What Selling a Home in Summit Actually Costs You
Most sellers know the commission. Fewer know the transfer fee. Almost nobody knows the fee changed in 2025, and that it now comes out of the seller’s side.
That is the first thing in this guide, because it is the thing that costs the most money and gets discussed the least.
The Fee That Moved to Your Side of the Table
New Jersey used to charge a 1% “mansion tax” on sales over $1,000,000. The buyer paid it. That is over.
For contracts fully executed on or after July 10, 2025, the fee is paid by the seller. It is officially the Graduated Percent Fee. It rises with price, and it is charged on top of the standard Realty Transfer Fee.
| Sale price | Fee rate |
|---|---|
| $1,000,000.01 to $2,000,000 | 1% |
| $2,000,000.01 to $2,500,000 | 2% |
| $2,500,000.01 to $3,000,000 | 2.5% |
| $3,000,000.01 to $3,500,000 | 3% |
| $3,500,000.01 and above | 3.5% |
There are no senior, disabled or veteran discounts on this fee. The Realty Transfer Fee has them. This one does not.
The median sale in Summit was $1,608,000. That is a fee of about $16,080 that a seller two years ago would not have paid. In Short Hills the median was $2,100,000, which lands in the second bracket. That seller owes roughly $42,000.
The part that costs people real money
The rate applies to the entire sale price, not just the amount above the threshold. Cross a line by one dollar and the higher rate hits every dollar underneath it.
| Sale price | Rate | Fee owed | Cost of crossing |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | 1% | $20,000 | |
| $2,000,000.01 | 2% | $40,000 | +$20,000 |
| $2,500,000 | 2% | $50,000 | |
| $2,500,000.01 | 2.5% | $62,500 | +$12,500 |
| $3,000,000 | 2.5% | $75,000 | |
| $3,000,000.01 | 3% | $90,000 | +$15,000 |
| $3,500,000 | 3% | $105,000 | |
| $3,500,000.01 | 3.5% | $122,500 | +$17,500 |
Read that second row again. A seller who accepts $2,010,000 instead of $2,000,000 nets about $10,000 less. The extra ten thousand in price costs twenty thousand in fee.
If your sale will land within about $25,000 above a threshold, model it before you counter. I run that math at the offer stage.
Confirm your own figures with your real estate attorney. I am a REALTOR®, not a tax advisor.
Full breakdown: the NJ mansion tax seller’s guide
What You Actually Net
Sellers think about price. What lands in your account is price minus a stack of line items. The stack got heavier in 2025.
| Line | Notes |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $1,608,000 at the Summit median |
| Graduated Percent Fee | About $16,080 at 1%. New since July 2025. Seller pays. |
| Realty Transfer Fee | Separate from the above. Scales with price. |
| Attorney | Flat fee in most of New Jersey |
| Municipal items | Smoke certification, final water and sewer, any open permits |
| Payoff and adjustments | Mortgage payoff, prorated taxes |
The Graduated Percent Fee is new and it is yours. Two years ago the buyer paid it. If your math comes from the last time you sold, it is wrong by five figures.
Fees are agreed in writing before anything starts. That is what the NAR settlement changed, and it protects you. Read the agreement. Ask what happens to money that does not get paid out.
Ask for a written net sheet before you sign anything. Any agent can produce one. If one will not, that tells you something.
Price the Band, Not the Town
Town-wide medians are the wrong number to price against. Summit’s median was $1,608,000 across 210 sales. That figure blends markets that behave nothing alike.
The most competitive price point in Summit is not the entry level. It is $1,750,000. Homes there sold for 113% of asking in an average of thirteen days. That is the fastest, most bid-up segment in town, and it is above the median, not below it.
A seller who prices off the town median in a town where the $1,750,000 band is the hot one leaves money on the table. A seller who prices into a soft band and expects the town-wide velocity sits through two price reductions.
Every town I cover behaves this way. Find your town.
What I Pay For Before We List
On my exclusive listings I identify the work a house needs to reach the market, and I pay for it. Not reimbursed at closing. Paid.
- Professional staging
- A secure storage unit for decluttering
- Skilled trades for minor repairs. Touch-up painting, drywall, caulking
- Deep cleaning
- Landscaping and junk removal
- Window cleaning and power washing
- A professional pre-inspection
Selling as-is usually costs more in discount than the work would have. Buyers do not deduct what a repair costs. They deduct what they fear it might cost.
The pre-inspection matters most. You see the report before the buyer does.
The Contractor Part
Before real estate I worked for developers as an asset manager, a construction project manager, and a licensed New Jersey general contractor. Ran multi-million dollar construction budgets. Managed close to 1,000 apartments.
I know what defects cost. That turns repair requests into arithmetic instead of argument. Most deals do not die over what the inspector found. They die because nobody could price it. A roof near the end of its life becomes a standoff. One side guesses high. The other guesses low.
I bring written estimates from the vendors who would do the work. A real number ends it.
Get your own inspection either way. I am not a substitute for one.
