Selling in New Jersey's Most Crowded County
Hudson County packs about three quarters of a million people onto land hemmed in by the Hudson on one side and the Passaic and Newark Bay on the other. Divide the 2020 census count by the county's land area and you get more than 15,000 residents per square mile. That density shapes nearly every sale here. Lots are narrow, neighbors share walls, and parking is hard to come by.
It also means most homes are rented. Fewer than one household in three owns the place it lives in, so a typical Hudson seller is as likely to be a landlord, an heir or an out-of-state owner as someone selling the home they live in. Our process is built for that mix. You give us an address, we see the property once, and we put a single figure in writing. If you accept, a New Jersey title company or attorney handles settlement on the day you choose, and any mortgage, lien or unpaid bill is paid from the price.
- 724,854residents in the 2020 census; 735,033 estimated for July 2025
- 30.7%of occupied homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2020–2024)
- $539,700median value of an owner-occupied home (ACS 2020–2024)
- $1,894median gross monthly rent (ACS 2020–2024)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Hudson County, New Jersey. Land area 46.19 square miles.
Twelve Municipalities on One Narrow Strip
The county has 12 towns, and they could hardly be more different. Jersey City alone holds roughly two in five Hudson residents. Hoboken faces Manhattan across the river. The North Hudson towns on the ridge above the river, Weehawken, Union City, West New York, Guttenberg and North Bergen, run together street to street. Kearny, Harrison and East Newark sit across the Passaic from Newark, and Secaucus sits out in the Meadowlands. Bayonne fills the peninsula at the southern tip. We buy in every one of them:
- Jersey City
- Bayonne
- Hoboken
- Union City
- West New York
- North Bergen
- Weehawken
- Guttenberg
- Secaucus
- Kearny
- Harrison
- East Newark
What changes from town to town is the paperwork. Each municipality collects its own property tax, runs its own resale inspection rules, and in some towns, including Jersey City and Bayonne, has a local rent control law that affects what a building is worth to the next owner. Those details matter more in Hudson than in most counties, because so many sales here involve occupied rental units.
County Offices a Hudson Seller Deals With
The county's offices are all in Jersey City. None of them needs a visit from you when we buy, but it helps to know who does what.
| Task | Office | Why a seller cares |
|---|---|---|
| Probate and estates | Hudson County Surrogate, Frank J. Guarini Justice Complex, 24 Central Avenue, Room 1-4000, Jersey City (201-795-6378) | Letters testamentary or of administration come from here. Without them, nobody can sign a deed for an estate. |
| Deeds and mortgages | Hudson County Register, 257 Cornelison Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jersey City ((201) 395-4760) | The new deed and the transfer fee are filed here after closing. Old, unreleased mortgages turn up in these records during the title search. |
| Foreclosure auctions | Hudson County Sheriff; sales held at 595 Newark Avenue | The sheriff sale date is the hard deadline for any sale of a house in foreclosure. |
| Property tax and tax sales | Each town's tax collector | The sheriff does not sell tax liens. Every town holds its own tax sale and issues its own payoff letters. |
| Resale certificates | Each town's fire or building office | Jersey City's fire bureau issues the alarm certificate; Bayonne's building department issues a Resale Certificate. |
Property Tax Rates Across Hudson County
The state publishes two figures per town. The general rate is applied to your assessment. The effective rate corrects for how far that town's assessments drift from market value, so it is the one to use when comparing towns. A huge general rate, such as Kearny's, usually means assessments are far below today's prices, not that the bill is huge. Here are the 2025 numbers, per $100 of value:
| Municipality | General rate | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| Bayonne | 2.880 | 1.987 |
| East Newark | 3.076 | 1.620 |
| Guttenberg | 4.181 | 2.435 |
| Harrison | 2.384 | 1.704 |
| Hoboken | 1.805 | 1.070 |
| Jersey City | 2.335 | 1.847 |
| Kearny | 10.848 | 1.985 |
| North Bergen | 1.828 | 1.661 |
| Secaucus | 4.268 | 1.549 |
| Union City | 1.848 | 1.859 |
| Weehawken | 2.046 | 1.853 |
| West New York | 8.707 | 1.771 |
Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation, 2025 General Tax Rates, Hudson County.
By effective rate, Guttenberg was the costliest Hudson town in 2025 and Hoboken the cheapest. For a seller who has fallen behind, the rate matters less than the clock. Once a town holds its tax sale, the lien is sold as a certificate that can accrue interest at as much as 18% annually, and penalties are added when it is redeemed. Even so, back taxes and a certificate never block a sale to us. The title company gets a redemption figure from the tax collector, it is paid out of the price at settlement, and the house transfers clean. The New Jersey tax lien guide explains the full sequence, including the 2024 change that lets an owner facing tax foreclosure demand a sale and keep the surplus.
Foreclosure in Hudson County, Step by Step
New Jersey forecloses through the Superior Court, never outside it. If you do not answer the complaint, the state Office of Foreclosure handles the case on paper. If you do answer, a General Equity judge in the Hudson vicinage hears it. Either way, the statute fixes the sequence:
- 30 to 180 days before suit
The lender's notice of intention
Sent by certified or registered mail. It names the amount needed to bring the loan current and a date to do it.
