South Carolina’s home-buying process follows the familiar sequence — offer, inspection, financing, title, closing — but state law puts an attorney at the center of the transaction in a way most states don’t, and two property-tax and disclosure quirks come up here more than almost anywhere else: how the state treats out-of-state and second-home buyers, and what beachfront and coastal property has to disclose.
South Carolina closings require a licensed attorney — by law, not custom
South Carolina’s Supreme Court has held that conducting a residential real estate closing is the practice of law, meaning a licensed South Carolina attorney must supervise or conduct it — running a closing without one risks the unauthorized practice of law. That puts South Carolina in a small group of states (Georgia is another) where an attorney’s involvement isn’t a matter of custom or convenience but a legal requirement for every routine sale. In practice, the closing attorney reviews title, prepares the deed and closing documents, and oversees the disbursement of funds; a title company can issue the title insurance policy, but the attorney’s supervision is what makes the closing itself valid.
Where the records live: County Assessor and Register of Deeds
Property is valued statewide by each county’s County Assessor. Recording is less uniform: most counties have a standalone elected Register of Deeds, but roughly two dozen counties instead route deed recording through the Clerk of Court. RefPages’ County Records directory links to your specific county’s Assessor and recording office, whichever office that turns out to be.
The deed recording fee, and who typically pays it
South Carolina charges a deed recording fee — the state’s version of a transfer tax — of $1.85 for every $500 of the property’s value (about 0.37%), split between a $1.30 state portion and a $0.55 county portion. It’s collected by the county’s Register of Deeds or Clerk of Court at the time the deed is recorded and remitted monthly to the state. By long-standing custom, not by statute, the seller typically pays it, though that allocation is set by the purchase contract and can be negotiated either way.
What sellers have to tell you
South Carolina requires owners of residential property (a single-family dwelling, or a transaction involving four units or fewer) to complete and deliver a statutory Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement before the buyer and seller sign a contract, under the Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act. The disclosure duty covers known material defects, and an owner who knowingly discloses false, incomplete, or misleading information can be held liable for the buyer’s actual damages. As with most disclosure-form states, the duty is limited to what the seller actually knows — not an inspection or warranty.
Owner-occupied vs. second home: a real, ongoing tax difference
This is one of the more consequential things to understand before you close in South Carolina, and it’s easy to miss because it isn’t a one-time closing cost: the state assesses owner-occupied primary residences at 4% of fair market value for property tax purposes, and everything else — second homes, rental property, and homes owned by buyers who don’t claim South Carolina legal residence — at 6%. Given how much of South Carolina’s coastal and resort real estate market is bought by out-of-state and second-home buyers, that 4% vs. 6% distinction shows up constantly, and it isn’t automatic — you have to apply for the 4% legal-residence rate with your county assessor’s office, generally by a set deadline, and it isn’t retroactive to a closing date you missed it by.
Beachfront and coastal property comes with its own regulatory line
If a property is on or near the ocean, there’s a coast-specific layer on top of the general disclosure form. Under the state’s Beachfront Management Act, the Department of Environmental Services establishes and periodically re-sets beachfront jurisdictional baseline and setback lines — the setback line is set roughly 40 times the average annual erosion rate landward of the baseline, and construction seaward of it is restricted with only narrow exceptions. These lines get reviewed and republished on a multi-year cycle, so a setback that applied when a house was built may not be current today, which matters directly for what an owner can rebuild or add if the structure is damaged. Recent state-level efforts have also pushed for stronger seller disclosure of flood and erosion history specifically for coastal property, on top of the general Residential Property Condition Disclosure form. If you’re buying anywhere near the South Carolina coast, ask directly whether the property sits seaward of the current setback line and what the most recently published local erosion rate is — the general disclosure form won’t necessarily surface either one.
If work is needed before or after closing
If an inspection turns up something that needs a permit, RefPages’ Building Permit Departments directory links to the relevant city or county permitting office.