Know what you’re walking into.

New Jersey does something most states do not. Once a contract for a resale home is signed by both buyer and seller, it enters a three-business-day attorney review period. During that window either side’s attorney can disapprove the contract, propose changes, or cancel it outright.

Three things people routinely get wrong. First, it is three business days — weekends and holidays do not count, so a Thursday signing runs into the following Tuesday. Second, the clock starts when the contract is fully signed and delivered, not when you shook hands. Third, until review ends and the contract is finalised, either party can still walk. That is not bad faith; it is how the process is designed.

What this means practically: stay reachable during those three days, get your attorney the contract immediately, and do not order the moving truck yet. Attorney review is also the moment to raise anything in the contract that concerns you, because after it closes, changes get much harder.

An inspection is not a test the house passes or fails. It is a few hours with a trained stranger who writes down everything they see, including things that are entirely normal for a house of that age. A thirty-year-old shore home will produce a long report. That is expected.

What matters is sorting the list into categories: genuinely material items such as structure, roof, active water intrusion, electrical hazards, or a heating system at the end of its life; ordinary maintenance you would handle as any homeowner does; and cosmetic notes that do not belong in a negotiation at all.

Near the water, add a few specifics — elevation, flood vents, bulkhead condition, crawlspace moisture, and any past flood remediation. Consider specialist follow-ups where warranted: sewer scope on older lines, oil tank sweep on properties that may have had underground tanks, and radon and termite where appropriate.

As a buyer, use the report to negotiate repairs or a credit. As a seller, remember a credit is often cleaner and faster than arranging work yourself under time pressure.

You agreed a price, the lender ordered an appraisal, and it landed below the contract number. This is more common in a fast market, where buyers compete a price up beyond what recent closed sales support — and an appraiser works from those closed sales.

The lender will lend against the appraised value, not the contract price. So a gap has to be resolved by someone. Usually the options are: renegotiate the price down, have the buyer bring the difference in cash, split it somewhere in the middle, or challenge the appraisal with better comparable sales if genuinely relevant ones were missed. Depending on the contract, the buyer may also be able to terminate.

Which of these is actually available to you depends on the terms you signed, which is why the appraisal contingency is worth understanding before you need it. Your attorney advises on the contract; I will help assemble the comparable sales and work the negotiation.

A title search asks a simple question: does the seller actually have clear ownership to transfer? Most searches come back clean. When they do not, it tends to be one of a familiar set of issues — an old mortgage never formally discharged, a contractor’s lien, unpaid municipal charges, a judgment against someone with a similar name, an easement nobody mentioned, an estate where heirs were never properly cleared, or a boundary or survey discrepancy.

Most are solvable. What they cost is time, which is why they hurt when they appear two weeks before closing. If you are selling an inherited property, or one held in a trust or an LLC, or one where a divorce or an estate is in the chain, it is worth raising that with your attorney early rather than waiting for the search to find it.

Title insurance protects against defects that were not found. It does not fix a known problem — that still has to be cleared before closing.

An offer is not just a number. Price gets the attention, but sellers weigh the whole package, and several of the other levers cost you nothing.

Deposit size signals seriousness. Closing date can matter enormously to a seller who is buying elsewhere. Financing type affects perceived certainty — a well-documented conventional pre-approval reads differently from a thin pre-qualification. Inspection scope can be adjusted without waiving your protection entirely. And how quickly you can produce documents when the lender asks affects whether the deal stays on schedule.

Before writing, we look at what genuinely comparable homes sold for, not what is currently listed. Asking prices are opinions; closed sales are evidence. We also look at how long competing listings have sat, whether anything nearby has been reduced, and what the seller’s situation appears to be.

Then you decide. My job is to make sure you are deciding with real information rather than adrenaline.

The mechanics are the same everywhere, but a few things are worth flagging locally.

Budget beyond the purchase price. New Jersey property taxes vary widely between municipalities, and two similar houses in different towns can differ by hundreds of dollars a month. Get the actual tax figure for the specific property, not the town average.

Near the water, insurance is a real line item. Flood zone designation and elevation drive the cost, and lenders will require coverage in certain zones. Get a quote during your inspection period, not after.

Understand the sequence: pre-approval, offer, attorney review, inspection, appraisal, mortgage commitment, title, walkthrough, closing. Each has a deadline, and missing one has consequences. Ask what each step is for as we go — you are allowed not to know this yet.

Finally, look at inland Ocean County as well as the shore towns. Ten minutes from the water often buys considerably more house.

Most agent interviews cover the wrong ground. Sales volume and awards tell you about last year, not about how your transaction will be handled. Some better questions:

Who actually handles my file? If you are hiring one person and being served by an assistant, you should know that before you sign, not after.

How do you arrive at a price? Ask to see the comparable sales. A number without evidence behind it is a guess, and the flattering guess is the expensive one.

What happens if the inspection goes badly, or the appraisal is short? Listen for specifics. This is where transactions are actually won and lost.

What are your fees and terms, in writing? Commission is negotiable, and any agent should be comfortable explaining exactly what it covers.

How and how often will you communicate? Most complaints about agents come down to silence, not competence.

Interview more than one. Hire the one who answers plainly.