Real Estate Transaction Coordinator in New Jersey.

Transaction coordination for New Jersey agents

Once your deal is under contract, PLS takes over the execution: creating and managing the file in KW Command, tracking every deadline and contingency, routing documents for signature, coordinating with lenders, title, attorneys, and co-op agents, and submitting a compliant file to your Market Center. See the full transaction coordination service for everything we handle.

Attorney review: three business days, and the clock starts on delivery to both parties

Attorney review is the defining difference in a New Jersey file. Under N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.2(g), the period runs three days excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, measured from delivery of the signed contract to both the buyer and the seller, not from signature. The contract becomes binding at the end of the period unless an attorney for either side disapproves and notifies the brokers and the other party inside the window. It can only be extended by written agreement of buyer and seller. The rule covers contracts prepared by licensees for residential property of one to four dwelling units and vacant one-family lots; attorney-drafted contracts fall outside it.

One trap worth knowing: the regulation still lists only certified mail, telegram, or personal delivery as valid notice methods. That was superseded in 2017 by Conley v. Guerrero, 228 N.J. 339, which held that disapproval may be sent by fax, email, personal delivery, or overnight mail with proof of delivery. The regulation has never been amended to match. PLS tracks the review window on every New Jersey file alongside the standard contingencies.

The mansion tax was replaced in July 2025, and the seller now pays it

This is the change most agents have not caught up with. The flat 1% buyer-paid mansion tax no longer exists. P.L. 2025, c. 69, enacted June 30, 2025 and effective July 10, 2025, replaced it with a graduated Percent Fee and shifted liability from the grantee to the grantor. It applies to deeds submitted to the county recording officer on or after July 10, 2025.

• Over $1,000,000 up to $2,000,000: 1%
• Over $2,000,000 up to $2,500,000: 2%
• Over $2,500,000 up to $3,000,000: 2.5%
• Over $3,000,000 up to $3,500,000: 3%
• Over $3,500,000: 3.5%

It is not a bracket. It is a straight percentage of total consideration, so a $2.75M transfer owes 2.5% of the full $2.75M, or $68,750, at recording, on top of the standard Realty Transfer Fee. It reaches Class 2 residential, Class 3A farm with a residence, Class 4A commercial, and Class 4C co-op units. If you are quoting a seller net sheet above $1M in New Jersey off a pre-July-2025 template, the number is wrong.

The Realty Transfer Fee itself is separate, graduated, and paid by the seller, per the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

The smoke, CO, and fire extinguisher certificate, and why it fails

Before any one- or two-family or attached single-family structure is sold, the owner must obtain a Certificate of Smoke Alarm, Carbon Monoxide Alarm and Portable Fire Extinguisher Compliance under N.J.A.C. 5:70-2.3. It is issued by the local fire enforcement agency, so scheduling varies town to town. The state fee schedule at N.J.A.C. 5:70-2.9(d) prices it on lead time, which is the part that costs money when a file is run late:

• More than 10 business days before the change of occupancy: $45
• Four to 10 business days before: $90
• Fewer than four business days before: $161

Those are the state default figures; a municipality may adopt a different schedule by ordinance, so they are not caps. The certificate is not transferable, and if the specified change of occupancy does not happen within six months a new application is required.

Two failure points account for most re-inspections, and neither is about the smoke alarms. The extinguisher must be within 10 feet of the kitchen in the path of egress, minimum 2A-10B:C, no more than 10 pounds, mounted on the manufacturer's bracket with the top no more than five feet off the floor, and it must have been serviced and tagged by a certified contractor within the past 12 months. Applications now go through FIRE SOLUTIONS Online; the state no longer publishes a paper form. For state association resources, see New Jersey Realtors.

Pricing in New Jersey

Transaction coordination is billed per file, not as a monthly retainer, so you only pay when you have a deal. Contract to close is $450 per transaction in New Jersey, and the full rate card is published on our pricing page.

County by county

Transfer tax, recording requirements, and municipal point-of-sale obligations change at every county line, and often at every municipal line inside a county. We publish what we have verified for the counties we work in:

• Bergen County
• Burlington County
• Camden County
• Essex County
• Gloucester County
• Mercer County
• Middlesex County
• Monmouth County
• Ocean County

Where we work in New Jersey

PLS coordinates transactions throughout New Jersey, and also serves agents in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The county pages above are the markets we have published verified detail for so far, not the limit of where we work. If your county is not listed yet, we almost certainly still cover it, and we will have the local specifics before your file needs them. New to PLS? A short discovery call gets you set up, often the same day.