Buyer closing costs calculator for New Jersey
Estimate your closing costs
Lender charges (set to 0 if you pay cash; the calculator does it for you when the down payment covers the price)
Your own professionals
Title and recording (the owner's title policy is estimated from the price)
Paid in advance at closing
Estimated closing costs
- Loan amount
- Lender fees: origination, underwriting and points
- Appraisal, credit report and lender third parties
- Home inspection
- Attorney
- Survey
- Owner's title insurance policy (estimated from the price)
- Lender's policy, title search, settlement and endorsements
- Recording fees
- Property tax collected at closing
- Homeowners insurance, first year
- Prepaid interest
- Working-capital contribution to the association
- Realty Transfer Fee and mansion tax (paid by the seller in New Jersey)
- $0
- Estimated closing costs
- Cash to close, with the down payment
Turn on JavaScript to use the calculator, or read the worked examples below; they use the same arithmetic.
Estimate for planning only, from the numbers you enter. It is not a Loan Estimate, a title quote or legal advice; I am a real estate agent, not a lender, a title company or an attorney. Every default is an assumption to replace with a real quote. The owner's title policy is estimated from the per-$1,000 schedule New Jersey title companies publish from the state rate manual; your title company's figure replaces it.
What you actually bring to the closing table
Enter the price and your down payment, and this calculator estimates what a buyer pays at closing in New Jersey, line by line: lender fees, appraisal, inspection, attorney, title insurance, recording, the property tax and insurance collected up front, and the condo contribution. Then it adds the down payment and shows the cash to close.
I am Bogdan Nicolae Rus, a REALTOR® with eXp Realty (New Jersey license #2186044) in Hoboken. Closing costs are the number first-time buyers most often forget to budget for. Every buyer I work with sees this estimate before we write an offer, and the lender's Loan Estimate replaces it once we have a contract. I work in English, Romanian and Spanish. Vorbim românește. Se habla español.
A condo and a two-family, side by side
Two buyers, both with 20% down and a 6.5% loan. The first buys a Jersey City condo, $750,000, 20% down with a $400 monthly condo fee, $12,000 a year of property tax, every other line at the calculator's default. The second buys a two-family house in Bayonne, $900,000, 20% down with a $900 survey, an $800 inspection for two units, $15,000 a year of property tax, $2,400 a year of insurance. Prices, taxes and fees are examples, not quotes.
- Loan $600,000
- Lender fees $1,500
- Appraisal and lender third parties $750
- Inspection $600
- Attorney $1,500
- Owner's title policy $2,912
- Lender's policy, search, settlement $625
- Recording $350
- Property tax at closing $4,000
- Insurance, first year $1,440
- Prepaid interest $1,603
- Condo working capital $800
- Closing costs $16,080
- Cash to close with the down payment $166,080
- Loan $720,000
- Lender fees $1,500
- Appraisal and lender third parties $750
- Inspection $800
- Attorney $1,500
- Survey $900
- Owner's title policy $3,325
- Lender's policy, search, settlement $625
- Recording $350
- Property tax at closing $5,000
- Insurance, first year $2,400
- Prepaid interest $1,923
- Closing costs $19,073
- Cash to close with the down payment $199,073
Closing costs come to about 2.1% of the price on the condo and 2.1% on the house, before the down payment. Neither buyer pays a transfer fee or the mansion tax; in New Jersey the seller does.
From a budget to an offer
Add these costs to the down payment from the affordability calculator, check the monthly side with the mortgage calculator, and if you are still deciding whether to buy at all, run the rent vs. buy calculator. When the numbers work, start with the buyer form or a private consultation; my first call for a lender is on the partners page.
Call (201) 584-6156 · Text mebogdan@bogdannicolaerus.com
eXp Realty, 50 Harrison St, Suite 205, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Buyer closing costs in New Jersey: frequently asked questions
What closing costs does a buyer pay in New Jersey?
Lender charges (origination, underwriting, points if you buy them, the appraisal and small third-party fees), your own professionals (attorney, home inspection, a survey for a house), title insurance and the title company's search and settlement charges, county recording fees, and money paid in advance: property tax for the escrow account and for the days you owe the seller, the first year of homeowners insurance and interest from the closing date to the end of the month. On a condo there is usually a working-capital contribution to the association. The two worked examples on this page land at a little over two percent of the price, before the down payment.
Does the buyer pay the Realty Transfer Fee or the mansion tax in New Jersey?
No. The Realty Transfer Fee is paid by the seller, and since July 10, 2025 the so-called mansion tax on sales of $1 million and more is paid by the seller too. That is why both appear on this page as $0 for the buyer. The transfer fee and mansion tax calculator shows what the seller pays.
Do I need an attorney to buy a home in New Jersey?
The law does not require one, but nearly every buyer in Hudson County uses one, and I would not close without one. New Jersey contracts go through attorney review, your attorney orders the title work, reviews the condo documents and the survey, and sits with you at the closing table. Fees are the attorney's own; the calculator's $1,500 is an assumption to replace with the quote. Attorney review, explained.
How is title insurance priced in New Jersey?
Title insurance premiums in New Jersey are filed with the state, so the owner's policy costs about the same at any title company; what differs is the search, settlement and endorsement charges around it. The calculator estimates the owner's policy from the per-$1,000 schedule that title companies publish from the state rate manual (rates effective November 1, 2023) and adds a small flat charge for the lender's policy issued at the same time. Your title company's quote replaces the estimate.
What are prepaids and escrows?
Money you pay at closing for costs that have not come due yet. The lender collects a few months of property tax and the first year of homeowners insurance to open the escrow account that pays those bills for you, plus interest from the closing date to the end of the month. You also reimburse the seller for the property tax they already paid for the rest of the quarter. None of it is a fee; it is your own money, paid early.
Can the seller pay my closing costs?
Often, yes. A seller credit toward closing costs is negotiated in the contract, and I ask for one when the market and the home justify it. Lender rules cap the credit at a percentage of the price that depends on the loan type and your down payment; your lender gives the exact limit before we write the offer.
Is this my Loan Estimate?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter and on the calculator's assumptions; I am a real estate agent, not a lender or a title company. Within three business days of your application the lender must give you a Loan Estimate, and three business days before closing a Closing Disclosure with the final numbers. Use this page to budget, then compare it with those two documents line by line; I do that with every buyer.