Home Loans in Highlands, New Jersey

Highlands is a flood-smart buyer's market — a small bayshore borough where much of the housing stock was lifted and rebuilt after Superstorm Sandy, and where the difference between a smooth closing and a stalled one is usually flood insurance and an elevation certificate. Sea View Mortgage is a Monmouth County lender, led by President / Loan Officer Philip Wallace, helping Highlands buyers get pre-approved and closed by a local team that orders the flood paperwork in week one — not closing week.

Fast closings. Competitive rates. Easy files and hard ones.

Call (732) 443-4859 or start your pre-approval online today.

Get Pre-Approved Call (732) 443-4859

Why Buyers Choose Highlands

Highlands (07732) is a compact borough of about 1.4 square miles — just 0.74 square miles of it land — wrapped around Sandy Hook Bay and the Shrewsbury River in the northeastern corner of Monmouth County, just south of Sandy Hook and the entrance to New York Harbor. It packs a ferry commute, a lighthouse, and a rebuilt downtown into one of the Shore's most affordable waterfront ZIP codes.

What defines the town:

• The Twin Lights — the Navesink Light Station on the bluff above town, 200 feet above sea level: twin brownstone towers built in 1862, site of the first Fresnel lenses used in the United States, and now a National Historic Landmark and state historic site overlooking the bay, Sandy Hook, and the New York skyline.
• The Seastreak ferry — ferries leave from Shore Drive in Highlands and reach Manhattan in about 45 minutes on the water, which is why this little borough draws New York commuters who want bay views instead of a train platform.
• Sandy Hook and Hartshorne Woods — the beaches of Sandy Hook (Gateway National Recreation Area) start at the borough's edge, and the 794-acre Hartshorne Woods Park climbs the highest coastal bluffs on this stretch of the Atlantic seaboard, with a Rocky Point entrance right in Highlands.
• Bay Avenue and the marinas — the borough's main street runs past marinas, seafood institutions like Bahrs Landing (serving since 1917), and the Waterwitch and Parkertown sections, where raised post-Sandy homes now define the streetscape.
• Highlands schools — Highlands Elementary School (PreK–6) and Henry Hudson Regional School (grades 7–12), both right in the borough and now part of the consolidated Henry Hudson Regional School District serving Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.

The Highlands Market at a Glance

Highlands is one of the most attainable waterfront markets left on the northern Shore. The median sale price was $572,500 in Q3 2026, on 22 closed sales, with homes moving fast — a median of just 14 days on market. List prices run higher than sale prices here (the median listing price was about $699,000 in May 2026), which tells you buyers negotiate — and that a fully documented offer stands out.

What really defines this market is elevation. Superstorm Sandy sent a surge of nearly 10 feet through the borough in 2012 and damaged the great majority of its homes; about 800 downtown homes and businesses were later lifted. Today the stock splits between raised, rebuilt homes with living space above the flood elevation and older homes that predate the rebuild — and those two kinds of properties finance very differently. With virtually the entire borough in a FEMA flood zone, flood insurance cost belongs in your payment math from the first conversation, not the last.

(Market figures: Kelly Zaccaro / Sotheby's Q3 2026 Monmouth County market update for Highlands and Realtor.com data for ZIP 07732, May 2026. Figures change monthly — talk to us about what your price range looks like today.)

Loan Options for Highlands Buyers

• FHA loans — 3.5% down for qualified buyers, flexible credit guidelines, and gift funds allowed. At Highlands price points, FHA is how many first-time buyers get onto the bayshore.
• Flood-smart purchase structuring — not a loan type, a discipline: flood determination, elevation certificate, and an actual flood insurance quote in week one, so the payment you qualify on is the payment you close on.
• Conventional loans — for buyers with stronger credit and more down payment saved, including low-down-payment options for qualified first-time buyers.
• Renovation loans (including FHA 203(k)) — for Highlands' older homes that need work, financing the purchase and the renovation in one loan.
• Jumbo loans — for the bluff-top and bayfront homes with Twin Lights views that trade well above the conforming limit.
• Refinancing and cash-out — already own in Highlands? Ask us about a refinance, or cash out for the projects shore homes always seem to need.

Loan Scenario: An FHA Purchase of a Raised Home — Highlands, NJ

Illustrative scenario — the kind of transaction we structure in Highlands.

