South Carolina closing costs,
calculated.

The direct answer

Who pays what at a South Carolina closing

Buyers pay the lender's fees, the closing attorney, both title insurance policies, recording, inspections, and the prepaid items: the first year of homeowners insurance plus escrow deposits for taxes and insurance. All-in, plan on roughly 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price on top of the down payment; benchmark surveys put the third-party-and-tax portion alone near $2,900 on an average South Carolina purchase.

Sellers pay the commission they negotiated, the deed recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of price, deed preparation, their mortgage payoff, and any HOA document or transfer fees the contract assigns them. South Carolina has no separate state or local transfer tax beyond the deed stamps, which keeps seller costs lower than in most coastal states.

Interactive calculator

South Carolina closing costs calculator

Estimates built from published 2026 figures and Horry County's certified 2025 millage. This is an educational estimate, not a Loan Estimate or a quote.

The seller's tax

SC deed stamps: $1.85 per $500, and the seller pays

South Carolina's transfer tax is the deed recording fee: $1.85 per $500 of the price, split $1.30 to the state and $0.55 to the county, and state law makes the seller pay it. That is $1,110 on a $300,000 sale and $1,480 on a $400,000 sale, about 0.37 percent, modest by coastal-state standards. Horry County's own recording charges are flat under its predictable-fee schedule: $15 for a deed, $25 for a mortgage. The statute is S.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 24; exemptions exist for transfers under $100, family court transfers, and foreclosure deeds.

The attorney and the title

Why South Carolina closings include an attorney and what title insurance costs

South Carolina is an attorney-closing state: since a 1987 state Supreme Court ruling, a licensed South Carolina attorney has to run the closing: checking the title, preparing the paperwork, closing the sale, recording the deed, and paying everyone out. Residential closing fees typically run $600 to $1,200, and the buyer customarily chooses and pays the closing attorney. This is a feature, not a tax; the attorney is the person who catches title problems before they become your problems.

Title insurance rates are set by each insurance company and filed with the state, so they vary a little from one to the next. A typical schedule prices an owner's policy near $330 plus $2.10 per $1,000 above $100,000, roughly $750 on a $300,000 purchase and $960 at $400,000, with the lender's policy added for about $100 to $150 when issued simultaneously. Two discounts worth asking about: reissue rates when the seller can produce a prior owner's policy under ten years old, and the enhanced-versus-standard choice, which changes both price and coverage. Your closing attorney's underwriter quote governs.

The Horry County wrinkle

Horry County tax escrow: billed in arrears, set at your rate

Horry County bills property taxes after the fact, not up front: bills go out around October 1 and are due January 15, and penalties start after that. At closing the seller credits you for their share of the year, and your lender starts collecting escrow months ahead of the first bill it will pay, which is why the escrow deposit can be the biggest line on the statement.

The expensive mistake is letting anyone set that escrow from the seller's old bill. Your first full bill will be computed on your price and your rate class: 4 percent with the school-operating exemption if this is your legal residence and you file the application, 6 percent with the full school tax if it is not. On a $400,000 second home, that is the difference between roughly $1,500 and $4,800 or more a year, depending on the district. The calculator above escrows at your future rate on purpose; the complete math lives in our Horry County property tax calculator.

VA buyers

VA loans: the funding fee and the fees veterans never pay

The VA funding fee for purchases in 2026: 2.15 percent of the loan on first use with less than 5 percent down, 3.30 percent on subsequent use, 1.50 percent with at least 5 percent down, and 1.25 percent with 10 percent down, almost always financed rather than paid in cash. Veterans receiving service-connected disability compensation, Purple Heart recipients on active duty, and eligible surviving spouses are exempt.

VA rules also cap what lenders can charge: with a 1 percent flat origination charge, the lender cannot also itemize processing, underwriting, or document fees, and a veteran can never be charged a tax service fee, lender attorney fees, or prepayment penalties. Where a normally buyer-paid charge is non-allowable, the seller or lender credit picks it up, which is a negotiation point your agent should be making. The full picture is in our VA loan guide.

Get an itemized South Carolina closing cost sheet.

Because BrickWood Mortgage is in-house, we can produce an actual itemized cost sheet for a specific address and loan in one conversation, escrowed at the right tax rate from day one.

Sources

Data sources for this page

• S.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 24: deed recording fee rate, split, grantor liability, and exemptions.
• Horry County real property tax: billing calendar and penalties; Register of Deeds: flat recording fees.
• Bankrate closing-cost survey and published 2025-2026 South Carolina attorney, appraisal, and title rate ranges.
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: funding fee table and fee rules.
• Millage in the calculator: Horry County 2025 certified rates, matching our property tax calculator.

This page is educational, not legal, tax, or lending advice, and the calculator is not a Loan Estimate. South Carolina requires an attorney at closing; your attorney and lender control the final figures.

Common questions

South Carolina closing costs FAQ