NMLS #2560393Licensed mortgage broker in New Jersey
Seventy municipalities, high-rise condos and jumbo territory — with guidelines that vary building by building.
AI REMCO L.L.C. is a licensed mortgage broker (NMLS #2560393) based in Oldwick, in Tewksbury Township, working with Bergen County buyers and homeowners online and by phone. Owner Lawrence Higgins, MS, CFM handles each file himself. Bergen files tend to turn on three things: high-rise condo project review, jumbo loan sizes, and two-to-four unit buildings where rental income is part of qualifying.
Bergen County has seventy municipalities and probably the widest spread of property types in New Jersey. Fort Lee, Edgewater and Cliffside Park bring high-rise condominiums with Manhattan-facing views; Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Ho-Ho-Kus bring train-line single-family demand; Mahwah, Franklin Lakes and Upper Saddle River bring larger-lot and estate housing; Hackensack, Teaneck and Bergenfield bring a mix that includes two-family homes.
Two things dominate Bergen financing. First, loan sizes: a large share of purchases here exceed conforming limits, so jumbo guidelines — reserves, documentation depth, appraisal review — drive the process. Second, condominium project approval: the high-rise market means the building's finances, insurance and litigation history are underwritten alongside the borrower, and standards differ significantly between lenders.
Bergen also has a large population of self-employed professionals and business owners, and a meaningful number of buyers with foreign income or non-traditional documentation. Non-QM and bank-statement programs exist for those files, and they are underwritten on their own merits.
Commuting geography organizes price tiers here more than county lines do. NJ Transit's Pascack Valley, Main, Bergen County and Port Jervis services, the bus lanes into the Port Authority terminal, and the ferry slips along the Hudson each support their own micro-market. Two houses a few miles apart can appraise very differently because one sits inside a walkable radius of a station and the other does not, and appraisers select comparables accordingly.
A meaningful share of Bergen's eastern and central housing stock is two-to-four unit. Those files turn on occupancy and on how rental income is documented: an owner-occupied duplex, a purchase where the buyer intends to rent both sides, and a refinance of a building already producing income are three different underwriting paths with different documentation and different program eligibility.
Bergen also has cooperative apartments, concentrated in Fort Lee and a handful of neighboring boroughs. A co-op purchase is not a mortgage on real property at all — it is a share loan secured by stock and a proprietary lease, and only a limited set of lenders originate them. Board approval runs on its own timeline alongside the loan, which is worth knowing before a contract sets a closing date.
Most Bergen County files land in one of a few programs: Jumbo loans in Bergen County, Conventional loans in Bergen County and Non-QM and bank-statement loans in Bergen County. Business owners can start with a self-employed mortgage documented from returns or bank statements, and first-time buyers should read how New Jersey down payment assistance pairs with a first mortgage.
Loan limit figures published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for 2026 — fhfa.gov conforming loan limits. Last reviewed 2026-09-05. For reference only.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; FHFA House Price Index, county annual, 2025; FEMA OpenFEMA, National Flood Insurance Program data, as of August 2026. Public estimates for the county as a whole, for general information only; they are not an appraisal, a tax figure for any property or a prediction.
Government and Freddie Mac data, updated as each source publishes.
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Sources: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, HMDA data (loans originated); U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey; Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPI). Figures describe the past and are for general information only; they are not an appraisal, a forecast or an offer of credit.
Route 4, Route 17, the Garden State Parkway and NJ Transit's Pascack Valley, Main and Bergen County lines organize the county's commuting.
AI REMCO L.L.C. is based in Oldwick, NJ, in Tewksbury Township, and serves borrowers throughout Bergen County — we do not maintain a branch office in every county we serve.
Fort Lee, Edgewater and Cliffside Park high-rises can pass one lender's project review and fail another's. Reserve funding, insurance adequacy and pending litigation are the usual sticking points, and they are worth checking before you go under contract.
Jumbo lenders typically want more months of reserves and a fuller documentation package than conforming loans. Knowing the requirement early keeps the closing timeline realistic.
Bergen has many self-employed and internationally connected households. Bank-statement, asset-depletion and other Non-QM structures can fit files that agency guidelines cannot, with their own pricing and eligibility rules.
Assessment practices differ across seventy municipalities, and taxes feed directly into your qualifying payment. Using the real tax figure for the specific property matters more here than almost anywhere else in the state.
A co-op is financed with a share loan against stock and a proprietary lease rather than a mortgage on real estate. Fewer lenders offer them, the co-op board runs its own approval process, and some buildings restrict financing outright. Confirm the building's rules before you rely on a timeline.
Rental income treatment varies by program and by whether you will occupy a unit. Lenders differ on how much of the rent counts, what lease or market-rent documentation they need, and what reserves apply. The same building can qualify differently depending on how the file is structured.
