Guides · Sky Realty Associates
Buying your first home in New Jersey
Your first home is a big step, and New Jersey has programs that help. These are the steps, from budget to keys.
Updated October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
Step by step
- Know your budget
Add up the full monthly cost: mortgage, property tax (see each town page), insurance and any HOA fee. Keep savings for closing costs and moving.
- Get pre-approved
A lender checks your income, credit and savings and tells you how much you can borrow. Sellers take offers with a pre-approval letter more seriously.
- Ask about first-time buyer programs
The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) offers first-time buyer mortgages and down payment assistance through participating lenders. Its assistance is a second loan with no interest and no monthly payment that is forgiven after five years if you keep living in the home. You count as a first-time buyer if you have not owned your primary home in the last three years. Income and purchase price limits apply by county, a homebuyer education course is required, and amounts change - check the current figures at njhousing.gov or 1-800-NJHOUSE.
- Look at other loan types
FHA loans allow a smaller down payment; VA loans help veterans and service members; USDA loans cover some rural areas. Your lender can compare them.
- Find the home and make an offer
Tour homes with a local agent, make an offer, and sign the contract. Then buyer and seller each have three business days of attorney review.
- Inspection, appraisal and closing
Have the home inspected, let the lender appraise it, and close with your attorney. Then you get the keys.
Questions people ask
Who is a first-time home buyer in New Jersey?
For NJHMFA programs, someone who has not owned a home as their primary residence in the last three years.
Does New Jersey help with the down payment?
Yes. NJHMFA offers down payment assistance to eligible first-time buyers through participating lenders, as a forgivable second loan. Amounts and income limits change; check njhousing.gov or call 1-800-NJHOUSE.
What is attorney review in New Jersey?
After a home sale contract is signed, the buyer and the seller each have three business days for their attorneys to review it.