First-Time Home Buyer Loans
If you are buying your first home in the Charleston area, you have four real low-down-payment paths: VA at 0% for eligible veterans, USDA at 0% in eligible areas outside the city core, FHA at 3.5%, and conventional at 3% down. Below we compare all four, show the down payment help available in South Carolina, and walk you through exactly what lenders look at, so you know which loan fits before you ever tour a house.
The four first-time-buyer loans, compared, and how to choose
Almost every first-time buyer overpays in stress because they shop for a house before they pick a loan. Pick the loan first. Four programs cover nearly every first purchase, and the right one usually comes down to two questions: are you a veteran, and is the home in a USDA-eligible area? Answer those and the field narrows fast.
VA loan: 0% down
If you are an eligible veteran or service member, this is almost always the strongest first-time path: no down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance, and flexible credit. With Joint Base Charleston and the Naval Weapons Station here, this is the loan we run most.
VA loans →USDA loan: 0% down
Also zero down, with no veteran requirement, but the home must sit in a USDA-eligible area and your household income must fall under the county limit. Much of outer Berkeley and Dorchester counties qualifies even when the city core does not.
USDA loans →FHA loan: 3.5% down
The go-to when credit is still being rebuilt or your down payment is thin. It allows lower credit scores and higher debt loads than conventional, with 3.5% down. Mortgage insurance applies, but it opens the door for many first buyers.
FHA loans →Conventional: 3% down
HomeReady, Home Possible, and Conventional 97 let qualified first buyers put down as little as 3%. Stronger credit gets you here, and once you reach 20% equity the mortgage insurance can come off, which the others do not always allow.
Conventional loans →How to choose, in plain terms: eligible veteran, take VA. Not a veteran but buying in Hollywood, Ravenel, Ridgeville, or an outer Summerville subdivision and under the income limit, look hard at USDA. Credit in the 580s to low 600s or very little saved, FHA is usually the most forgiving. Solid credit and you want to drop mortgage insurance later, conventional 3% down often wins. We run all four side by side on your actual numbers so the choice is obvious, not a guess.
Down payment assistance and grants for South Carolina buyers
You do not have to cover the down payment alone. South Carolina runs some of the better assistance programs in the country, and they layer on top of the four loans above, so a first buyer can pair, say, an FHA loan with a forgivable down-payment second and walk in with very little out of pocket.
SC Housing Homebuyer Program
Pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage with forgivable down-payment assistance: a 0% interest second lien with no monthly payment, forgiven over a set term if you stay in the home. It can be paired with FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional financing.
Palmetto Home Advantage
Available statewide across all 46 counties with no first-time-buyer requirement and forgivable down-payment assistance options, subject to a household income limit. A strong fit for Charleston-area buyers who have owned before or earn a bit more.
Palmetto Heroes
Targeted assistance for teachers, nurses, law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics, plus veterans, active-duty military, and National Guard. If you serve the community, this program is built for you.
Programs, income caps, and funding change through the year, and not every loan or property qualifies for every program. We keep the current South Carolina options on hand and tell you which ones you actually qualify for. See our full down payment assistance guide, then we will match a program to your file.
We guide first-time buyers across the Lowcountry every week.
The four things lenders look at, and how to strengthen each
Approval is not a mystery. A lender weighs four things, and you can move all four before you apply. Here is what each one means and the single highest-leverage fix for first-time buyers.
Credit
It is not just the score, it is the pattern. The fix that moves the needle fastest: pay every card to under 30% of its limit before the statement closes, and stop opening new accounts in the months before you apply. Do not close old cards, age helps you.
Debt-to-income (DTI)
Lenders compare your total monthly debt plus the new house payment against your gross income. The fastest improvement is paying off or paying down a car loan or credit card, which can free up far more borrowing power than a small raise would.
Savings and reserves
Beyond the down payment, lenders like to see a cushion left after closing. Park your funds in one account and leave them there: large unexplained deposits trigger paperwork. Seasoned money, sitting 60+ days, is the cleanest to document.
Employment and income
Underwriters want stability and documentable income. Avoid job changes during the process if you can. Self-employed or commission income is fine, it just needs a track record, so come prepared with two years of returns.
One more first-buyer-specific point on savings: gift funds are allowed. A parent or relative can gift you down-payment money on every one of these loans. It just has to be documented with a simple gift letter and a paper trail showing where it came from, and it cannot be a loan in disguise. We set this up correctly up front so it never becomes a closing-day problem.
How a first home purchase actually runs, start to keys
1. Pre-approval first
Before you tour anything, we verify your credit, income, and assets and issue a real pre-approval, not a guess. This tells you your true budget and makes your offer credible. In the Charleston market, sellers rarely take an offer without one.
Start here2. Shop with a number that holds
You house-hunt knowing your ceiling, including the local extras (more on flood and escrow below) baked in, so nothing blows up later. We stay reachable while you and your agent look.
