NMLS #2560393Licensed mortgage broker in New Jersey
Barrier-island flood insurance, active-adult communities and inland new construction.
Ai Remco LLC is a licensed mortgage broker (NMLS #2560393) based in Oldwick, in Tewksbury Township, and we finance homes throughout Ocean County. You work directly with the owner, Larry Higgins, MS, CFM. The county splits into barrier-island and bay-shore homes, where flood insurance drives the numbers, the adult communities, and the year-round inland neighborhoods of Toms River, Brick and Jackson.
Ocean County contains several distinct housing markets that happen to share a county line. The barrier island — Long Beach Island, Point Pleasant Beach, Seaside — is a coastal second-home and rental market with flood and elevation at the center of every file. Toms River, Brick, Jackson and Manchester are large year-round suburban markets. Lakewood has grown rapidly and has its own housing patterns. And the county holds one of the largest concentrations of age-restricted communities in the country.
Flood requirements are set by the mapped FEMA zone for the specific address rather than by the municipality, and along the barrier island and the bay shore they drive both cost and structure. Many homes have been elevated since Superstorm Sandy, which generally helps the insurance picture and adds appraisal considerations that the comparable selection has to account for.
Age-restricted and adult communities — Holiday City, Leisure Village, Crestwood Village, Silver Ridge and many others — are a defining feature of the Ocean County market. Financing them is routine, but the association's rules, its reserve funding and the community's age-restriction covenants are all part of the underwriting, and the dues count in your qualifying payment.
Some Ocean County communities include manufactured or modular housing, which has its own financing rules. Whether the home is titled as real property, how it is affixed, its age and its construction all affect which programs apply. That is a determination worth making before you go under contract rather than during underwriting.
Lakewood's growth has produced a market with larger households, substantial new construction and a distinctive mix of single-family and attached housing. New construction anywhere in the county brings builder timelines that rarely match a standard lock period, which makes lock strategy and appraisal ordering a real decision.
Most Ocean County files land in one of a few programs: Conventional loans in Ocean County, FHA loans in Ocean County and VA loans in Ocean 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.
Loading charts…
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.
The Garden State Parkway, Route 9, Route 37 and Route 72 organize travel between the mainland and the barrier island.
Ai Remco LLC is based in Oldwick, NJ, in Tewksbury Township, and serves borrowers throughout Ocean County — we do not maintain a branch office in every county we serve.
The mapped zone for the exact address determines whether coverage is required, and elevation drives the premium. Because flood insurance counts in your qualifying payment, we look at it before an offer rather than after. Our flood-map lookup shows the FEMA zone for an address.
Adult communities carry occupancy covenants, association dues and reserve profiles that are underwritten alongside the borrower. Dues count in your qualifying payment, and some associations have restrictions that affect eligibility or resale.
Financing depends on how the home is titled and affixed, its age and its construction type. Some programs exclude it entirely and others accommodate it with specific requirements. This should be settled before you are under contract.
Post-Sandy elevation is widespread. It generally helps insurance cost, and the appraisal needs comparables that reflect elevated construction. Permits and completion documentation make that cleaner.
Summer rental income is documented and recognized differently from year-round tenancy, and lenders vary in how much they will count. The property's actual rental record matters more than projections.
Barrier-island buildings frequently have significant investor ownership or short-term rental activity, which can put a project outside agency warrantability. Portfolio and Non-QM lenders review them on their own criteria.
Builder contracts often set closing windows that do not align with a standard lock period. Planning the lock and the appraisal order around the builder's schedule is part of the work.
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.
For a wage-earner file: recent pay stubs, the last two years of W-2s, two months of asset statements, photo identification and authorization to pull credit. Self-employed borrowers add business and personal returns, and in some cases business bank statements instead of returns. Retirement, Social Security, pension, rental, commission, bonus and overtime income each have their own documentation rule. Nothing on this list is unusual — the difference between a smooth file and a stalled one is usually how quickly it arrives.
