Transaction coordinator in New Jersey: attorney review, licensing and costs

What does a transaction coordinator do on a New Jersey deal?

The standard resale form is Form 118, the NJ REALTORS Residential Sales Contract, distributed to members through their forms software. Its current footer is 07/2025.2, from a revision that updated the commission and licensee-disclosure sections and added an addendum on taxes for properties of $1 million and more.

What makes a New Jersey file different starts before the contract is even final. A signed broker-prepared contract enters a three-business-day attorney review period, and either side's lawyer can disapprove it in that time. The coordinator's first job is to know exactly when that period started and when it ends, because until it ends, the deal may not be a deal. After that the work is familiar: deposit, inspections, mortgage, title, the municipal smoke alarm certificate and closing.

How does attorney review work in New Jersey?

Real Estate Commission rule N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.2(g) requires every licensee-prepared contract for a one-to-four family home or a vacant one-family lot to say, at the top of the first page and in large print, that it becomes final within three business days and that an attorney may review and cancel it in that time. The contract must also carry the attorney review clause the rule prescribes.

That clause sets the mechanics. The buyer or seller may have an attorney study the contract, and the attorney must finish within the three days. The contract becomes legally binding at the end of the period unless an attorney for either side disapproves. The three days are counted from delivery of the signed contract to the buyer and seller, and Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays don't count. The parties may agree in writing to extend the period.

A disapproval has to reach the broker or brokers and the other party within the period. The rule allows certified mail, telegram or personal delivery to the broker. Certified mail and telegram take effect on sending, personal delivery on arrival at the broker's office. In Gordon Development Group v. Bradley, the Appellate Division held that the period starts on the day after a fully executed contract is delivered to both parties, and that there is one period for buyer and seller together.

Until review ends without a disapproval, the contract as written isn't binding, so the coordinator writes the end of attorney review in the file as its own date and doesn't treat the deal as firm before it. The deadline calculator can count business days, and our guide to counting contract days compares the business-day rule here with calendar-day forms elsewhere.

Does a transaction coordinator need a license in New Jersey?

New Jersey has no transaction coordinator license. The Real Estate Commission instead publishes a list of permissible and prohibited actions for unlicensed assistants and support staff, which it calls reasonable guidelines rather than a complete rulebook.

Unlicensed staff can follow up on loan applications once contracts are fully executed, set up files and track documents, type contract forms for a licensee to approve, monitor files and report to a licensee, and order inspections when a licensee directs. They can carry documents as a courier, though the licensee stays responsible for delivering contracts and closing materials. They cannot show property, answer questions on listings, title, financing or closings from the public or other licensees, or explain a contract to anyone outside the firm.

Two more points from the Commission apply directly to coordinators. Pay should not depend on the success of the work, such as a percentage of commission, and should relate to the duties performed. And an unlicensed person should not be at an inspection unless a licensee is there too.

Do you need an attorney to close in New Jersey?

No. In In re Opinion No. 26 (1995), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that closings without attorneys for buyer and seller are not the unauthorized practice of law, as long as the broker tells both parties about the conflicting interests of brokers and title companies and the general risk of going unrepresented. The court noted that the practice was most common in South Jersey, and said its decision applies to the entire state.

The court also wrote that it "believes that the parties should retain counsel." So a New Jersey coordinator may work files with two attorneys, one, or none. When there's no attorney, check that the broker's required notice is in the file.

Who pays the realty transfer fee and the Graduated Percent Fee?

The seller, by statute. The Division of Taxation says the seller is statutorily responsible for both the realty transfer fee and the Graduated Percent Fee, a supplemental fee on sales over $1 million. The GPF replaced the old 1% fee on such sales on July 10, 2025, under P.L. 2025, c. 69, and moved the legal obligation from the buyer to the seller.

The rate applies to the whole price, not just the slice above each line. The Division's own example is a $2.75 million sale, which owes 2.5% of the full amount, or $68,750, at recording. The parties can still shift or share the cost in the contract, and Form 118 now has an addendum explaining the fee. On a file anywhere near $1 million, the coordinator makes sure the agent knows who has agreed to pay and that the closing figures match.

What is the smoke alarm certificate?

Before a one- or two-family home is sold, the owner must get a certificate of compliance from the local enforcing agency under N.J.A.C. 5:70-2.3. The certificate covers smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, among other items. It can't be transferred, and if the sale doesn't happen within six months the owner has to apply again. The state Department of Community Affairs adds that the owner can get it only through the municipality where the home is.

Because each municipality issues its own certificate, a coordinator on a listing finds out the town's process early and gets the inspection booked well before closing. A delayed certificate is an avoidable reason for a closing to slip.

Which associations and MLSs serve New Jersey?

New Jersey REALTORS is the state association, with 55,000 members, and it publishes Form 118. Several MLSs operate in the state, and the association's monthly figures draw on all of them. In the south and center of the state, local associations including the Gloucester/Salem Counties Board, NEXUS for Burlington, Camden and Ocean counties, Mid Jersey for Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset, and the Cumberland County Board are Bright MLS members.

How busy is the New Jersey market?

New Jersey REALTORS reported a statewide median sales price of $550,000 for September 2026, up 2.8% from a year earlier, in its September release. Inventory rose 12.1% to 22,746 homes for sale. Closed sales fell 5.8% and pending sales 11.3%.

The association's monthly indicators split the market by type. Single-family closed sales fell 6.5% to 4,983, at a median of $614,000, up 5.0%. The townhouse and condo median was $429,900, down 1.2%. All the figures come from the state's multiple listing services, with data as of October 9, 2026.

What does a transaction coordinator cost in New Jersey?

A Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania company that works with one national brokerage's agents lists $450 a file for contract to close in New Jersey and Delaware. Our October 2026 survey of 21 national price cards put one side between $300 and $550, and most of those companies drop the fee if the contract never closes. An in-house coordinator costs a salary instead, and the TC fee per file calculator shows the break-even.

How do you hire a transaction coordinator in New Jersey?

Ask how they count attorney review. A coordinator who knows New Jersey will say three business days from delivery to both parties, starting the next day, and will ask how the contract was delivered. Then test the Commission's list: ask what they do when the other agent calls with a financing question. The right answer is to pass it to you.

• Do they track attorney letters and the date review actually ends?
• Do they know the town-by-town smoke alarm certificate process?
• Do they flag the Graduated Percent Fee on sales over $1 million?
• Is their pay a flat fee rather than a share of commission?

The transaction coordinator checklist covers the rest of the file.

Freelance TC, TC company or DeedSpring: which fits a New Jersey agent?

The table sets the usual options side by side. A good freelance TC is worth every dollar on a messy file. What most agents are really paying for, though, is someone who never misses a date and always chases the lender. Software does that on every file at once.

To see what the gap means across a year of files, put your numbers into the TC fee per file calculator.

Compare plans on the DeedSpring pricing page.