About Selling in Roselle
Roselle is a borough of roughly 2.6 square miles between Linden and Elizabeth, and it is where Union County holds its sheriff's foreclosure auctions, at the Warinanco Ice Skating Center on Wednesday afternoons. A little more than half of the borough's occupied homes, 54.7%, belong to the people living in them. Rents are among the more modest in the county, with a median of $1,567 a month, and many of the houses are older single-family and two-family homes where years of small, unpermitted improvements are common.
- 23,261people in the borough as of July 2025 (22,695 in 2020)
- 54.7%owner-occupied rate (ACS 2020–2024)
- $379,900median owner-occupied value (ACS 2020–2024)
- $1,567median gross rent (ACS 2020–2024)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Roselle borough, New Jersey.
That median value describes the borough as a whole. For your house we look at what similar Roselle homes close by have sold for and subtract the real cost of the work it needs. You get that figure in writing, and it is the amount we pay.
The Residential Occupancy Certificate
Roselle's resale certificate is called a Residential Occupancy Certificate, or ROC, and it comes from the Division of Code Enforcement on Chestnut Street. The application warns that it is not a home inspection; it is a check that the house is fit to be occupied. It also asks pointed questions: whether there is a pool and a pool barrier, and whether anyone has installed or replaced a water heater, HVAC system, electrical panel or mini-split, or built a deck, a new bathroom or a finished basement. Each "yes" points the office toward permits that should exist.
| Property | ROC fee |
|---|---|
| One- or two-family | $100 |
| Three-family | $150 |
| Four-family | $250 |
| More than four units | $250 plus $25 per additional unit |
| Temporary ROC | $200 |
A few rules in the borough's instructions are worth knowing before you plan a closing date:
- Payment: company checks or money orders only. Personal checks are refused.
- Permits first: you have to confirm with the Building Department that every construction permit has passed its final inspection. Open permits must be inspected and passed before the ROC inspection is scheduled at all.
- Two inspections included: after the second, each further visit carries a $75 surcharge, with no exceptions.
- Timing: with no violations, the certificate can issue within ten business days.
- Temporary certificate: at the inspector's discretion and for the extra fee, valid for up to 60 days.
What the checklist covers
The borough's compliance checklist begins with alarms: ten-year sealed battery smoke alarms on every level, including the basement and any attic taller than seven feet, and within ten feet outside each bedroom, with existing hardwired alarms kept working. Carbon monoxide alarms go in the basement and near the bedrooms, plus one inside any bedroom that sits above a garage. From there it moves through the house: bedroom windows that open and close, doors that fit their frames, holes in walls and floors patched, missing tile replaced, working hot and cold water with shut-off valves under each fixture, toilets secured, and GFI outlets near water and in every bathroom. Because the alarm items are inspected here, the ROC also covers the state's smoke and carbon monoxide requirement for a one- or two-family sale. If you want to get ahead of it, the fire department has advertised free smoke and CO detectors for residents.
When we are the buyer, none of that becomes your project. We pull and close the permits, fix what the checklist flags and schedule the inspections. Learn more about selling as-is.
Roselle Taxes
Roselle's 2025 general tax rate was 9.147 per $100 of assessed value, and its effective rate, which measures tax against market value, was 2.819. Leaving aside Winfield, an outlier in the state table, no Union County town had a higher effective rate in 2025. High taxes are a common reason long-time owners decide to sell.
- Bills are mailed once a year in the summer and cover the last two quarters of this year and the first two of next.
- Each quarter has a 10-day grace period, pushed to the next business day when the 10th falls on a weekend or holiday. After that, interest runs from the due date.
- A 24-hour drop box sits at the Annex Building, 108 West 3rd Avenue. It is emptied at 9 a.m. each business day, so anything left after that posts the next business day. No cash in the box.
- Seniors and disabled owners receiving the $250 deduction still file the annual PD5 statement after selling, so the deduction stays for the months they owned the house.
- Unpaid prior-year charges go to an online tax sale; the most recent, for 2024 and earlier, was held December 3, 2025.
If you are behind, the arrears and any tax sale certificate are paid out of the sale. Our tax lien guide explains what happens if a lienholder has started to foreclose.
Rentals and Vacant Houses
Roselle licenses rentals every year under ordinance 2484-2014, at $50 per unit, and even owners who claim an exemption must file the form. Each change of tenant also requires a Certificate of Use. If you are a landlord ready to stop, we buy with tenants in place and keep the lease running; the deposit and its interest pass to us at closing. See selling a rental property.
Empty houses cost more here than many owners expect. Ordinance 2500-14 requires vacant and abandoned properties to be registered, and the borough's form sets the first year at $500, prorated at $41.66 a month, then $1,500 for the first renewal, $3,000 for the second and $5,000 for every renewal after that, each due by January 31. A house left empty during a long estate process can run up those fees quickly; our page on inherited houses covers selling while the estate is still open.
When Foreclosure Is Close
Because the county's sheriff sales are held in Roselle, some owners here have watched a neighbor's house go to auction. If your lender has filed, a sale to us before the auction can protect equity that an auction might not. New Jersey gives owners in foreclosure ten business days to cancel a contract with a buyer like us, and we build that window into the paperwork. Our foreclosure guide lays out the timeline.
Steps to a Sale
- Day one
Talk it through
Condition, open permits you know of, tenants, and when you want to be out.
- After a visit
Written figure
All costs listed, including who pays the ROC fee.
- Before closing
Permits and ROC
We close out permits, then book the ROC inspection and any reinspection.
- Your day
Close
Title company, attorney, or remote signing with a notary.
Close by, we also buy in Roselle Park and Linden, and anywhere in Union County.
Central Jersey Legal Services sees Union County residents who qualify by income at 60 Prince Street, Elizabeth (908-354-4340). For an estate, contact the Union County Surrogate at 908-527-4280. The county's Division on Aging can help older owners plan a move: 908-527-4870.