Orange at a Glance
The City of Orange Township covers just over two square miles between East Orange and West Orange, with roughly 35,600 residents by the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate. It is overwhelmingly a renters' city: only about a quarter of its homes are owner-occupied. Much of the housing is older multi-family stock. We buy buildings with tenants in them, family houses that have gone unrepaired, and properties where the tax bill has outgrown the rent.
- 35,642residents estimated for July 2025; 34,447 counted in 2020
- 25.5%owner-occupied housing rate, 2020–2024
- $365,500median owner-occupied home value, 2020–2024
- 3.7652025 effective tax rate per $100, the highest of Essex County's 22 towns
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts (City of Orange township); New Jersey Division of Taxation, 2025 general and effective tax rates.
We buy one-family homes, two- to four-family houses, larger apartment buildings and lots in Orange, in whatever state they are in. After one visit you receive a written cash price, and the closing happens through a New Jersey title company or attorney on the date you choose.
The Sale Inspection: a Certificate of Habitability
Orange's Code Enforcement Division, part of Planning and Economic Development, enforces the city's property maintenance code and inspects residential property before it is sold. The certificate that comes out of that inspection is called a Certificate of Habitability, and its fee depends on how many units the building holds:
| Units in the building | First inspection | First reinspection | Second reinspection |
|---|---|---|---|
| One | $200 | No fee | $100 |
| Two | $300 | No fee | $200 |
| Three | $400 | No fee | $300 |
| Four | $500 | No fee | $400 |
| Five | $600 | No fee | $500 |
| 6 to 9 | $1,000 | No fee | $900 |
| 10 to 14 | $1,500 | No fee | $1,400 |
Source: City of Orange Township, Code Enforcement Division fee schedule for residential property sales. Buildings of 15 to 19 units pay $2,000, and 20 or more $2,500.
Note how the second reinspection costs nearly as much as the first visit on larger buildings. The city publishes the items its inspectors generally check, and they are practical ones: work done without permits; a working smoke detector on every level including the basement; at least one carbon monoxide detector per unit; relief valves on the boiler and water heater piped down to within eight inches of the floor; a sump pump that discharges outside rather than into the sanitary sewer; handrails on any run of more than two steps; covers on every switch and outlet; hot water of at least 110 degrees with the hot tap on the left; properly vented heating equipment; a sound electrical panel; and no broken glass. When we are the buyer, we schedule the inspection, do the corrections and pay the reinspection fees. Our offer is written with that list already in mind.
The state's smoke and carbon monoxide certificate for one- and two-family sales is a separate item. Orange's Fire Prevention office posts its own smoke detection certification application, and we arrange that visit too.
Rent Control and Registered Rentals
Chapter 166 of the city code combines rent control with rental property registration and sets up a Rent Leveling Board. Landlords register their rental properties with the city, and a landlord seeking to decontrol a unit must attach a current certificate of habitability to the filing. In practice that means the legal rent, the registration record and the habitability history of each apartment are tied to the building, and they move to the next owner with the deed.
A tenant's lease survives the sale: New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act does not treat a change of ownership as grounds to remove anyone. We take the building occupied, receive the security deposits and accrued interest at closing, and send tenants the written notice the law calls for. For a fuller picture, see selling a rental property in New Jersey.
Taxes and the City's Water and Sewer Bill
Water and sewer service for every property inside the city comes from Orange's own utility, and those bills are paid at the same City Hall Tax Office, 29 North Day Street, that collects property tax. That matters at closing: the title company asks for a final water reading and settles the utility balance alongside the taxes. Owners are responsible for the sewer lateral between the basement and the main in the street, so a collapsed or root-filled line is an owner's repair, and one more thing we take on when we buy.
Quarterly installments fall due Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1 and Nov. 1. A payment counts as on time only if the office receives it by the tenth of that month, and postmarks do not count. Late balances accrue interest at 8 percent up to $1,500 of arrears and 18 percent beyond that figure, and when taxes plus water and sewer charges past due at the end of December exceed $10,000, the city adds a 6 percent year-end penalty. With a 2025 general rate of 4.030 per $100 and an effective rate of 3.765, arrears can build quickly here.
Balances that stay unpaid are sold as tax liens. Requests for a lien redemption figure go to the Tax Collector by email, and the title company pays the redemption from your sale proceeds. Our explainer on tax liens in New Jersey covers the redemption clock and the 2024 changes that protect an owner's equity.
Abandoned Houses, Estates and Foreclosure
The city keeps a registration form for abandoned residential property, and the Tax Collector's page links information on vacant and abandoned properties. If a relative's house has stood empty, check whether it has been listed before you set a price expectation, because registration and maintenance obligations attach to the owner of record.
Inherited houses are sold by the executor or administrator named by the Essex County Surrogate (973-621-4901), and we can buy before the house is emptied. For the sequence from probate to deed, read selling an inherited New Jersey house. If a mortgage foreclosure is under way, the house can be sold until the Essex County Sheriff's auction, held on Tuesday afternoons in Newark. New Jersey gives an owner in foreclosure ten business days to cancel a contract with a buyer like us, and we plan the closing so that period runs out first. More on that in foreclosure in New Jersey.
Contacts for an Orange Sale
| What | Office | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Habitability | Code Enforcement Division (973-952-6075) | Apply, meet the inspector, correct and reinspect. |
| Smoke and CO certification | Fire Prevention | Schedule it and install what is missing. |
| Property tax and liens | Tax Collector, 29 North Day Street (973-952-6106) | Payoff handled by the title company. |
| Water and sewer final bill | Water and sewer billing (973-952-6105) | Final reading ordered and paid at settlement. |
Neighbouring East Orange runs a different certificate with its own fees, and West Orange uses a continued occupancy certificate; the Essex County overview sets all of them side by side. Owners who want to stay put can ask Essex-Newark Legal Services (973-624-4500) about free help with foreclosure or tenancy problems, and older residents can reach the county's Office of Senior Services at 973-395-8392.