The lender orders the appraisal from an independent appraiser; the broker cannot select or influence the appraiser or the value. The appraiser reports condition, comparable sales and, on government loans, whether the property meets minimum property requirements. If the value or the condition findings come back differently than expected, the options are a reconsideration of value with additional sales data, repairs, a renegotiation, or a different program — which is why property questions are worth raising before the offer.
Underwriting looks at the middle of three credit scores for each borrower and at the housing and total debt ratios. Installment payments, revolving minimums, student loans, child support and co-signed obligations count even when someone else pays them, while paying off a small balance the month before application can be the cheapest fix available. Guidelines and score requirements are set by the agency, investor or lender and change over time, so any number we mention is current guidance rather than a promise.
A rate lock protects a quoted price for a defined period tied to the expected closing date. Longer locks, new-construction locks and extensions have their own cost structures set by the wholesale lender. Pricing changes with the market throughout the day, so nothing is fixed until a lock is actually executed and confirmed in writing. We do not promise a rate, a cost or a closing date.
A refinance is worth reviewing when the goal is specific — a lower payment, a shorter term, dropping mortgage insurance once equity supports it, moving out of an adjustable structure, or pulling cash for repairs or debt consolidation. The comparison that matters is total cost over how long you actually expect to keep the loan, including closing costs, not the rate alone. We will tell you when the numbers do not support doing it.
Application, document upload, disclosures and status updates all happen electronically, with a licensed loan officer reachable by phone Monday through Friday, 9am to 8pm Eastern. Ai Remco LLC is based in Oldwick, New Jersey, in Tewksbury Township, and does not maintain branch offices in the counties it serves. Verify our license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org — NMLS #2560393.
Ocean 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 primary program across Toms River, Brick, Jackson and Manchester.
Widely used across the county's year-round markets and in Lakewood.
Financing for eligible veterans and service members, including the Joint Base area.
Common on Long Beach Island and the higher-priced coastal towns.
For self-employed borrowers and non-warrantable coastal condominium projects.
Used by long-tenured owners funding renovation, elevation or storm-related work.
The 2026 FHFA one-unit conforming loan limit in Ocean 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.
Yes, and it is routine work here. The association's dues count in your qualifying payment, and its reserve funding, insurance and governing documents are reviewed alongside your file. Age-restriction covenants are normal and do not prevent financing.
It depends on how the home is titled and permanently affixed, its age and its construction type. Some programs accommodate manufactured housing with specific requirements and others exclude it. We determine which applies to the specific home before you go under contract.
It can change it substantially, because the premium is part of the payment your income is measured against and the cost varies widely with the mapped zone and the home's elevation. That is why we check the FEMA zone for the exact address early.
Only if the loan amount exceeds the conforming limit for the county, which the Federal Housing Finance Agency sets each year. Many island purchases do; plenty do not. We confirm the current limit when we price your scenario.
Sometimes, and how much varies by lender and by documentation. An established, documented rental history carries more weight than a projection, and seasonal income is treated differently from a year-round lease.
All of them. Ai Remco LLC is licensed as a mortgage broker in New Jersey and works with borrowers anywhere in Ocean County, including municipalities not listed on this page. Files are handled remotely from Tewksbury, New Jersey — there is no Ocean County branch office.
For most wage-earner files: recent pay stubs, two years of W-2s, two months of asset statements, identification and credit authorization. Self-employed borrowers add tax returns or business bank statements. Additional items depend on the program and the property.
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.
We can price a scenario, but pricing changes with the market and nothing is fixed until a rate lock is executed in writing. Any figure discussed beforehand is an estimate, not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of terms.
Reach a licensed loan officer at (732) 561-4292 or info@airemco.com. Mon–Fri, 9am–8pm ET.
Ai Remco LLC · NMLS #2560393 · Licensed mortgage broker in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida · 174 Lamington Rd #104, Oldwick, NJ 08858 · Equal Housing Opportunity. Nothing on this page is a commitment to lend or an offer of credit. All loans are subject to credit approval, underwriting and property appraisal, and program terms, loan limits and eligibility rules are set by the applicable agency or investor and can change. Verify our license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Verified against public program guidance as of September 2026.