• The Property: A 3-bedroom home off Bay Avenue in the Waterwitch section of Highlands, valued at $545,000 — rebuilt and raised after Sandy, with the living space above the design flood elevation and a current elevation certificate on file.
• The Challenge: The buyer was a first-time purchaser with steady income and modest savings who could afford the mortgage payment — but not a surprise inside it. The first lender she spoke to quoted her a payment with no flood insurance in it, never ordered the elevation certificate, and couldn't tell her what the flood premium would be. In Highlands, that premium can run into hundreds of dollars a month, and finding out in week four would have blown up her budget and her contract.
• The Sea View Solution: We treated flood as a week-one item, because in this borough it is one. We pulled the flood determination and the property's elevation certificate immediately, got a real flood insurance quote while her FHA file was being documented, and built the true payment — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and flood — before she signed her offer. The raised elevation worked in her favor: the certificate documented living space above the base flood elevation, which kept the flood quote far below the worst-case numbers she'd feared.
• The Result: An FHA loan with 3.5% down ($19,075) and a loan amount of $525,925, cleared to close in 30 days — with flood insurance bound early, no payment surprises, and reserves left intact.

Ready to explore Highlands real estate? Whether it's a raised home near Bay Avenue, a bayfront property under the Twin Lights, or a first home in Waterwitch, your financing needs to be rock solid. Talk to a local Sea View Mortgage specialist today to get pre-approved.

Illustrative example based on the kinds of transactions Sea View Mortgage structures in Highlands. Not a specific past transaction. All loans subject to credit and property approval.

Why Highlands Buyers Choose Sea View Mortgage

• We close fast. Underwriting, appraisal, and documentation are handled locally from day one — and in Highlands, so are the flood determination and elevation certificate, the two items that stall out-of-town lenders.
• Competitive rates, without the big-bank runaround. You get pricing that competes with the national names and a loan officer who answers the phone — not a call center.
• Easy files and hard ones. Flood-zone properties, thin down payment, gift funds to document, a home that's been lifted, a deal another lender already turned down — hard transactions are where a local lender earns it. If there's a way to structure it, we'll find it.
• Local, not a call center. We're a Monmouth County mortgage company. We know which Highlands streets sit in which flood zones, what a base flood elevation of 11 feet means for a specific house, and the realtors and attorneys who work the bayshore.
• You work with the owner. Philip Wallace, President / Loan Officer (NMLS #404069), still originates loans personally — your file isn't handed off to a stranger.
• Pre-approvals that hold up. We verify income, assets, and credit up front — and in Highlands we verify the flood costs too, so your offer is real down to the last line of the payment.

Get Started

Buying in Highlands? The strongest first step is a real pre-approval — with the flood numbers already in it, before you tour, before you offer.

Call Philip Wallace at (732) 443-4859 or start your pre-approval online.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need flood insurance to buy in Highlands?

Very likely, yes. Virtually all of Highlands sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, and if your home is in a designated flood zone and you have a mortgage, flood insurance is required. What it costs depends heavily on the home's elevation relative to the base flood elevation (11 feet in Highlands' AE zones) — which is why we pull the elevation certificate and a real quote in week one, before you offer.

Can I buy a first home in Highlands with an FHA loan?

Yes. FHA allows 3.5% down for qualified buyers, and at Highlands' price points — a $572,500 median sale price in Q3 2026 — it is a realistic path onto the bayshore. Gift funds and seller concessions can help with down payment and closing costs when documented correctly. We also plan for flood insurance from day one, which is where FHA purchases in this borough usually go sideways with other lenders.

What is an elevation certificate, and why does it matter so much here?

It's a certified measurement of how your home's floors sit relative to the FEMA base flood elevation. In Highlands it drives your flood insurance price: a raised home with living space documented above the flood elevation can cost far less to insure than a similar home at grade. Most post-Sandy raised homes have one on file — we verify it exists and matches the property in week one.

How much do I need for a down payment on a Highlands home?

It depends on the loan program. FHA starts at 3.5% down, conventional can start as low as 3% down for qualified first-time buyers, and VA offers 0% down for eligible veterans. On a $545,000 raised home, 3.5% down is $19,075. We'll run your exact figures — including flood insurance — before you shop.

Which schools do Highlands children attend?

Highlands Elementary School (PreK–6) for the younger grades, then Henry Hudson Regional School (grades 7–12) — both located right in Highlands. Since July 2024 they've been part of the consolidated Henry Hudson Regional School District, a single PreK–12 district serving Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.

How do Highlands residents commute to New York?

By water, mostly: the Seastreak ferry runs from Shore Drive in Highlands to Manhattan in about 45 minutes, and it's the commute the borough is known for. Drivers use Route 36 to the Garden State Parkway. That ferry is a major reason bayshore buyers choose Highlands over towns at similar prices farther inland.

Sea View Mortgage — Philip Wallace, President / Loan Officer, NMLS #404069
Phone: (732) 443-4859

Equal Housing Lender. This site is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services. No mortgage solicitation activity or loan applications for properties located in the State of New York can be facilitated through this site. Loans are arranged through third-party lenders. All loans subject to credit and property approval. This is not a commitment to lend.