Parts of Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, Lyndhurst and the low-lying areas near the Hackensack River and Overpeck Creek sit in mapped flood zones. Flood insurance is required in a Special Flood Hazard Area, the premium counts in your qualifying payment, and the elevation certificate can change it materially. Our flood-map lookup shows the FEMA zone for a specific address.
New builds in Tenafly, Closter, Demarest and similar neighborhoods can be hard to appraise when surrounding sales are older, smaller homes. Expect the appraiser to reach further for comparables, and expect the review to take that into account.
New Jersey property taxes are set at the municipal level and vary widely between neighboring towns, so two similarly priced homes can carry very different monthly payments. Lenders escrow taxes and insurance in most cases, which means the tax bill affects both the payment and the income you need to qualify. We use the actual assessed figure for the parcel rather than a county average, and any figure we quote before the tax collector's current bill is confirmed is an estimate.
New Jersey closings are attorney-review based on the contract side and involve title search, survey where required, recording fees and the state's realty transfer fee on a sale. Those third-party costs are set by the provider, the county clerk and the state — not by the broker — and appear on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure the lender issues.
Documents, the appraisal, credit review, rate locks and refinancing work the same way in every county: see how the mortgage process works.
Bergen County is a high-cost area for 2026: its one-unit conforming limit of $1,209,750 sits above the national baseline of $832,750. A loan up to that county limit is still conforming here, so buyers can finance more before jumbo credit, reserve and appraisal guidelines apply.
The most common Bergen County program above conforming limits.
Standard financing for single-family and warrantable condo purchases.
For self-employed borrowers and non-warrantable condo projects.
Bergen has a dense population of business owners and professionals documenting income from returns or deposits.
Useful in Hackensack, Bergenfield, Lodi and Garfield-area purchases.
Financing for eligible veterans and service members in a high-cost county.
Common among long-tenured Bergen owners funding renovations.
The 2026 FHFA one-unit conforming loan limit in Bergen County is $1,209,750. Loan amounts at or below that figure follow conventional conforming guidelines; above it, the loan is a jumbo and is underwritten to the investor's own credit, reserve and appraisal requirements.
Often yes, through portfolio or Non-QM channels that review the project on their own criteria rather than agency warrantability rules. Terms differ from standard conforming financing, and every file is still subject to credit approval, underwriting and appraisal.
It varies by lender, loan size, property type and occupancy — several months of payments is typical, and more for investment or multi-unit properties. We confirm the specific requirement when we structure your scenario.
Co-ops need a share loan rather than a mortgage, and a narrower set of lenders offer them. Some buildings also cap or prohibit financing in their own governing documents. Tell us the building early and we will confirm what is available before you are under contract.
Usually some of it, and how much depends on the program, whether you will live in one unit, and what documentation exists — signed leases, tax returns showing rental history, or an appraiser's market-rent analysis. We look at the specific building and structure the file around what it can actually support.
Common causes are high investor concentration, a single owner holding too many units, inadequate reserve funding, insurance that falls short of guidelines, pending litigation involving the association, or significant commercial space in the building. One lender's review can reach a different conclusion than another's.
Directly. Taxes and insurance are escrowed in most cases and are part of the payment underwriters measure your income against. Because assessment practice varies widely across Bergen's municipalities, we use the actual figure for the parcel rather than a county average.
It depends on the address, not the town. If a property sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, the lender requires flood coverage, and the premium counts toward your qualifying payment. Our flood-map tool shows the mapped zone for a specific address, and an elevation certificate can change the picture.
Check the license first: every broker and loan officer must be listed on NMLS Consumer Access (AI REMCO L.L.C. is #2560393; Lawrence Higgins is #2530499). Then compare the Loan Estimates you receive, not advertised rates, and ask who you will actually work with and which lenders the broker can submit to. Bergen files often turn on jumbo limits, condo approval and two-family rental income, so ask how those are handled.
Residential financing covers one- to four-unit properties: a two-, three- or four-family home you live in (conventional, FHA or VA), or one you rent out (conventional, or an investor loan qualified on the property's rent). Buildings with five or more units are commercial loans, which we do not originate. Condo and co-op apartments are financed as homes; co-ops need a share loan from a lender that offers them.
All of them. AI REMCO L.L.C. is licensed as a mortgage broker in New Jersey and works with borrowers anywhere in Bergen County, including municipalities not listed on this page. Files are handled remotely from Tewksbury, New Jersey — there is no Bergen County branch office.
Yes. Taxes and insurance are part of the housing expense a lender counts, so a higher tax bill reduces the loan amount a given income supports. We use the parcel's actual assessed figure where available, and treat pre-closing figures as estimates.
Reach a licensed loan officer at (732) 561-4292 or [email protected]. Mon–Fri, 9am–8pm ET.
Verified against public program guidance as of September 2026.