- After service
A 35-day window to answer
Miss it, and the case moves ahead as uncontested.
- Within 60 days
Mediation for owner-occupants
If you live in the one- to four-family home, you can request free court mediation with a housing counselor's help.
- After judgment
Thursday sheriff sales
The Hudson County Sheriff auctions foreclosed property on Thursday afternoons, twice a month, at the Administration Building on Newark Avenue. The remaining 2026 dates listed by the sheriff are October 8 and 22, November 5 and 19, and December 10. Up to five adjournments of no more than 30 days each are allowed.
- Ten days after the auction
Redemption period
The sheriff's own conditions of sale call the first ten days after an auction the defendant's right of redemption; the winning bidder cannot even pay the balance until it ends. Any surplus over the debt belongs to the former owner.
Title stays in your name right up to the auction, which leaves room to sell at any stage. The lender is paid off at settlement and the case is dismissed. Waiting has a cost, because interest, late charges and the lender's legal fees keep growing the payoff for as long as the case stays open.
When an owner-occupant in foreclosure sells, New Jersey's Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act lets the seller cancel any time before midnight on the tenth business day following signature, or before the sheriff sale if that is sooner. The buyer may not take or record a deed during that period. Every contract we sign with a homeowner in foreclosure includes the required notice and cancellation form, and the closing date is set after the period ends.
The sheriff's office points homeowners to free HUD-certified counseling through the Waterfront Project at (551) 256-7578. A counselor can tell you whether a modification or a refinance is realistic before you decide to sell. Our foreclosure guide covers the statewide process in more depth.
Estates and the Hudson County Surrogate
An executor named in a will takes it to the Surrogate's office in the Guarini Justice Complex to be probated. Where there was no will, a relative asks to be appointed administrator. Either way, the letters that office issues are what give someone the power to sign for the estate, and a contract with us can be signed the day they are issued. Clearing out the rooms, making repairs and removing a tenant can all be skipped.
New Jersey ended its estate tax for deaths from 2018 on, but the inheritance tax remains. Spouses, partners, children, stepchildren, grandchildren and parents (Class A) owe nothing. Siblings (Class C) get $25,000 exempt before rates begin, and other heirs, including nieces, nephews and friends (Class D), pay 15% or 16%. Because the tax is a lien on the house, the title company will ask for a tax waiver before closing; an all-Class-A estate can usually use Form L-9. More detail is in our inherited house guide.
Buildings With Tenants
With roughly seven Hudson households in ten renting, tenants come with a large share of the property we buy. New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act spells out the permitted grounds for removing a residential tenant, and selling the property is absent from that list. A buyer steps into the existing leases. The narrow exception lets the seller of a property containing no more than three units end a tenancy on two months' notice when the buyer will personally live there, and that does not apply to us, because we buy to own, not to move in.
So we buy occupied. At closing the security deposits, with any interest owed, are transferred to us, and the tenants are told in writing by registered or certified mail. If the building is under a town rent control law, that stays with the units too, and we account for it in our figure rather than asking you to sort it out first. Jersey City and Bayonne both have such laws; the city pages explain each one. For the general picture, read selling a rental property in New Jersey.
Certificates Needed Before a Hudson Sale
State law requires a certificate for the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms before any one- or two-family home is sold. In older houses, battery-only smoke alarms must be the sealed ten-year type. A town can replace the state certificate with its own resale inspection, and Hudson towns handle this differently:
- Jersey City's Fire Prevention Bureau runs the sale-of-property alarm certification. The application goes in with a $75 check, and an inspector then sets up a walk-through by email.
- Bayonne's Building Department switched from Continuing Certificates of Occupancy to Resale Certificates on October 1, 2025. They apply to one- and two-family homes, larger residential buildings and commercial property.
- The other ten towns set their own rules and fees. We contact the town as soon as you sign and take care of the inspection and anything it asks for.
Closing Costs a Seller Should Expect
The state's realty transfer fee is charged when the deed is recorded, and by law the seller pays it. It is calculated in steps for every $500 of the price, with lower rates for owner-occupants of one- and two-family homes aged 62 and up, or blind or disabled. A sale of $1 million or more also carries the graduated percent fee, which has been charged to the seller since July 10, 2025. It runs from 1% of the full price up to 3.5% above $3.5 million, which is a real number in parts of Hoboken and downtown Jersey City.
Every seller also has to complete the state's flood risk disclosure, in force since March 20, 2024. In a county edged by water on nearly every side, expect those questions to matter. We buy either way, and our written offer itemizes every cost and who pays it.
How a Sale to Us Works in Hudson County
- Call or type the address above. Tell us who lives there, the condition, and your ideal timeline.
- We walk through once, including any occupied units the tenants agree to show, and send a written offer, usually within a day.
- The title company orders payoffs for the mortgage, taxes, water and sewer, and any judgment liens; they come out of the price.
- We file for the alarm certificate or town resale inspection and handle what it requires.
- You sign at a title office, or remotely with a notary if you have moved away, on the date you picked.