Sell Your Union House for Cash, As-Is

Kevin Palumbo is the township assessor, at Town Hall, 1976 Morris Avenue (908-851-8505). Don't panic when the assessment looks like a typo next to your contract price. The 2025 Union County equalization table pegs the township's average assessment level at 9.78% of what property actually sells for. That's why the 2025 general rate hit 23.323. Of the county's 21 taxing districts, only Winfield's was higher. The state's effective rate, which compares towns as if all were assessed at 100%, was 2.270 here.

In dollars, the state's 2025 residential statistics cover 16,132 residential line items, averaging $46,516 in assessed value and $10,849 in tax.

Think your assessment is wrong? The township doesn't decide that. The Union County Board of Taxation does, at 300 North Avenue East in Westfield. Under its 2026 packet, appeals from towns that weren't revalued are due April 1, or 45 days after the township's assessment notices were mailed out, whichever comes later. Revalued towns get until May 1. The state's petition form charges a $5 filing fee when the assessed value is under $150,000. Your comparable sales have to support what the house was worth on the prior October 1. Because the ratio is so low, the board runs your evidence through the Chapter 123 ratio range, and the packet is blunt that you only get a reduction if your proven market value falls below the lower limit.

The assessor's page also links the veteran deduction, the senior citizen, disabled and surviving spouse deduction, and the 100% disabled veteran exemption. If you receive one, tell your closing attorney so the tax proration matches the real bill. Property taxes and sewer utility bills both go through the township Tax Office.

On October 8, 2026, Redfin showed Union's median sale at $578K for summer 2026 (June to August), a 0.9% rise from summer 2025. The same page said homes were selling for about 5% above list and going pending in around 24 days. The state's 2025 residential figures, built on other sales, show 390 sales at an average of $560,510. Two methods, two numbers, so treat them as a range.

Most of what changes hands here is one- to four-unit housing: the township's 2022 assessment breakdown counted 16,163 residential line items in that class, 49 apartment properties (the state's class for apartment buildings of five units and up) and 246 vacant lots.

Water is the next thing to check. Union County lists the township among the communities in the 82-square-mile Rahway River basin. After Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Union joined Cranford, Millburn, Springfield, Maplewood, Garwood, Kenilworth and Rahway in a mayors council on flood control, and the county names Irene in 2011, Sandy in 2012 and the remnants of Ida as more recent storms. Starting March 20, 2024, New Jersey sellers must say on the property condition disclosure if the house falls in one of FEMA's two mapped flood zones (special or moderate hazard), along with any flooding they actually know about.

Lead comes next for older houses. If yours went up before 1978, federal rules require handing the buyer the EPA pamphlet, telling them what you know about lead paint, sharing any reports you hold, and then allowing 10 days for testing.

The township's own resale sheet flags a few layout issues too. Its diagram says no bedrooms are permitted in a basement. Two-family houses need a smoke alarm at the top of each shared stairwell. A hardwired alarm system installed under an earlier certificate of occupancy has to be kept to that level, and battery units aren't accepted as replacements.

Township code section 170-2201 bars occupancy of any building changing ownership until the Construction Code Official issues the continued occupancy certificate, which happens only after an inspection turns up no pending violations. That official is Anthony Monguso, whose office line is 908-851-8509.

The Building Department's resale procedure spells out the steps. Ask for the inspection a minimum of 10 business days ahead. The inspection fee is $175. Each re-inspection costs $80, and you call the housing inspector for a new date instead of reapplying. Inspections run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, and someone has to be at the house for that whole window or you pay for a second trip. The certificate issues two full business days after final approval and stays valid for three months unless ownership or occupancy changes first.

Before inspection day, close out every open permit and test each smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. The township's sheet still lists a mounted kitchen extinguisher (within a 10-foot reach of the cooking area), and battery smoke alarms must be 10-year sealed units. If the inspector finds problems, the code allows a temporary certificate lasting between 30 and 120 days, and a buyer can sign a form taking on the listed deficiencies.

Selling a two-family with a tenant? Chapter 447 requires rental units (outside buildings over 20 units) to be registered with the Township Clerk every year and with each change of occupancy, at $50 per unit, and an amended form must be filed no later than 20 days after any change, including new ownership.

New Jersey bills the seller its realty transfer fee when your deed hits the Union County Clerk's records. Bottom line: order the certificate early. Don't want the punch list? We'll take the house as-is and pay the closing costs.

Start with your own tax record. The assessor's page links a printable copy of your mailed assessment postcard, plus the deduction forms for veterans, seniors and disabled owners. Check which deductions sit on your account and call the assessor's office at 908-851-8505 if anything looks off.

Next, ask the Building Department (908-851-8509) whether any permits on your address are still open. The resale sheet says every open permit has to be closed out with its inspections, so settle those before you book anything else.

Then file the Residential CCO Application at least 10 business days before you need the inspection, and pay the $175 fee. Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm first. Someone has to be at the house between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the inspection day.

Count backward from your closing date. The certificate issues two full business days after final approval and expires three months after it's issued, so don't order it so early that it lapses. If a re-inspection is needed, call the housing inspector for a new appointment and pay the $80 by the emailed link instead of reapplying.

If a tenant is staying, update the rental registration with the Township Clerk. File the amended registration within the 20 days the code allows after the ownership change.

Finally, call the Tax Office (Terri Malanda, 908-851-8508) for the current tax and sewer utility balances. Quarterly taxes come due on the first of February, May, August and November, with a 10-day grace period, and the office accepts cash, check, money order, online payment or the drop box.