Your South Carolina
Mortgage, Handled.
All 46 counties share the same $832,750 loan limit, so the limit never decides your purchase here. What decides it is how you will occupy the house. South Carolina taxes the same property on two different bases, and the gap between them is wider than the numbers make it look.
or second home?
Lending Across South Carolina
We lend in all 46 counties. These are the markets our clients move to most, whether that is a relocation, a retirement, or a coastal second property.
The market our Northern Virginia and Maryland clients ask about most, and the one where the 4% against 6% question comes up in almost every conversation.
Heavy second home and rental ownership, which means occupancy, insurance and the assessment ratio all have to be settled before the loan program is chosen.
Upstate employment and steady relocation volume, and the part of the state where buyers are most often moving for a job rather than for the coast.
The capital, the university and Fort Jackson, so a large share of the files here are VA loans or first purchases.
The highest concentration of second homes in the state, which is exactly where the 6% ratio and the school millage exemption do the most damage to a payment estimate.
Charlotte commuters buying on the South Carolina side of the line, where the tax comparison across the state border is usually the whole reason for the move.
Buying somewhere else in South Carolina? The loan limit is identical in all 46 counties, so the conversation moves straight to occupancy, your district millage, and insurance.
Call or textForgivable, But Not Unconditional
SC Housing runs the state assistance. The terms are open on who qualifies and strict on what happens if you leave early.
Ten years, and the clock does not pause. Palmetto Home Advantage assistance is a forgivable second mortgage with a ten year term. Sell, refinance, or stop living there before it matures and the full balance is repayable. It is worth taking if you are staying. It is a loan if you are not.
The state’s main program, and the one most of our South Carolina clients use. Assistance is a percentage of the loan rather than a flat figure, so it scales with the purchase.
Move up and repeat buyers are eligible, which rules fewer people out than most state programs do. The credit floor is 640, or 660 for manufactured housing.
The $10,000 forgivable assistance for teachers, nurses, law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, veterans and active duty is not available right now. SC Housing expects a 2027 program in spring 2027. We list it so you are not chasing something that is shut.
SC Housing publishes two different numbers
The Palmetto Home Advantage program guide dated February 2, 2026 states a statewide income limit of $135,750. SC Housing’s own homebuyer programs index states $140,000 for the same program. Both are current agency publications and we are not going to pick one and call it settled. If your income sits between those two figures, treat your eligibility as an open question and get it confirmed in writing before you write an offer.
Get your eligibility confirmedProgram terms from SC Housing, verified September 2026. The program guide states income is measured on credit qualifying income rather than total household income. SC Housing publishes no sales price figure, stating instead that it is subject to any maximum specified by the insurer, mortgage insurer and automated underwriting. Confirm current terms with the agency or with us before you rely on them.
Shopping Florida too? Florida Hometown Heroes and the state assist programs work on different rules, and Florida taxes a purchase in three separate places at closing.
Every Mortgage Option, One Team
The 2026 conforming limit is $832,750 in every South Carolina county. Which program fits comes down to your down payment, your credit, and whether this is where you will actually live.
The default for most South Carolina purchases, and the loan type the state assistance most often sits behind.
Fort Jackson, Joint Base Charleston, Parris Island and Shaw put a heavy active duty and veteran population in this state. With full entitlement there is no loan limit.
Useful where the credit file is still being rebuilt. FHA sets its own county limits on a table separate from the conforming one.
A coastal second home is a different loan and a different tax bill from the same house lived in full time. Both change before the rate does, so tell us the intended use first.
Above the conforming limit the underwriting standards change, and on Kiawah, Hilton Head and Daniel Island that threshold is routine rather than exceptional.
Worth a look after a purchase resets your assessed value, because the figure the county now carries is not the one the previous owner was taxed on.
Send us the county, the price and how you will occupy it and we will tell you which programs are open to you before you write an offer.
Get pre-approvedSame House, Two Tax Bills
South Carolina does not tax a house on what it is worth. It taxes it on a statutory percentage of what it is worth, and that percentage depends entirely on whether you live there.
| Purchase price | Assessed at 4% as your legal residence | Assessed at 6% as a second home or rental | Extra taxable value if you do not live there |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $12,000 | $18,000 | $6,000 |
| $450,000 | $18,000 | $27,000 | $9,000 |
| $600,000 | $24,000 | $36,000 | $12,000 |
| $832,750 | $33,310 | $49,965 | $16,655 |
Ratios from South Carolina Code 12-43-220. The owner occupied 4% ratio requires that you owned and occupied the property as your legal residence and were domiciled there during the tax year, and that you apply before the first penalty date for that year. The gap is wider than this table shows, because Code 12-37-220(B)(47) also exempts an owner occupied legal residence from all property taxes imposed for school operating purposes, excluding millage for the repayment of general obligation debt. A second home pays that school operating millage on the larger assessed figure. Your actual bill depends on your district millage, which we do not publish because it is set annually by each taxing district.
Serving Those Who Serve
South Carolina carries an Army basic training post, a joint base, a Marine Corps recruit depot and an Air Force base, and a veteran population to match.
VA loan entitlement rules from VA.gov. Funding fee exemptions depend on service history and disability status. Installation locations are given for orientation only and are not endorsements.
South Carolina Mortgage Questions, Answered
What buyers moving to South Carolina, or buying a second place here, ask us most.
Send us the county, the price point and how you plan to occupy it and we will give you the real numbers rather than a range.
Call (571) 621-5413Selling Your South Carolina Home Too?
Buying in South Carolina usually means selling something first. The Jamil Brothers Realty Team offers full service listings from 1.5%. The listing side is handled by the realty team and the financing by the Ken Byrne Team at ALCOVA Mortgage, and that is what makes a simultaneous sale and purchase easier to time.
Listings from 1.5%
Listing services are provided by the Jamil Brothers Realty Team. Mortgage financing is provided by the Ken Byrne Team at ALCOVA Mortgage. The two are separate businesses working the same transaction.
We are a South Carolina mortgage lender licensed across several states, so a Lowcountry search that widens into Georgia or Florida stays with one team.