State CRE Guide

South Carolina Commercial Real Estate Loans: 30-Day Upset Bids

South Carolina commercial property loans: the $1.85 per $500 deed recording fee, flat mortgage fees, court foreclosure, 30-day upset bids and appraisal rights.

By BestLoanUSA Updated November 12, 2026 6 min read

South Carolina at a glance for commercial property loans
What	South Carolina
Deed recording fee	Recording a deed that transfers real property costs $1.85 for each $500 of value or fraction of $500 — a $1.30 state fee and a $0.55 county fee — on top of the ordinary recording fees. Value is the consideration paid, less any lien that exists before the transfer and remains after it. The grantor is liable for the fee and the grantee secondarily, except that the grantee alone owes it on a master-in-equity deed. ^[1]
Recording the deed and mortgage	The register of deeds charges a uniform filing fee of $15 for a deed and $25 for a mortgage, whatever the price or loan amount. A separate assignment of leases and rents records for $10. ^[2]
Foreclosure goes through the court	A sale under a power of sale in a mortgage does not pass title unless the debt is first established by a court judgment or the debtor consents to the amount in writing after the debt matures, and that consent must be dated no more than 12 months before the sale. In counties with a master-in-equity, the master makes court-ordered sales. ^[3]
Sale notice and sale day	Land must be advertised for the three weeks immediately before the sale. The regular sale day is the first Monday of the month (the Tuesday after, if that Monday is a legal holiday), between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the county courthouse, unless the court orders another time. ^[4]
30-day upset bids	In a mortgage foreclosure sale, bidding stays open until the 30th day after the sale; anyone except the high bidder can raise the bid with a deposit of up to 5% of the bid, and the lender is limited to the one bid it made on sale day. Bidding closes on sale day if the complaint waives any personal or deficiency judgment. ^[5]
Deficiency and appraisal	The court can order the borrower, and a guarantor made a party, to pay the balance the sale does not cover. Within 30 days after the sale, a defendant facing a personal judgment can petition for an appraisal by three appraisers; the appraised value, less the sale price, reduces or cancels the deficiency. Outside home and consumer loans, the right can be waived in writing at closing. ^[6]
C-PACE	South Carolina has no C-PACE statute. The 2025–2026 bill to let local governments create C-PACE programs, S. 256, failed second reading in the Senate on January 20, 2026, 17 to 27; its House companion, H. 3812, was referred to the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee in January 2025 with no committee action since. ^[7]

Checked 2026-11-12; sources are listed at the end of the page. Rates and rules change — your title company and closing attorney confirm the figures for a specific deal.

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Commercial property loans in South Carolina use the same programs as every other state — SBA 504, DSCR loans, bridge loans, bank and life-company permanent loans. What South Carolina changes is a short list: a recording fee measured by the deed’s value and a flat fee for the mortgage, a foreclosure that runs through the court and is usually sold by the master-in-equity, bidding that stays open for 30 days after the sale when the lender wants a deficiency, and an appraisal right that can shrink that deficiency — unless the borrower and guarantors waived it at closing.

Closing costs: the deed recording fee, not a loan tax

South Carolina charges a recording fee for the privilege of recording a deed that transfers real property: $1.85 for each $500 of value or fraction of $500, made up of a $1.30 state fee and a $0.55 county fee. It comes on top of the ordinary recording fees. Value means the consideration paid in money or money’s worth, and the statute allows a deduction for any lien that exists on the property before the transfer and remains after it — so a buyer who takes title subject to an existing loan pays the fee on the price less that loan. By statute the grantor owes the fee and the grantee is secondarily liable — on a master-in-equity deed from a foreclosure sale, the grantee alone owes it; on a purchase the contract can still shift who pays.

The loan itself is cheap to record. The register of deeds collects uniform filing fees: $15 for a deed and $25 for a mortgage, with no charge tied to the loan amount, and $10 for a separate assignment of leases and rents. The statute exempts several transfers from the deed fee, among them a deed to the mortgagee in lieu of foreclosure or under a foreclosure, and a transfer to a corporation, partnership or trust in exchange only for an interest in it.

Example: a $2,000,000 commercial building bought with a $1,400,000 loan.

Deed recording fee: $2,000,000 ÷ $500 = 4,000 units × $1.85 = $7,400 ($5,200 state + $2,200 county)
Recording the deed: $15
Recording the mortgage: $25 — the same at $400,000 or $14,000,000
All together: $7,440, or $7,450 with a separate assignment of leases and rents

On the same example, North Carolina’s excise tax on the deed is $4,000 outside the counties with a local transfer tax. Title insurance, attorney and lender fees and third-party reports are still part of a South Carolina closing; budget them with the commercial mortgage calculator.

Foreclosure: the court establishes the debt first

A South Carolina mortgage can contain a power of sale, but the statute takes most of its force away: a sale under that power does not pass title unless the debt is first established by the judgment of a court, or unless the debtor consents to the amount of the debt in writing after it matures, with the consent recorded where the mortgage is recorded and dated no more than 12 months before the sale. Lenders therefore foreclose by lawsuit. The court can enter judgment against the parties liable for the debt and order the sale at the same time.

