CALCULATOR
New Jersey closing costs: what you actually need at the table.
Most buyers budget the down payment and are then surprised by closing costs, usually another 2% to 5% of the price. This closing costs calculator estimates the full cash to close on a New Jersey purchase — including one thing most calculators still get wrong: since July 10, 2025 the fee on homes over $1 million is paid by the seller, not by you.
1The home
2Your loan
Adjust the fees (optional)
These are preset to typical New Jersey figures. Change one only if you have a real quote.
The NJ mansion tax is the seller’s, not yours
New Jersey’s supplemental fee on residential sales over $1 million — what everyone calls the “mansion tax” — was a 1% charge on the buyer for two decades. That changed on July 10, 2025: the fee is now paid by the seller and rises on a graduated scale from 1% up to 3.5% on the highest-value sales.
Source: NJ Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee FAQs and the Realty Transfer Fee overview.
What buyers pay in New Jersey
- Your own attorney — New Jersey purchases go through attorney review, and you want your own lawyer, not the lender's.
- Owner's title insurance and the title search — priced off the purchase price on a state-filed rate schedule.
- Lender charges: origination, underwriting, appraisal, credit and flood certification.
- Prepaids and escrows: a year of homeowners insurance, several months of property tax, and interest from closing to your first payment.
- Inspections — paid before closing, and the best money you will spend.
What the seller pays
- The NJ Realty Transfer Fee on the sale price.
- The supplemental “mansion” fee above $1 million, since July 10, 2025.
- Their own attorney, their brokerage compensation, and the CCO / smoke certificate in most towns.
Who pays the buyer's agent is negotiable and has been since the 2024 settlement changes. Read the buyer agreement page before you sign anything.
Questions about closing costs
For most of my buyers, closing costs and prepaid items land somewhere between about 2% and 5% of the purchase price, on top of the down payment. The range is wide because prepaids move it: how many months of tax escrow your lender requires, when in the month you close, and whether there is an HOA capital contribution can swing it by thousands. Run your own numbers above, then ask your lender for a Loan Estimate — that document is the binding one, not this calculator.
No. Since July 10, 2025 the supplemental fee on residential sales above $1 million is paid by the seller, at a graduated rate from 1% up to 3.5%. Before that date it was a 1% charge on the buyer. If anyone hands you a buyer cost sheet with a 1% mansion tax line on a purchase over $1 million, that sheet is out of date.
You are not legally required to have one, but I have never advised a buyer to skip it. New Jersey contracts go through a three-business-day attorney review during which either side's lawyer can cancel or rewrite terms. That window is where inspection credits, closing-date changes and title problems get resolved. A flat fee in the $1,500 to $2,500 range buys you the only professional at the table whose sole duty is to you.
Some of them, indirectly. A lender credit can cover part of your closing costs in exchange for a slightly higher interest rate, and a seller concession negotiated into the contract can cover costs up to limits your loan program sets. Neither is free — a lender credit costs you monthly, a seller concession usually costs you in price. I price both options before we write the offer so the choice is a decision rather than a surprise.
NEXT STEP
Want this run on a real listing?
Send me the address and your loan terms. I will build the cash-to-close sheet with the actual tax bill and the actual title rate, before you write the offer.