Ocean County, New Jersey
An inherited house in Island Heights, handled with care.
When your family sells the property to us, we handle the probate at the Ocean County Surrogate's Court and can cover its costs, including the family's estate attorney fees. We speak with each heir separately and privately, and we take the property as it stands.
Inherited property in Island Heights
What families find in Island Heights.
Island Heights rises on a bluff roughly 60 feet over the Toms River, with Toms River Township around it on land and Berkeley across the water. It started in 1878 as a camp meeting ground and became its own borough in 1887. Much of the borough falls within a district on the National Register, so an inherited house here is frequently an older cottage or Victorian that a family has kept for generations.
Houses on the register
Listed in 1980, the borough's historic district spans about 280 acres with 244 contributing buildings, among them the Queen Anne studio of painter John F. Peto. Homes of that age often carry old foundations, framing and wiring. If an estate isn't ready to take on that upkeep, we purchase the house as it stands.
Early cottage lots
Cottages went up around the first camp meetings organized by the Island Heights Association in 1878. Some homes date from those early decades, and an heir may find systems that no one has replaced in a very long time. We handle the title side with the family and take the property in its current form.
River at the doorstep
Water accounts for about a third of Island Heights. Homes up on the bluff sit high, but lower lots by the river may carry flood-zone and insurance costs that the estate must keep up with while the house is empty. We purchase riverfront and bluff homes alike and talk with each heir privately.
Probate for a Island Heights property
The Ocean County Surrogate's Court, handled for you.
In New Jersey, an estate is opened in the county where the person who passed away lived. For Ocean County that's the Ocean County Surrogate's Court in Toms River. With a will, the executor is appointed there; without one, an administrator is appointed, and the other heirs typically sign renunciations.
Before an inherited house can be sold, New Jersey also usually needs an inheritance tax waiver — or, for close family, an affidavit — and any liens, judgments or back taxes have to be resolved. We coordinate all of it for you. Read our full New Jersey probate guide →
1 · Reach out
A short, unhurried call about the property and your family.
2 · Private offer
A private, written offer for the property, with every number shown.
3 · We handle probate
We handle it with the Ocean County Surrogate.
4 · Get paid
Close as-is, often in 30 to 60 days.
Island Heights and the towns around it
Neighboring towns we also serve
We serve every municipality in Ocean County and all 21 New Jersey counties.
Island Heights questions
Grandma's house is full of family things. Do we have to clear it before the estate sells?
No. Family members can take what they want; we buy the house with the remaining contents.
Does the historic district designation change how you purchase a house here?
No. We purchase older and historic homes as they stand, without asking the estate to restore anything.
Where is probate filed for a house in Island Heights?
Probate for someone who lived in Island Heights is handled by the Ocean County Surrogate's Court in Toms River. That's where a will is admitted, or an administrator is appointed when there's no will. When your family sells to Gembrook Properties, we handle this step with you, and in most cases you just sign where needed.
Can you cover the probate costs for a Island Heights property?
Yes, when your family sells the inherited property to Gembrook Properties. In many cases we cover the cost of opening the estate, including the family's estate attorney fees, so the family pays nothing out of pocket.
What if the heirs don't agree?
That's common. We speak with each heir separately and privately, so no one has to negotiate as a group, and the executor or court-appointed administrator signs the sale.
Inherited an Ocean County property?
Talk to a real person — not a call center.
No pressure, no cost. Just an honest conversation about the property and your options.
New Jersey counties we serve