Ten Towns, One Township
Woodbridge is a single municipality made up of ten communities, each listed with its own ZIP code on township forms: Avenel, Colonia, Fords, Hopelawn, Iselin, Keasbey, Menlo Park Terrace, Port Reading, Sewaren and Woodbridge proper. A mailing address may read Iselin or Fords instead of Woodbridge, yet one town hall at 1 Main Street sets the taxes, inspects the houses and registers the rentals for all ten.
Two in three Woodbridge homes are owner-occupied, above the rate for Middlesex County overall, so a typical seller here is a long-time owner: someone who raised a family in a Colonia colonial or an Avenel Cape and now want something smaller, or heirs to a parent's house. The remaining third are rentals, from single-family houses to small multi-unit buildings.
- 103,639residents in the 2020 census; 104,802 estimated for July 2025
- 66.0%owner-occupancy rate (ACS 2020–2024)
- $433,000median owner-occupied home value (ACS 2020–2024)
- 23.3square miles of land
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Woodbridge township, Middlesex County, New Jersey.
Woodbridge's Certificate of Compliance
Woodbridge has no continued-CO requirement for a home sale. What it does require, under ordinances dating from 1980 and 1998, is a Certificate of Compliance covering two things: the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and what drains into the township's sanitary sewer. The same inspection applies when a property is refinanced.
The sewer part catches many sellers by surprise. The inspector checks that no sump pump, basement floor drain, yard drain or driveway drain empties into the sanitary line; a basement floor drain has to be cemented over. Missing or cracked sewer trap caps also fail. On the alarm side, smoke detectors are needed on every level, including at the foot of the basement stairs, and must be screwed in place; tape, nails and picture hooks are refused. Battery smoke detectors must be the ten-year sealed type. Carbon monoxide alarms go within ten feet of the sleeping areas.
| Item | What the township's form says |
|---|---|
| How to apply | By phone, 732-634-4500 ext. 6009; the form is not online. Have the buyer's name, address, email and phone, plus the closing date. |
| Fee per unit | $50 if requested more than 10 business days ahead, $70 at 4 to 10 days, $125 with fewer than 4 |
| Payment | Exact cash or a bank certified check; no personal checks or money orders |
| Inspection hours | 9:00 am to noon, with the owner or a representative on site |
| Open permits | Every open building permit or violation must be closed before the certificate is released |
| How long it lasts | 60 days from the inspection |
Source: Township of Woodbridge, Certificate of Compliance requirements sheet (2021 edition on the township website). Confirm current fees with the township.
The open-permit rule is the one that can hold up a closing for weeks, for instance when a deck, finished basement or furnace replacement was done years ago and never got its final inspection. Sell to us and those become our problem: any sump pump re-routing, any old permit that needs closing out, and the inspection appointment itself.
Taxes and Sewer Through Town Hall
Woodbridge's Department of Tax Collections, on the first floor of Town Hall, bills both property taxes and the sewer utility. Tax bills go out in January and July, and installments are owed by February 1, May 1, August 1 and finally November 1, each with ten days' grace. Sewer is billed in halves; the second half is due October 1.
The township's 2025 general tax rate looks alarming at 12.034 per $100 of assessed value. That is a sign of old assessments, not a high bill: the effective rate, which measures tax against market value, was 2.234, close to the middle of Middlesex County. Before closing, the title company gets a certified payoff for taxes and sewer through the settlement date, and anything owed is paid from the price.
Rentals: Registration and Inspection
Township ordinances require both single-family and multi-unit rentals to be registered with the Bureau of Housing (732-602-6009) and inspected. The registration form asks for every unit, the number of bedrooms, how many people are authorized to live there, and the names of all tenants, children included, with their move-in dates. For buildings of two to nine units, the owner or manager sets up the inspection.
A sale does not interrupt any of that for the tenants. New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act does not treat a change of owner as grounds to remove anyone, so we buy occupied houses with the leases intact and take over deposits and interest at closing. If a registration has lapsed or the last inspection turned up repairs, those become ours. Our rental property guide explains the state rules.
Vacant Houses and the Township Registry
Woodbridge keeps a vacant property registry, and the rules are expensive to ignore. Once a house has been vacant for 30 days, in a condition that would need repairs before anyone could legally move back in, the owner must register it, secure it to federal housing standards, post a warning sign with contact names, keep the grass under eight inches and inspect it weekly. A vacant house that is also the subject of a foreclosure complaint is treated as vacant under the ordinance. Registration costs $500 for the first year and $1,000 for each renewal, and violations run $250 to $1,000 a day, with unpaid costs becoming a lien.
If you are holding an empty Woodbridge house, perhaps after a parent moved to assisted living or a tenant left it damaged, selling it quickly to us ends those costs. Fines or liens already charged are paid from the proceeds, so they never block the sale.
Flooding and Blue Acres
After Superstorm Sandy, Woodbridge applied to the state's Blue Acres program, which buys homes that storms and flooding have damaged severely or repeatedly. Participation is voluntary, homes are appraised at their pre-storm value, and owners have the right to appeal. If your house might qualify, ask the township about it before selling to anyone, us included. Every New Jersey seller must now also answer the state's flood risk questions on the disclosure form, which we accept as part of an as-is purchase.
Estates and Foreclosure
Probate for a Woodbridge owner goes through the Middlesex County Surrogate in New Brunswick (732-745-3055). The executor can sell to us once letters are issued, with the house as it was left. See the inherited house guide.
A Woodbridge foreclosure ends at a Middlesex County sheriff sale in New Brunswick, held every other week. A sale to us can close any time before it, paying off the lender in full. Owners living in the house have ten business days after signing to cancel, and we plan for that. Central Jersey Legal Services ((732) 249-7600) gives free advice to income-eligible Middlesex residents. More on our foreclosure page.
What Selling to Us Looks Like
- Send the address or call, and tell us about the house and your timing.
- One walk-through, then a written offer, normally the following day.
- The title company orders tax, sewer and mortgage payoffs and searches for open permits.
- We schedule and pay for the Certificate of Compliance and fix what it needs.
- You sign on your date, in person or remotely with a notary.