Closing Costs in South Carolina 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide
South Carolina charges a deed recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of value, split $1.30 to the state and 55 cents to the county. When a private owner sells, the seller is liable and the buyer is secondarily liable. Hilton Head Island adds 0.25%. A South Carolina lawyer must supervise the closing.
$1.85 per $500: the fee in Title 12, Chapter 24
Section 12-24-10(A) imposes “a recording fee … for the privilege of recording a deed” at “one dollar eighty-five cents for each five hundred dollars, or fractional part of five hundred dollars, of the realty’s value.” Section 12-24-90 splits that into a state fee of $1.30 and a county fee of 55 cents. The only history note on § 12-24-90 is its 1996 enactment, Act No. 458.
Any part of a $500 step counts as a full step. A $300,000 deed owes $1,110: $780 to the state and $330 to the county. At $300,250 the fee is $1,111.85.
“Value” is the consideration paid, and it includes any debt the buyer assumes (§ 12-24-30(A)). One deduction is allowed: a lien that was on the property before the transfer and remains on it afterward (§ 12-24-30(B)). A new purchase loan does not count: in the Department of Revenue’s example, $1,000 down plus $81,000 of new bank financing is figured on the full $82,000.
The seller is liable first; the buyer backs it up
Section 12-24-20(A) reads: “the fee imposed by this chapter is the liability of the grantor, or the joint and several liability of the grantors, but the grantee is secondarily liable for the payment of the fee.” Subsection (B) reverses this for four kinds of deed:
- a master-in-equity deed;
- a deed from the federal government;
- a deed from a state or one of its political subdivisions;
- a deed from a qualified retirement plan.
For those deeds the grantee owes the fee “and not the grantor.” Chapter 24 does not say which side pays the fee on the settlement statement, so read the fee clause in your contract.
Deeds the fee does not reach
- Deeds with a value of $100 or less (§ 12-24-40(1)).
- Transfers on which “no gain or loss is recognized by reason of Section 1041 of the Internal Revenue Code” (§ 12-24-40(4)). Section 1041 covers transfers to a spouse, or to a former spouse “incident to the divorce.” It does not apply when that spouse is a nonresident alien.
- Deeds to the mortgagee, whether in lieu of foreclosure or through foreclosure (§ 12-24-40(13)).
- A deed of distribution to the distributee of a decedent’s estate under § 62-3-907 (§ 12-24-10(B)).
Hilton Head Island’s 0.25% and the 1991 cutoff
Section 6-1-70(A) bars counties, municipalities, school districts and special purpose districts from imposing “any fee or tax of any nature or description on the transfer of real property” unless the General Assembly has expressly authorized it by general law. Subsection (B) makes an exception for a municipality “that originally enacted a real estate transfer fee prior to January 1, 1991.”
Hilton Head Island adopted its fee on October 1, 1990, in Ordinance No. 90-26. Town Code § 4-5-50 sets the fee at “one quarter of one (.0025) percent of the purchase price,” which comes to $750 on a $300,000 purchase. Under § 4-5-20 the fee runs through December 31, 2044, and “shall be paid by the purchaser.” Beaufort County’s Register of Mesne Conveyances collects it at recording.
$15 for the deed, $25 for the mortgage
Section 8-21-310 sets flat “uniform filing fees” that clerks of court, registers of deeds and county treasurers collect “except as otherwise expressly provided”:
- a deed: $15;
- a mortgage: $25;
- a mortgage satisfaction or release, such as the release of the seller’s paid-off loan: $10 (§ 8-21-310(B)(4)).
This schedule took effect August 1, 2019, under 2019 Act No. 58. The $15 is separate from the deed recording fee, which § 12-24-10(A) imposes “in addition to all other recording fees.”
Title premiums: each insurer files its own schedule
A title insurer files the premium rate schedules it plans to use with the director of the Department of Insurance. If the director neither approves nor disapproves a filing within 60 days, the filing “is considered approved,” though the director may extend the review by another 60 days on notice to the insurer (§ 38-75-980(A)). Rates “may not be inadequate, excessive, or unfairly discriminatory” (§ 38-75-970(A)). Each title insurer and agent has to keep its current, dated schedule available to the public in every South Carolina office (§ 38-75-990).
Five closing steps a South Carolina lawyer must perform or supervise
In State v. Buyers Service Co., 292 S.C. 426, 357 S.E.2d 15 (1987), the Supreme Court of South Carolina named four steps in a home purchase that “must be performed or supervised by a South Carolina-licensed attorney”:
- preparing the deed, note and other instruments;
- examining title;
- overseeing the closing and “instructing clients in the manner in which to execute legal documents”;
- giving the recording instructions.
Doe Law Firm v. Richardson, 371 S.C. 14, 636 S.E.2d 866 (2006), added a fifth step: disbursing the funds.
The court restated that list in Boone v. Quicken Loans, Inc., 420 S.C. 452, 803 S.E.2d 707 (2017). It upheld Quicken Loans’ refinance model because “licensed South Carolina attorneys were involved at every critical step.” A lender may prepare the forms “as long as an independent attorney reviews and corrects, if needed, the documents.”
SC Housing: a forgivable second lien, and a Heroes round that has already closed
SC Housing’s Homebuyer Program is a fixed-rate mortgage with income and sales-price limits set by county. Its down payment assistance is “a second lien with 15-year (180 month) term,” with 0% interest and no monthly payments. The lien is forgiven if you live in the home for all 15 years.
In the handout’s twelve non-targeted counties, including Charleston, Greenville and Richland, you must be a first-time buyer or have owned no principal residence for three years; SC Housing says an exception to the first-time requirement is available for veterans. In targeted counties you must own no home at closing.
SC Housing’s October 1, 2025 handout adds these conditions:
- the assistance can be used for “down payment, closing costs and/or prepaid items only”;
- you must complete a homebuyer training course before loan approval;
- the minimum credit score is 640;
- funding is “based on availability.”
Palmetto Home Advantage has no first-time buyer requirement. It offers forgivable assistance of 0%, 3% or 4% of the loan amount, with a borrower income limit of $135,750.
Palmetto Heroes, an annual round for essential workers such as teachers, nurses, firefighters and veterans, offered $10,000 in forgivable assistance in 2026. It opened March 16 and closed April 13 after its funding ran out.
South Carolina closing questions
The federal government is the seller. Who owes the deed recording fee?
You do, as the buyer. For a deed from the federal government, § 12-24-20(B) makes the grantee liable “and not the grantor.” The exemption in § 12-24-40(2) covers deeds going to a government, not deeds coming from one.
My Hilton Head seller agreed to cover the 0.25%. Am I off the hook?
No, not with the town. Under Town Code § 4-5-90, an agreement with the seller “shall not affect such liability of the purchaser.”
My lender’s title company prepared the loan documents. Is that allowed?
Yes, the Supreme Court of South Carolina has allowed it, as long as an independent South Carolina lawyer reviews and corrects the documents and the title examination, the closing, the recording and the disbursement are each done or supervised by a South Carolina lawyer (Boone v. Quicken Loans, 2017).
My ex-spouse is deeding me the house under our divorce decree. Is there a fee?
No, if the transfer falls under Internal Revenue Code § 1041. Section 12-24-40(4) exempts it. If the clerk requires the affidavit, it must state why the deed is exempt (§ 12-24-70(A)).