million, the Graduated Percent Fee. Sellers should include those costs in their net proceeds from the start, using the Division of Taxation's current schedules.

Sources: Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee; Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee FAQs; Division of Taxation, Graduated Percent Fee notice (PDF).

New Jersey sellers of residential property must complete the Seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement, questions 1 through 108, before a buyer is obligated under a contract. All sellers of real property must also complete the Flood Risk Addendum. The form is a statement of the seller's knowledge, not a warranty or an inspection.

What has to be delivered, and when?

A 2024 consumer-protection law made the signed residential disclosure mandatory before the purchaser becomes obligated under a contract. The Division's August 2024 instruction sheet says questions 1 through 108 must be answered for residential real property, to the best of the seller's knowledge unless the form says otherwise. The Flood Risk Addendum is mandatory for every real-property sale, even if questions 1 through 108 do not apply. Sellers must verify their answers to questions 109 and 110, and may do so using the Flood Risk Notification Tool at flooddisclosure.nj.gov. Questions 111 through 117 are answered from the seller's actual knowledge.

A seller has to sign a separate acknowledgment for each portion of the statement that the seller completes. If questions 1 through 108 are not answered, no acknowledgment is required for that portion, but the Flood Risk Addendum still has to be completed and acknowledged.

The seller is also under an obligation to disclose known material defects even if a particular problem is not listed on the printed form. Leaving a known issue off the form is how disclosure disputes start.

If you're a buyer and the statement is missing when you are asked to sign a contract, don't assume you can "get it later" and still have the same chance to walk or renegotiate. Ask that delivery happen before you are bound.

What does the form cover, and what should buyers still do?

The disclosure asks about the condition of the property, including systems, structure, and legal or environmental issues, plus the flood-risk questions. It is only as good as the seller's knowledge. "Unknown" can be an honest answer when the seller truly does not know. It is not a pass to skip an inspection.

Buyers should:

• Read the statement against a professional home inspection and, where the property warrants it, specialist inspections for roofs, radon, septic systems, or oil tanks.
• Use flooddisclosure.nj.gov and a flood map, then talk with an insurance agent about flood coverage, which a standard homeowners policy does not include.
• Walk the property and the surrounding area for off-site conditions, as the form itself cautions.
• Ask written follow-up questions if an answer is vague or if something on the inspection report was not disclosed.

Sellers who have not lived in the house, including some estates and investors, still have to complete the form when the law requires it. Answer from actual knowledge, attach explanations where a yes-or-no box is not enough, and update the form if you learn something new before closing.

A 2026 law will add dam-ownership questions to the disclosure once the Division of Consumer Affairs publishes a revised statement. Until that revised form is the official one in use, complete the current official statement. If you have a dam on the property, talk with your agent and an attorney about what you should disclose now.

Bank-owned and estate sales are often advertised as "as is." That phrase does not automatically erase the 2024 disclosure duty for residential property, or the flood addendum for any real-property sale. If a seller claims an exemption, get the legal basis in writing and still do your own inspection and title work.

Keep a dated copy of the signed statement with the contract. If answers change after it is signed, ask for an update before closing, and consider whether the new information affects your inspection, your flood insurance, or your willingness to proceed under the contract's other clauses.

On the Shore and along rivers, buyers should also budget time to read elevation certificates, flood-zone determinations, and any community rules about rebuilding after a storm. Those documents sit beside the addendum, they do not replace it. Share anything you learn with your inspector and your insurance agent before the attorney-review period, if you have one, runs out.

FAQ

When does the seller have to deliver the disclosure?

Before the purchaser becomes obligated under any contract to buy the property. That timing is in the Division's instructions and in the 2024 law.

Is the Flood Risk Addendum only for Shore homes?

No. It is mandatory for all sellers of real property in New Jersey, residential and non-residential. Sellers should verify certain flood answers, and may use flooddisclosure.nj.gov.

Does the disclosure replace a home inspection?

No. The official instructions say it is not a substitute for hiring qualified experts to inspect the property.

What if the seller never lived in the house?

The seller still answers from actual knowledge when the form is required. "I never lived there" is not a blanket exemption from the residential disclosure or the flood addendum.

Next step

If you're buying or selling a New Jersey home, talk with a licensed local agent about delivering or reviewing the official disclosure and Flood Risk Addendum before the buyer is bound. Buyers should also schedule a home inspection and, if the property is near water or in a mapped flood zone, get a flood-insurance quote.

Sources: Division of Consumer Affairs, Seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement instructions (August 2024 PDF); New Jersey Flood Risk Notification Tool; N.J.A.C. 13:45A-29.1, property condition disclosure form; DOBI Bulletin 24-11, Consumer Protection Enhancement Act.