FHA Loans in South Carolina
FHA rules are federal, so they are the same in Columbia, Greenville, Charleston and Myrtle Beach. What changes from one South Carolina buyer to the next is the lender: its credit overlays, whether it offers the SC Housing programs, and how it handles an attorney closing. As a broker licensed in South Carolina, we price one FHA application across many lenders and show you where it fits best.
What FHA requires anywhere in South Carolina
FHA loans are insured by the Federal Housing Administration under one national handbook, HUD Handbook 4000.1. South Carolina does not add its own FHA rules, so the baseline below applies from the Upstate to the coast.
Credit score floor
A borrower whose decision credit score is below 500 is not eligible. At 580 or higher you are eligible for FHA’s maximum financing; between 500 and 579, the loan is capped at 90 percent of the home’s value.
Upfront mortgage insurance
Most FHA loans carry an upfront premium of 1.75 percent of the base loan amount, which is usually financed into the loan.
Annual mortgage insurance
On a typical 30-year purchase with the smallest down payment, the annual premium is 0.55 percent and lasts for the life of the loan. With at least 10 percent down it drops off after 11 years.
Primary residence
FHA is for the home you live in, one to four units. It is not for a second home or a pure investment property.
Sources: HUD Handbook 4000.1, Borrower Minimum Decision Credit Score, LTV limitations, and Appendix 1.0 Mortgage Insurance Premiums (revised 11/26/2025).
The South Carolina parts of an FHA purchase
The loan rules are federal. The closing, the taxes and the recording are state and county matters, and they show up in your costs and your monthly payment.
You pick the closing attorney
On a home loan for personal, family or household purposes, the lender must ask which attorney you want to represent you at closing and honor that choice, and the same goes for the agent who writes your hazard and flood insurance.
The seller owes the deed fee
South Carolina charges $1.85 per $500 of value to record a deed ($3.70 per $1,000). The statute makes it the seller’s liability, with the buyer secondarily liable.
Claim the 4 percent ratio
An owner-occupied legal residence is assessed at 4 percent of market value instead of 6 percent, but you have to apply to the county assessor. The escrow part of your FHA payment depends on it.
Conforming limit, for comparison
If you are weighing FHA against conventional, the 2026 conforming limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home in every South Carolina county.
Sources: S.C. Code 37-10-102(a); 12-24-10, 12-24-20, 12-24-90; 12-43-220(c) and (e); FHFA 2026 conforming loan limits.
SC Housing programs that pair with FHA
SC Housing, the state housing finance agency, does not lend to the public directly. Its programs run through participating lenders, and several of them use FHA financing.
SC Housing Homebuyer Program
Fixed-rate financing for first-time buyers with low to moderate income, with an exception to the first-time rule for veterans. Its down payment assistance is a forgivable second lien at zero percent with no monthly payment over 15 years. County income and price limits apply.
County First
Reduced-rate FHA, USDA or VA financing with forgivable assistance in targeted counties, including Abbeville, Beaufort, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Orangeburg and Williamsburg, among others.
Palmetto Home Advantage
Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA options in all 46 counties for first-time, move-up and repeat buyers, with a 640 minimum credit score, no sales price limit, and forgivable assistance of 0, 3 or 4 percent of the loan amount.
Housing Choice Voucher homeownership
Participants in an approved voucher homeownership program can pair it with FHA fixed-rate financing and forgivable down payment assistance.
Ask any lender first whether it is an SC Housing participating lender, then have it price your purchase both ways: FHA with the state program, and FHA without it. Program figures change, so confirm current limits at schousing.sc.gov. More detail is on SC Housing programs.
Sources: SC Housing program pages at schousing.sc.gov, read September 30, 2026.
FHA loan limits in South Carolina
FHA sets a maximum loan amount for each county, so the ceiling in a high-cost county can differ from a rural one. Look up the exact figure for your county on HUD’s FHA mortgage limits page before you shop, or give us the address and we will pull it. Above the FHA limit, the usual next step is a conventional loan.
Talk to a South Carolina FHA specialist
Home Loans Inc: Jason Sharon, Mortgage Broker
2557 Ashley Phosphate Rd, North Charleston, SC 29418
The FHA rules South Carolina lenders get wrong
Most FHA denials we see are not HUD rules at all. They are a lender’s own overlay, or a misread of the handbook. These four come up constantly:
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Two years from the discharge date, measured to the FHA case number date, and 12 months with extenuating circumstances.
Read the ruleOpen collections
Collections do not have to be paid off. Over $2,000, the lender pays, plans or counts 5 percent a month.
The $2,000 ruleGift funds
Family, employers, unions, close friends, charities and public programs can all give. It comes down to the gift letter and a paper trail.
Who can giveOvertime income
Two years is the standard, one year can work, and the lower of the averages is used.
How it countsWhy South Carolina buyers use Home Loans Inc for FHA
Jason Sharon founded Home Loans Inc in 2018 after 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He holds NMLS #1281448, and the company, NMLS #1728740, is a mortgage broker licensed in South Carolina. A broker is not tied to one bank’s FHA overlays: when one lender’s credit floor or debt-to-income cap is the problem, we move the same file to a lender whose rules fit it.
We are based in North Charleston and work FHA files across the state, from Columbia and the Midlands to Greenville and the Upstate to the Grand Strand.
FHA loans in South Carolina, frequently asked
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