If a Nutley homeowner took out an FHA or VA mortgage between January 2015 and February 2022, a buyer can apply to take that loan over at its original rate instead of borrowing new money at today's 6.51%. Whether that is worth doing depends entirely on the seller's equity — which is what the check below works out.
| Recorded sales in our extract | 1537 |
| Of those, inside the low-rate era | 805 |
| Deed dates span | May 2019 – Jun 2026 |
| Records office holding the mortgage | Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages, Newark |
Built from Nutley's own recorded sales. The purchase below is the median Nutley sale inside the low-rate era — a real recorded date and price — priced at the Freddie Mac PMMS rate published that month. The asking price is the median Nutley sale recorded in the last 2 years. Buyer cash is a stated scenario input. Every figure below is estimated: enter a real address above for one property's own numbers.
Both columns include mortgage insurance. An FHA loan of this vintage carries MIP for the life of the loan, and a new loan above 80% LTV carries PMI — comparing principal and interest alone would overstate the advantage of assuming. Taxes and insurance are excluded from both, because they are identical either way.
| Median recorded Nutley sale in the era (August 2020) | $450,000 |
| Rate that month (PMMS 30-year average) | 2.94% |
| Estimated balance remaining today | $375,047 |
| Median Nutley sale, last 2 years | $650,000 |
| Buyer cash in this scenario | $100,000 |
| Equity gap left to finance | $174,953 |
| Monthly difference | $24/mo cheaper to assume |
Inherit the seller's rate — your cash works ~50% harder.
Every figure in this illustration is estimated. A real report runs the same arithmetic against the actual recorded sale for the address you enter.
The second lien eats it. If the seller has a lot of equity and you do not have much cash, the loan that covers the gap is priced at today's rates or worse. On thin margins that erases the advantage completely, and our report says so.
The loan is conventional. A due-on-sale clause lets the lender demand the balance when the property changes hands. Most Nutley sales in the era were conventional.
The seller refinanced. A 2019 buyer who refinanced in 2021 has a better rate than the recorded sale suggests, and a 2016 buyer who refinanced in 2023 has a worse one. Only the county record settles it.
The servicer still underwrites you. Assumption is not a loophole around qualifying. You apply, and you can be declined.