Fair Lawn, NJ Real Estate Guide for Buyers, Sellers & Renters

Fair Lawn is a Bergen County borough of about 35,000 residents as of the 2020 Census, set on the east bank of the Passaic River across from Paterson. It is best known as the home of Radburn, the 1929 "town for the motor age" that became a National Historic Landmark, but the borough as a whole offers two train stations, a long list of bus routes and a housing mix that runs from historic planned-community homes to Cape Cods, two-families and newer mixed-use buildings. Here's what to know before you buy, sell, rent or invest in Fair Lawn.

Why People Choose Fair Lawn

Fair Lawn borders Paterson, Hawthorne, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Paramus, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, so it sits right in the middle of the region's road and transit network. Route 4, Route 208 and Saddle River Road all serve the borough, and the Bergen County Line stops twice within its limits.

The borough also has a strong sense of its own history. Radburn was planned by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, with parks by landscape architect Marjorie Sewell Cautley, and it is credited with introducing the residential superblock and some of the earliest cul-de-sacs in the country. Fair Lawn has eight sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including several 18th-century Dutch stone houses along River Road and Dunkerhook Road.

Getting Around: Commuting from Fair Lawn

• Train: NJ Transit's Bergen County Line stops at Radburn station (Pollitt Drive at Fair Lawn Avenue) and Broadway station (on Route 4 at East 55th Street). Trains run to Hoboken Terminal, with a transfer at Secaucus Junction for New York Penn Station.
• Bus: NJ Transit routes 144, 145, 148, 160, 164 and 196 run to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown, and routes 171 and 175 run to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. Local routes 746, 758 and 770 connect to nearby towns.
• Car: Route 4 leads east to the George Washington Bridge, Route 208 connects to I-287 in Oakland, and Saddle River Road reaches the Garden State Parkway and I-80 in Saddle Brook.
• Parking note: Broadway station has no parking on the Fair Lawn side; the commuter permit lot is across Broadway in Elmwood Park.

Neighborhoods and Housing Types

Fair Lawn is made up of several distinct sections:

• Radburn: The landmark planned community, with roughly 469 single-family homes, 48 townhouses, 30 two-family houses and a 93-unit apartment complex. Homes face shared pedestrian walkways and about 23 acres of interior parks, with garages on the street side. The private Radburn Association maintains the common property, pools, tennis courts and community center, and charges owners a quarterly fee.
• Lyncrest: South of Morlot Avenue, known for older stone houses, plus split-levels and Cape Cods in the area called the "River Dip."
• Hendersonville (Riverside East): A largely residential section of two-family Cape Cod-style houses.
• River Road District: A business corridor zoned for apartments above storefronts, home to an annual autumn street fair.
• Broadway District and Warren Point: Broadway (Route 4) is the borough's main commercial road, with the Warren Point residential area nearby.
• Fair Lawn Commons and the Fair Lawn Promenade: Along Route 208, the Promenade is a mixed-use development, opened in 2014, combining shops, restaurants, offices and residences.

Buying a Home in Fair Lawn

Fair Lawn gives buyers several paths in: single-family homes, Cape Cods and split-levels, two-family houses and apartment-style units in mixed-use buildings. If you're using an FHA loan, a two-to-four family home can be purchased with a low down payment as long as you live in one of the units, and the borough's two-family stock makes that a realistic option.

A few things we help buyers check:

• Radburn Association obligations: If you're buying in Radburn, we review the association's fees, rules and what the membership covers before you make an offer.
• Historic homes: Radburn is a National Historic Landmark District, and several older stone houses are individually listed. We help you understand what that means for the home you're considering.
• Older-home inspections: Much of Fair Lawn's housing is decades old. Roof, heating system, electrical, sewer line and oil tank checks are worth doing on almost any purchase.
• Property taxes: We pull the current tax figure for every home you're considering, so your monthly budget is accurate from the start.

Need financing? We can connect you with a lender for pre-approval before you start touring.

Selling Your Fair Lawn Home

Fair Lawn homes draw buyers looking for rail and bus access, investors looking at two-families, and buyers drawn specifically to Radburn's design and parkland. A Radburn home with shared walkways, a Lyncrest stone house and a Hendersonville two-family should not be priced off the same comparables. We'll prepare a free comparative market analysis based on recent sales of homes like yours, then market your property across the MLS and every major online channel.

Renting and Investing in Fair Lawn

Rentals in Fair Lawn come mainly from two-family homes, apartments above storefronts on River Road, Radburn's apartment complex and newer mixed-use buildings along Route 208. For renters, we narrow the search to units that match your budget and commute; for landlords, we handle pricing, marketing and tenant screening. For investors, we look at realistic rents, taxes, insurance and condition so a two-family or small multifamily purchase makes sense from day one.

Keep an eye on Route 208: the former Nabisco plant has been demolished, and in 2023 the planning board approved a large warehouse for the site, which remains in the marketing stage.

Local Landmarks and Amenities

• Radburn National Historic Landmark District and the Radburn Plaza building
• Garretson Forge and Farm, a museum at a farmstead dating to about 1720 on River Road
• Historic Dutch stone houses on Dunkerhook Road and River Road
• Memorial Park, Berdan Grove Park, Gregory Park and Cresthill Park
• Fair Lawn Avenue, with Borough Hall and the Fair Lawn Public Library
• Fair Lawn Promenade on Route 208
• Public schools: Fair Lawn Public Schools, including Fair Lawn High School

Nearby Town Guides

Comparing Fair Lawn with nearby towns? Read our guides to Glen Rock, Paramus, Elmwood Park and Hawthorne, or browse all of our North Jersey town guides.

Talk to a Local Broker

The Thompson Realty Group is a licensed New Jersey real estate brokerage based at 20 MacArthur Ave in Garfield, serving buyers, sellers, renters and investors across Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties. Whether you're a first-time FHA buyer, a cash investor, or a homeowner wondering what your place is worth, we'll give you straight answers about Fair Lawn.

Call or text 201-928-5562 or book a free 15-minute consultation. You can also search every active New Jersey listing on our website.

Information on this page is provided for general guidance and is believed accurate as of October 2026. Programs, ordinances, taxes and transit schedules change, so please verify details for any specific property. Equal Housing Opportunity.