Somebody already borrowed at 2.68%.
The question is whether you can take it over.

Between 2015 and early 2022, New Jersey buyers signed mortgages at rates that no longer exist. FHA and VA loans written in that window are assumable by law — the buyer qualifies with the servicer and takes over the existing note at the original rate. Today's market rate is 6.51%.

That gap is the entire opportunity, and it is also where most of the honest analysis stops. AssumeCheck runs the rest of it.

What we actually tell you

You are not skipping the down payment. You are taking over a mortgage that was written when rates were low, so more of every dollar you put in buys equity instead of interest. Inherit the seller's rate — your cash works ~50% harder.

But the seller's equity does not vanish. You still owe them the difference between the asking price and what is left on the loan, and financing that difference at today's second-lien rates can wipe out the whole advantage. That is the calculation this report exists to run — including the cases where the answer is don't.

That is not rhetorical. Take a worked example — stated figures, real rates from the Freddie Mac series — a $525,000 house bought in June 2021 at 2.98%, asking $599,000 today against $100,000 in cash — the 9.25% second on the gap pulls that 2.98% up to a blended 3.63%. That is the figure worth holding against today's 6.51%, and on this example it is $444/mo cheaper to assume. The blended rate is what decides it, never the headline one, and it moves house by house.

How an assumption works

1. An assumption transfers the loan, not just the house.
   FHA and VA mortgages are assumable by law. The buyer applies to the seller's servicer, qualifies on their own credit and income, and takes over the existing note — same rate, same remaining term.
2. The rate is the whole prize.
   A loan written in 2021 carries a rate near 3%. A new loan today costs roughly double that. On the same balance, the payment difference runs to hundreds of dollars a month for the entire remaining life of the loan.
3. The seller's equity is the obstacle.
   You still owe the seller the difference between the asking price and the loan balance. That is covered with cash, a second lien, or seller financing — and a second lien at today's rates can erase the advantage entirely. That arithmetic is exactly what this report runs.
4. Conventional loans are usually a dead end.
   A due-on-sale clause lets the lender call the balance when the property changes hands. If the county record shows a conventional mortgage, the report says NOT ASSUMABLE and tells you why.

The honest version

What a report contains

Every estimated figure is labelled estimated. FHA, VA or conventional is not an estimate and not in any public dataset — it is written in the recorded mortgage, so a person has to open it. That is included at $25 in Bergen, Passaic and Essex counties, within 24 hours. Everywhere else the report is $15 and the loan type stays estimated, and you are told which one you are buying before you pay.

Where we have records

Bergen, Passaic and Essex counties — 108 municipalities. Rochelle Park · Hackensack · Paramus · Clifton · Montclair · Paterson · see all.