Mortgages are widely available in Greenville County and Upstate South Carolina for people who can verify their income and assets. Conventional, FHA, Jumbo and Rural Housing mortgages are summarized below.
More detailed information about each category is available in the links on the left side of the page.
Conventional Mortgage
Conventional mortgages represent the largest share of mortgages in the Greenville area. They're also known as "conforming" loans because they must conform to the guidelines set by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Conventional loans are available for a primary residence, second home or investment property, and the conventional mortgage limits in Greenville and throughout South Carolina are: $417,000 (1-unit), $533,850 (2-unit), $645,300 (3-unit), and $801,950 (4-unit).
Getting preapproved for a conventional mortgage is a straightforward process -- information from your application is entered into an automated underwriting system (Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter or Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector), and the system issues an approve or decline decision in about 30 seconds. The automated underwriting systems evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in an application based on risk factors such as: loan-to-value, credit score & credit depth, type of loan (i.e., fixed rate, adjustable rate, interest only), loan term (i.e., 30 years vs. 15 years), type of employment (i.e, wage-earner vs. self-employed), debt ratios, liquid assets (such as checking, savings, & retirement funds), amount of equity in the property (i.e., percentage downpayment for a purchase, or remaining equity for a refinance).
This is usually the best option for people with excellent credit profiles, but conventional guidelines are tougher than they used to be and people with credit scores below 740 face rate adjustments which bump the interest rate on their mortgage slightly higher than the best rates published in the newspaper.
FHA Mortgage
FHA mortgages from the Federal Housing Administration mortgages are also widely utilized throughout the Greenville area. FHA has gained in popularity over the past year-and-a-half as conventional guidelines have gotten tougher, with FHA originations accounting for 33% of overall originination volume in December '08, up from 3% in January '07.
FHA mortgages are popular in Greenville among first-time homebuyers for two main reasons: (1) lower downpayment requirements than conventional mortgages, and (2) easier credit requirements than conventional loans. This will likely change in the future -- FHA has tightened its guidelines several times in the past year and there are recent signs of higher default rates on FHA loans.
FHA maximum loan amounts vary by County and change every year. The FHA maximum for a Greenville mortgage is $295,000; maximum loan amounts in other counties throughout SC range from $271,050 to $387,500.
First-time buyers can take advantage of up to $8,000 in tax credits as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The IRS says you qualify as a first-time buyer if you haven't owned a "main home" at any time within the past three years.
Jumbo Mortgage
Jumbo mortgages in Greenville County and surrounding areas (loan amounts greater than $417,000) represent only a small fraction of total origination volume. They require significant downpayments of at least 20% (or 20% equity for a refinance), and minimum credit scores of 700+ are required in order to get approved. Interest rates for jumbo loans are higher than those for conventional or FHA loans
Rural Housing Mortgage (100% Financing)
Greenville Housing Statistics
You can view housing stats such as average sales prices, average listing prices, average price per square foot, active foreclosures, month-to-month and year-to-year price trends, in all of the following areas of Upstate South Carolina:
Greenville County:
Berea,
Fountain Inn,
Greenville 29601,
Greenville 29602,
Greenville 29603,
Greenville 29604,
Greenville 29605,
Greenville 29606,
Greenville 29607,
Greenville 29608,
Greenville 29609,
Greer 29650,
Greer 29651,
Simpsonville 29680,
Simpsonville 29681,
Taylors 29687,
Travelers Rest.
Anderson County:
Anderson,
Belton,
Honea Path,
Iva,
Pelzer,
Pendleton,
Piedmont,
Powdersville,
Starr,
Welcome,
Williamston.
Pickens County:
Central,
Clemson,
Dacusville,
Easley,
Liberty,
Norris,
Pickens,
Pumpkintown,
Six Mile,
Sunset.
Oconee County:
Fair Play,
Jocassee,
Keowee,
Newry,
Salem,
Seneca,
Walhalla,
West Union,
Westminster.
Spartanburg County:
Boiling Springs,
Campobello,
Chesnee,
Converse,
Converse Heights,
Cowpens,
Cross Anchor,
Duncan,
Enoree,
Inman,
Landrum,
Lyman,
Mayo,
Moore,
Pacolet,
Pauline,
Reidville,
Roebuck,
Spartanburg,
Startex,
Tyger,
Wellford,
Woodruff.
Greenville South Carolina and the Upstate Region
(click map to enlarge)
Greenville is a mid-sized city located in the upstate region of South Carolina. It is the county seat of Greenville County and is the largest city of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which had a 2006 estimated population of 1,203,795.
The CSA, an 8-county region of northwestern South Carolina, is known as "The Upstate".
Greenville is located on the I-85 corridor about halfway between Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC. The area is also served by I-385 which terminates in downtown Greenville, as well as I-185 and U.S. Highways 123, 25, 276, and 29.
Downtown Renewal
Although at one time Greenville's downtown area was the retail center of the region, the downtown district began to languish in the 1960s as shopping centers lured retailers and customers to the suburbs. In the 1980s, greenville turned to laying the foundation for its downtown vision and providing an example of business potential to encourage business relocation to downtown (i.e., Greenville Commons/Hyatt Regency). the city worked with consultants to develop and implement a downtown master plan and facilitated public-private investment partnerships which resulted in the city's first luxury convention hotel on Main Street
