VA Loans in South Carolina

Why Choose a VA Loan in South Carolina

South Carolina is home to hundreds of thousands of Veterans and active-duty families, and a lot of them first arrived through one of the state’s major installations. Fort Jackson in Columbia is the Army’s largest basic training post, Shaw Air Force Base sits just east in Sumter, Joint Base Charleston anchors the Lowcountry, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island and the air station at Beaufort draw families to the coast. The VA home loan benefit is one of the strongest tools those families have for buying a home, especially in fast-growing markets like Charleston, Greenville, and the Myrtle Beach area. A VA loan asks for no down payment on a primary residence, carries no monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI), and usually comes with a lower rate than a comparable conventional loan on the same buyer.

The Benefits of VA Loans for South Carolina Veterans

The VA home loan benefit was built to make buying a home easier and cheaper for the people who earned it, and that edge matters in South Carolina’s rising metros.

• No down payment required on a primary residence
• No monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI), ever
• Lower rates than a comparable conventional loan on the same profile
• A 500 minimum credit score on VA purchases and cash-out
• The VA funding fee is waived for Veterans with a 10 percent or higher service-connected disability
• Most of our borrowers close in about 2 to 3 weeks

Who Qualifies for a VA Loan in South Carolina

The VA loan program covers Veterans, active-duty service members, eligible National Guard and Reserve members, and surviving spouses who have not remarried before age 57. Active-duty service members usually qualify after 90 days of continuous service in wartime or 181 days in peacetime, while National Guard and Reserve members typically qualify after 6 years of service or after 90 days under a federal Title 10 mobilization. You need a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) along with income, asset, and credit documentation, and we pull your COE directly from Department of Veterans Affairs records during your application so you never have to chase it down. Eligibility is federal, so it works the same whether you are buying near Fort Jackson, in Charleston, or anywhere else in the state.

South Carolina Property Tax and Income Benefits for Veterans

South Carolina treats its Veterans well, and the savings stack on top of the VA loan benefit. Veterans with a 100 percent permanent and total service-connected disability rating are fully exempt from property tax on their home and up to one acre of land, and that exemption can pass to a surviving spouse who has not remarried. Owner-occupied primary homes are also assessed at the lower 4 percent ratio rather than the 6 percent rate used for other property, which keeps the yearly bill down. On the income side, South Carolina fully exempts military retirement pay from state income tax, so a retired service member keeps more of that check every month. Each county runs a Veterans Affairs office that helps eligible Veterans file, and we are glad to point you in the right direction during your loan.

VA Loans Across South Carolina

We help Veterans and military families buy and refinance in every corner of the state, from the Midlands to the coast to the Upstate. Reach out any time at 800-697-4371.

Refinancing a VA Loan in South Carolina

If you already have a VA loan, the VA IRRRL streamline refinance can lower your rate without an appraisal, without income verification, and without asset verification, and our No Score IRRRL has no minimum credit score as long as you have been no more than 1x 30 days late in the past 12 months. If you would rather pull equity than just lower the rate, a VA cash-out refinance lets a qualified Veteran access home equity at up to 100 percent loan-to-value, and you can use it to roll a conventional, FHA, or USDA loan into a VA loan and drop the mortgage insurance you carry today.

Why Work With PBT Bancorp

We have spent years helping Veterans and military families across the country, and we bring that same service-member-first approach to every South Carolina loan.

• An FDIC member bank and a wholesale broker, so we close in-house or shop your loan across more than 35 wholesale lenders
• A 500 minimum credit score on VA purchases and cash-out, through our wholesale lenders
• A No Score IRRRL with no minimum credit score for the right refinance
• We pull your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and handle the VA paperwork for you
• Most loans close in 2 to 3 weeks instead of the 30 plus days you often see at larger lenders
• Over 3,000 military families helped, licensed in all 50 states

South Carolina VA Loan FAQs