Open Permits Will Find You
An open permit from a water heater replaced in 2011 does not surface when you list. It surfaces two weeks before closing, when the title work comes back.
Check with your municipality early. Closing out an old permit takes days when you start in week one and costs you the closing date when you start in week six. This is the most common avoidable delay I see.
When to List
Spring is the deepest market. More buyers, more competition, more inventory to be compared against.
That last part is the one people forget. Listing in the busiest month means listing against the most competition. A well-prepared house in a thin month can do better than an average house in a crowded one.
The stronger signal is your own price band. Some bands in some towns move all year. Others have a season.
The worst time to list is before the house is ready. A launch you cannot redo is worth waiting three weeks for.
The First Ten Days
Your listing is never newer than the day it goes live.
The first ten days decide the outcome. Photography, pricing and timing have to be right before you go live. You do not get to redo a launch.
If you are getting showings and no offers, the house is showing wrong. If you are getting neither, the price is wrong. Those are different problems with different fixes, and telling them apart in week one saves you a reduction in week five.
Reading Offers
Price is one term. It is not the only one that decides what you net.
- Financing. Cash closes. Conventional with 20% down closes. Low-down financing at the top of a buyer’s approval closes less often.
- Appraisal. An appraisal gap clause tells you what happens if the number comes in low. Without one, a low appraisal is your problem.
- Inspection. A buyer who will take the house with a repair credit is worth more than a higher offer with an open-ended inspection contingency.
- Timing. A closing date that matches your next move has real value.
- The threshold. If the offer sits just over a Graduated Percent Fee line, the higher number may net you less. Run it before you counter.
I do not hand this off. I read every offer, I make every call, and I sit in every inspection. There is no team, no coordinator, and no handoff where something gets lost in the passing.
Appraisal
The appraiser is not looking for your house’s best qualities. They are looking for three comparable sales and a set of adjustments.
The pre-inspection. The improvement list with dates and costs. An appraiser working without context defaults to the comps as found.
Selling and Buying at the Same Time
Most sellers in these towns are also buyers. That is two transactions with one set of nerves.
The two paths are selling first and buying first. Selling first means you know your number and you may need a rent-back. Buying first means you carry two properties, or you write an offer with a home sale contingency that a competitive seller will not accept.
There is no universally right answer. There is a right answer for your finances and your tolerance, and it should be decided before your house goes live, not while you are holding an accepted offer and a clock.
Closing
Title, payoff, municipal certificates, smoke certification, final water and sewer. A smooth closing is a checklist run early instead of a heroic week at the end.
Your attorney handles the legal side. My job is that nothing is discovered in week six that could have been discovered in week one.
Before You Sign a Listing Agreement
Ask any agent you interview these. Mine are on the record.
Who is actually doing the work?
Ask whether the person in your living room is the person at your showings and your inspection. On my listings that is me. I have back office help. I have no commissioned agents under me and I do not want any.
What do you pay for, and when?
Ask what comes out of your pocket versus theirs, and whether “we cover staging” means paid or reimbursed at closing. On my exclusives I pay for it.
What is my number after the transfer fee?
If they cannot explain the Graduated Percent Fee without looking it up, they have not been modelling it for their sellers.
What happens if we are near a fee threshold?
The answer should involve running the math before countering.
How do you price?
“Comps” is not an answer. The answer should involve your bedroom count and your price band, not the town median.
Who negotiates the inspection?
Ask what happens when a report says a roof is near end of life. If the answer is “we ask for a credit,” ask how they arrive at the number.
Nobody is best for everyone. An agent who tells you otherwise is selling.
Seller FAQ
Who pays the mansion tax in New Jersey?
Since July 10, 2025, the seller does. It is officially the Graduated Percent Fee. It runs from 1% at $1,000,000 up to 3.5% above $3,500,000, and it applies to the entire sale price. On a $1,608,000 sale that is about $16,080. Confirm your figures with your real estate attorney.
Should I fix up my house before selling, or sell as is?
Neither, if you list with me. I identify what the house needs to reach the market and I pay for it. Staging, minor repairs, deep cleaning, landscaping, junk removal, storage and a professional pre-inspection. Selling as-is usually costs more in discount than the work would have cost.
How long does it take to sell a house in Summit?
The median was twenty days to contract over the twelve months through July 2026, at 108% of asking across 210 sales. Speed varies by price band more than by season.
What is my house worth?
Not what the town median says. What your price band and bedroom count did over the last twelve months. That is a different number and usually a more useful one.
Do I need my own inspection if you do a pre-inspection?
The buyer will do their own regardless. The point of the pre-inspection is that you see the report first.
What happens if the appraisal comes in low?
It depends on what the contract says. An appraisal gap clause decides it in advance. Without one you are renegotiating with a buyer who now has a number supporting them.
Sources and notes
- Sale figures: Garden State MLS (GSMLS), August 2025 through July 2026.
- Graduated Percent Fee: P.L. 2025 c.69, N.J.S.A. 46:15-7.2, and NJ REALTORS® guidance.
- Rates move, so this guide does not quote one. See live rate data.
