We Buy Houses in Hackensack, NJ

Hackensack at a Glance

About 46,000 people live in Hackensack's 4.19 square miles, and most of them rent: the Census Bureau counts just over a third of households as owner-occupied. Households are small, a little over two people on average, and the share of foreign-born residents is 42.7%. Because the Bergen County Surrogate and the Sheriff both sit on Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack, an estate or foreclosure here is handled a short drive from the house itself.

• 46,380residents estimated for July 2025 (46,030 in the 2020 census)
• 36.6%of homes lived in by their owner (ACS 2020–2024)
• $393,700midpoint value of homes their owners live in, 2020–24
• $1,911typical monthly gross rent, 2020–24 survey

Figures drawn from the Census Bureau QuickFacts profile of Hackensack city.

A citywide median hides a wide spread. A two-family with long-time tenants, a condo unit and a single-family that needs a roof are priced on their own facts. We walk through once, then put a single figure in writing.

The City's Continued Occupancy Inspection

Selling a detached house or a two-unit building here? The buyer needs a Certificate of Continued Occupancy from the city. The application goes to the Department of Building, Housing and Land Use at 216 Union Street (201-646-3920), whose Property Maintenance Division sends an inspector out. The city publishes a checklist, revised in February 2025, and it goes further than the alarms. Inspectors look for:

• permits and final inspections for past work, including a water heater or boiler swapped out with or without a permit;
• sump pumps discharging outside rather than into the sanitary sewer;
• secure handrails on any interior stair of three risers or more, basement and attic stairs included;
• sealed-battery smoke alarms rated for ten years on each floor, including the basement and any walk-up attic, plus CO detection no more than ten feet from every bedroom;
• no open breaker slots, covered junction boxes, gas shutoff valves at each appliance and capped unused gas lines;
• a relief valve piped to within six inches of the floor on the boiler and water heater, and house numbers at least four inches tall.

Old unpermitted work is where sales in older Hackensack houses tend to stall, because closing those permits can mean opening walls. When we buy, the open-permit problem becomes ours: we file the CCO request, meet the inspector and pay for the repairs, before or after closing as the title company allows.

Condominium owners follow a different path. For a condo sale the city's Fire Prevention Bureau (201-646-7685) signs off with its own smoke detector and CO compliance certificate, which the department says stands in for the CCO. The bureau also wants every occupancy registered with it, owner-occupied houses of one or two units excepted, and it says a two-family whose owner lives elsewhere that has never been registered can draw a court summons. If that describes your building, say so; it does not change our offer much.

Rent Stabilization and Senior Tenants

Hackensack regulates rents under its Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and the Rent Stabilization Board meets through the Building, Housing and Land Use office. A landlord who wants an increase beyond the ordinance files an application with the board, and the city's form says that can only be done once a Statutory Landlord Disclosure is on file with the City Clerk. Tenants who are at least 62, or the surviving spouse of such a tenant who is at least 50, can apply for qualified senior tenant status; once granted, yearly increases are capped at 3½% where the tenant pays for heat and 4% where the landlord supplies it.

For a seller this matters in two ways. The rents you collect are the rents a buyer inherits, senior caps included, and a missing landlord disclosure or an increase the board never approved will surface in any careful buyer's review. We buy occupied buildings with the leases, rents and deposits as they are. Under state law a change of owner is not a lawful reason to evict, and security deposits plus interest move to the new owner at closing. The guide to selling a New Jersey rental covers the statewide side.

Property Taxes, Interest and the Lien Sale

Hackensack's quarterly installments fall due on Feb. 1 and May 1, then Aug. 1 and Nov. 1. The collector's office at 65 Central Avenue allows ten calendar days of grace, but payment must physically reach the office before it closes on the final grace day; a postmark does not count and the office takes no cash. Miss that and interest is figured from the 1st: an 8% annual rate applies to the first $1,500 owed, 18% to anything more.

The tax burden is heavy by Bergen standards. On the state's 2025 table Hackensack's effective rate was 2.527 per $100 of true value, higher than every Bergen municipality except Ridgefield Park, with a general rate of 3.209. The collector now lists a 2026 final rate of 3.530 per $100 of assessed value.

The city runs an accelerated tax lien sale. Charges still unpaid after November 10 go into it, and the 2026 sale is set for December 21, 2026. A sold lien does not put anyone out of the house, but the certificate holder can begin foreclosing on the right to redeem if the lien is not paid off, and since July 2024 an owner facing that foreclosure can demand a public sale to protect the equity. Ask the collector in writing for a redemption figure (the first two requests each year are free, $50 after that). If you sell to us, every open lien is paid off from the proceeds at settlement. More on the tax-sale side is in the tax lien guide.

Water Service and Wet Streets

Veolia supplies Hackensack's water as part of its Hackensack system, which also serves dozens of other Bergen and Hudson towns. Once a closing date is fixed we ask for a final reading so the last bill is prorated rather than left for you to chase. Some of the city's low streets flood quickly in a hard rain; the fire department keeps rescue boats and notes they are more often used on city streets than on the river. The state's flood risk disclosure, required of all sellers since March 2024, asks about earlier water in the house, insurance claims and the mapped flood zone. Tell the truth on it; a wet basement lowers the price somewhat, but it does not end the conversation with us.

How Selling to Us Works Here

1. Text or email us the property address along with who occupies it, the rents being paid and any letters from City Hall.
2. One visit from us, then a firm price in writing, generally the next day.
3. After you sign, we order the CCO or the condo smoke certificate, pull the tax and lien figures and request the final water reading.
4. At settlement the title company pays off the mortgage, any tax liens and municipal charges from the price; you can sign at the title office or remotely before a notary.

One more timing note from the collector: the county can take three to six months to record a new deed and tell the city. Until then bills may keep arriving in your name, so keep the settlement statement showing which quarters were paid. Hackensack is one of the 70 towns in Bergen County; we also buy in neighboring Teaneck and Paramus.