No surprises3. Offer and go under contract
When you find the home, we move fast on the financing side so your offer competes. We can also structure seller concessions into the deal to cover closing costs (covered below).
Compete confidently4. Underwriting and appraisal
The lender verifies everything and orders the appraisal. This is where the document prep from step one pays off. We manage the back-and-forth so you are not chasing paperwork.
We run the file5. Clear to close
Final approval, then we schedule closing. You will get your final numbers in advance so there are no day-of surprises about cash to bring.
Almost there6. Closing day, keys in hand
You sign, funds are disbursed, and the home is yours. For most first buyers this is faster and less painful than they feared, because the work was front-loaded into the pre-approval.
Welcome homeCommon first-time-buyer mistakes, and what they cost
Closing costs and how to get the seller to help
Closing costs are the fees to finalize the loan and transfer the home: lender fees, the appraisal, title work and title insurance, recording fees, and prepaid items like the first year of homeowners insurance and property tax and flood escrow. They are separate from your down payment, and for a first buyer they are the cost most often overlooked.
The good news for first-time buyers: you do not always have to pay them yourself. Here is who can.
Seller concessions
You can negotiate for the seller to pay part of your closing costs, called a seller concession or seller-paid costs. Each loan type caps how much, and in a balanced market sellers often agree. We structure this into your offer so you keep more cash.
Gift funds
Just like the down payment, a relative can gift money toward your closing costs with a documented gift letter. We set the paper trail up correctly so it sails through underwriting.
Assistance programs and lender credits
South Carolina down-payment assistance can often be applied to closing costs too, not just the down payment. A lender credit is another lever we can pull to reduce cash to close. We map every available source against your file.
Why your first Charleston pre-approval has to include flood and escrow
Here is the local trap that catches first-time buyers in the Lowcountry: a pre-approval done without flood insurance and full escrow can fall apart the moment you go under contract on a home in a flood zone. In the Charleston area that is not an edge case, it is common.
Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties have large stretches inside FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, near the rivers, on the islands, and across low-lying neighborhoods. If a home sits in one, flood insurance is mandatory, and the premium gets added straight into your monthly payment (your PITI), which is the number your debt-to-income ratio is measured against. A flood policy can be the difference between qualifying for a home and missing it by a hair.
So we build your first pre-approval the local way: we factor the likely flood premium plus the escrow for property taxes and homeowners insurance into your qualifying payment from day one, for the areas you are actually shopping. That way the budget we give you is the budget that survives contract, and your first home purchase does not unravel over a line item a national lender forgot to mention. This is exactly the kind of thing a Charleston-based broker catches and an out-of-state call center does not.
Talk to a Charleston first-time-buyer specialist
Home Loans Inc: Jason Sharon, Mortgage Broker
2557 Ashley Phosphate Rd, North Charleston, SC 29418
Which first-time loan fits your situation
Choose VA if
You are an eligible veteran or service member. Zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance, forgiving credit. In a military town like Charleston this is the benefit we put to work most.
VA loans →Choose USDA if
You are buying in an eligible area outside the urban core and your income is under the county limit. Zero down, no veteran requirement. We check the exact address, since eligibility is parcel by parcel.
USDA loans →Choose FHA if
Your credit is still climbing or your savings are thin. 3.5% down, lower score thresholds, and pairs well with South Carolina down-payment assistance.
FHA loans →Choose conventional if
Your credit is solid and you want the option to drop mortgage insurance once you hit 20% equity. As little as 3% down via HomeReady, Home Possible, or Conventional 97.
Conventional loans →Why Charleston first-time buyers choose Home Loans Inc
Jason Sharon founded Home Loans Inc in 2018 after serving as a nuclear engineer in the U.S. Navy, a background that shows up as precision on every loan file. He holds NMLS #1281448 (company NMLS #1728740) and has spent 8+ years originating loans across the Charleston metro, which means first-time buyers get a guide who knows exactly which local details (flood, escrow, USDA parcel lines, SC assistance programs) make or break a first purchase here.
Because we are a veteran-owned broker and not a single bank, your file is shopped across a wholesale lender network on one application, so you compare real offers across VA, USDA, FHA, and conventional instead of one bank's version. Charleston-area clients have left 430+ reviews at a 5.0 rating, and we are BBB A+ accredited. You will work with a person who will walk you the whole way to the closing table, not a call center.
First-time home buyer questions, answered
Rated 5.0 by the families we serve.
Jason knows his stuff! We highly recommend him for your mortgage needs! He responds timely, provides information you didn't know you needed, puts the client needs first, and makes common sense adjustments throughout the entire process.
Jason and his team did an amazing job for me. They communicated often and made the entire mortgage process smooth and efficient. I can genuinely say that they are honest, trustworthy and strive to provide the best service possible to their clients.
Jason has been awesome since the beginning. He has been communicative, professional, KNOWLEDGEABLE, and honest. I am very happy with all my services so far, and I recommend UWM!