Owner guide · Calculator
Lease or Sell Your NJ Commercial Property: Net Proceeds
If you are weighing a sale against keeping the rent, start with what you would actually take home. This estimate subtracts the New Jersey realty transfer fee, the graduated fee when it applies to Class 4A property, and a commission only if you type one in. In New Jersey commissions are negotiable. It then sets that net against the rent you might collect over a period you choose. It is not tax, legal or appraisal advice, and it is not a decision to sell or to hold.
Lease vs. sell calculator
Change the numbers to match your property. Sale prices and rents in the example buttons are either labeled placeholders or cited public figures, not AcreX listings. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
The property
If you sell
If you lease instead
If you sell
If you lease for 5 years
What is subtracted from a sale
Regular realty transfer fee. The seller pays this on the consideration in the deed, unless an exemption applies. The rates are from the New Jersey Division of Taxation’s “Standard Transactions and New Construction” schedule (page last updated November 9, 2026). They are quoted per $500 of consideration. If the price is over $350,000, the higher schedule applies from the first dollar, not just to the amount above $350,000. A fractional last $500 is treated as a full unit. A lower schedule exists for qualifying senior, blind or disabled sellers and for certain low- and moderate-income housing; this commercial tool does not use that schedule.
Graduated percent fee (P.L. 2025, c. 69), on transfers on or after July 10, 2025. This is a supplemental fee on the whole price when the price is over $1 million and the property is Class 4A commercial (it also applies to certain residential and cooperative transfers). Class 4B industrial is not charged this fee. The rate is 1% over $1 million through $2 million; 2% through $2.5 million; 2.5% through $3 million; 3% through $3.5 million; and 3.5% above $3.5 million. Because the rate applies to the whole price, a small step over a threshold can reduce what you keep. Exemptions are described on the Division’s notice and Form RTF-1EE.
Commission. Included only if you type a rate. In New Jersey commissions are negotiable.
Net proceeds ≈ sale price − graduated fee (if Class 4A) − regular realty transfer fee − commission (if entered) − other costs you enter − tax you enter.
What is counted on the lease side
Annual net operating income (NOI) = rent × (1 − vacancy) − expenses the landlord still pays. The tool then multiplies that NOI by the number of years you enter, or discounts each year’s NOI if you type a discount rate. Rent and vacancy should be your numbers, or a cited published average you are comfortable using as a starting point. This is not a market rent opinion by itself. For a sourced rent range, use the value calculator.
Have a NNN quote and want to compare it with a gross one first? Use the NNN vs. gross rent converter.
Labeled examples
Fairfield industrial (Class 4B)
The sale price starts at $2,000,000 as a round placeholder so you can see the arithmetic. It is not a recorded Fairfield sale and not a market opinion. Use your own price or the value calculator. Rent starts at Newmark’s 3Q 2026 Route 280 / Suburban Essex industrial asking rent of $15.95/SF/year NNN, and vacancy at Newmark’s 5.3% for that industrial submarket — published averages, not a lease on a specific building. The space is 50,000 SF, an illustration. Because the tax class is 4B, there is no graduated fee. The regular realty transfer fee on a $2,000,000 deed is $21,675 on the standard schedule. Commission stays blank unless you enter a rate.
Wayne retail (Class 4A), press-reported sale
This example uses the press-reported May 2025 sale of 465–479 Route 46, Wayne, for $7,800,000 (about 68,000 SF), as already cited on the AcreX transactions page. That is a public-record / press figure, not an AcreX transaction, and it is used only to show the fees on a real price. Because a typical retail parcel is Class 4A and the price is over $3.5 million, the graduated fee is 3.5% of the whole price, or $273,000. The regular realty transfer fee is $91,855. Rent, if you load the example, starts at the Matthews Q3 2026 Northern New Jersey retail asking rent of $27.95/SF/year and vacancy of 3.3% — metro averages, not the rent or vacancy of that property. Replace them with the actual rent roll if you have it.
Parsippany office (Class 4A), press-reported sale
This example uses the press-reported May 2026 sale of 629 Parsippany Road for $5,000,000 (29,500 SF), also cited on the transactions page, and again not an AcreX deal. The graduated fee at $5 million is 3.5%, or $175,000. The regular realty transfer fee is $57,975. Rent starts at Newmark’s 3Q 2026 Parsippany / Route 10 full-service asking rent of $29.06/SF/year, and vacancy at Newmark’s 20.3% for that office submarket. Because a full-service rent is quoted, the example also starts landlord expenses at the 2022 BOMA/New Jersey office average of $8.94/SF/year (about $263,730 a year on 29,500 SF). That study is from 2022; replace it with your actual expenses or the net will be off.
Owner questions
What fees come out of a New Jersey commercial sale?
The seller usually pays the regular Realty Transfer Fee on the deed consideration, using the Division of Taxation’s Rate/$500 schedule. Class 4A commercial property can also owe the graduated percent fee when the price is over $1 million. A commission is paid only if you have agreed to one; in New Jersey commissions are negotiable. Other closing costs and income tax are not computed here unless you type them in.
Does the graduated fee apply to industrial property?
No. The graduated percent fee applies to Class 4A commercial (and to certain residential and cooperative transfers). Class 4B industrial is not charged this fee. Check the tax class on your tax bill. Exemptions are listed on the Division of Taxation’s graduated-fee notice and Form RTF-1EE.
Why is the commission box empty?
In New Jersey commissions are negotiable. This tool does not fill in a rate. Enter the rate in your listing agreement, or leave it blank to see net proceeds before a commission.
Does this include income tax?
Only if you type a dollar amount you already expect to pay. The tool does not calculate capital gains, depreciation recapture, or GIT/REP withholding for nonresidents. Nonresident sellers can start with the GIT/REP guide.
How should I compare a one-time net to several years of rent?
The lease side adds your annual net operating income over the number of years you enter. Leave the discount rate blank to add the years without discounting, or type a rate you choose. Neither version is a complete investment analysis.
Is this an appraisal or tax advice?
No. It is an estimate from the statutory fee schedules and the numbers you enter. It is not tax, legal or appraisal advice, and it is not a decision to sell or to hold. There is a related discussion, without this fee math, on the existing sell or lease page.
Sources
NJ Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee rates (Standard Transactions and New Construction; page last updated November 9, 2026): realty.shtml.
P.L. 2025, c. 69, graduated percent fee, transfers on or after July 10, 2025: chapter law. Division notice: exemptions PDF.
Newmark 3Q26 industrial asking rent $15.95/SF NNN and vacancy 5.3%, Route 280 / Suburban Essex; office asking rent $29.06/SF full service and vacancy 20.3%, Parsippany / Route 10. PDFs linked from the value calculator sources.
Matthews, Northern New Jersey Retail Market Report Q3 2026: asking rent $27.95/SF, vacancy 3.3% (metro).
Press-reported sales of 465–479 Route 46, Wayne (May 2025, $7.8M) and 629 Parsippany Road (May 2026, $5.0M), as listed on AcreX transactions. Not AcreX deals.
BOMA International, 2022 Office Market Study (BOMA/New Jersey), $8.94/SF/year: study PDF.