In counties that have a master-in-equity, the master makes the sales the court orders; in counties without one, a referee can. Land must be advertised for the three weeks immediately before the sale, at three public places including the courthouse door and, where a newspaper is printed in the county, in a newspaper. The regular sale day is the first Monday of each month — the Tuesday after, if the Monday is a legal holiday — between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the county courthouse, unless the court orders another time.

The 30-day upset bid

When the lender asks for a personal or deficiency judgment, a South Carolina foreclosure sale does not close on sale day. Bidding stays open until the 30th day after the sale, not counting the sale day. During that period anyone other than the high bidder can enter a higher bid by complying with the terms of sale and making the deposit — which the decree can set at no more than 5% of the bid — and anyone other than the sale-day high bidder can raise the last bid the same way. The lender gets one bid only, made at the sale. On the 30th day, at 11 a.m., the sales officer reopens the bidding and sells to the highest bidder; if the 30th day is a Sunday, the bidding closes the next Monday.

If the complaint states that no personal or deficiency judgment is demanded and waives that right, the 30-day period does not apply: the advertisement says so, and the bidding closes on sale day.

Example: a sale held on Monday, March 1, 2027 stays open for upset bids until the bidding reopens at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 31. A buyer who bid $1,150,000 should expect to put up as much as 5%, or $57,500, and cannot count on the property until that day passes; on a master-in-equity deed the buyer, not the borrower, owes the deed recording fee. For a borrower facing a deficiency, every higher bid in the 30 days reduces what is left owing; if a sale or refinance is your way out, start well before the lawsuit reaches judgment.

Deficiency and the appraisal right

A South Carolina court can order the borrower to pay any residue of the mortgage debt the sale does not cover, when the borrower is personally liable, and can do the same against a guarantor or other obligor the lender makes a party. Within 30 days after the sale, a defendant against whom a personal judgment is taken or asked can petition the clerk of court for an appraisal. Three disinterested state-certified or licensed appraisers value the property as of the sale date, considering sale value, replacement cost and income. If the appraised value less the sale price equals or exceeds the deficiency, the deficiency judgment is cancelled; if it is less, the deficiency is reduced by that amount. The 30 days cannot be extended without the lender’s written consent.

Example: the debt with interest and costs is $1,460,000 and the property sells for $1,150,000, leaving a $310,000 deficiency. If the appraisers return a value of $1,300,000, the $150,000 difference is deemed paid and $160,000 remains. If they return $1,500,000, the $350,000 difference exceeds the deficiency and the judgment is cancelled.

The right can be waived on a commercial loan. Outside foreclosures of a dwelling and consumer credit transactions, the borrowers and guarantors can waive appraisal rights if they are told in writing before the transaction that a waiver will be required and sign a statement like the one in the statute, on a page they sign, with the key sentence in capital letters or otherwise prominent. With the waiver, the high bid is applied to the debt whatever the property is worth. Look for that page in the loan documents and any personal guarantee, and weigh it against the lender’s non-recourse terms, if any, with your attorney before you sign.

C-PACE: no state law yet

South Carolina has no statute authorizing commercial property assessed clean energy financing. The 2025–2026 bill that would have let local governments create C-PACE programs, S. 256, was reported favorably with amendments by the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and then failed second reading in the Senate on January 20, 2026, by a roll call of 17 to 27. Its House companion, H. 3812, was referred to the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee in January 2025 and has had no committee action since. Until a law passes, energy and building upgrades on a South Carolina property have to be financed inside the mortgage, with an equipment loan or with the owner’s equity.

Where to start

Choose the program — SBA 504 for an owner-occupied building, a DSCR loan or permanent loan for an income property, a bridge loan for a transition — and settle in the purchase contract who pays the deed recording fee. Size the loan with the commercial mortgage calculator and check coverage with DSCR. For financing that isn’t tied to real estate, the South Carolina business loan guide covers SBA lenders and state programs.

Ready to compare? Start a commercial real estate loan request — one application, compared across our lender network.

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Sources: S.C. Code §§ 12-24-10, 12-24-20, 12-24-30, 12-24-40, 12-24-90; S.C. Code § 8-21-310; S.C. Code §§ 29-3-630, 29-3-640, 29-3-650, 29-3-660, 29-3-680, 29-3-690, 29-3-700, 29-3-720, 29-3-740; S.C. Code §§ 15-39-630, 15-39-635, 15-39-650, 15-39-660, 15-39-680, 15-39-690, 15-39-700, 15-39-720, 15-39-740, 15-39-760; S.C. General Assembly, S. 256 and H. 3812 (2025–2026) status and history. South Carolina Code of Laws on scstatehouse.gov, checked 2026-11-12.

The bottom line

In South Carolina the cost at closing sits on the deed, not the loan: $1.85 per $500 of value, owed by the seller by statute, while the mortgage records for a flat $25. The South Carolina-specific terms are on the default side: foreclosure runs through the court, bidding stays open for 30 days when the lender asks for a deficiency, and the borrower or guarantor can ask for an appraisal that reduces the deficiency — unless they signed a waiver at closing. Read the loan documents for that waiver before you sign.

Commercial loan rates and terms in South Carolina

Rates and leverage come from the lender, the property and the borrower, so they are the same national ranges in South Carolina as elsewhere — what changes here are the closing costs and rules in the table above. Typical terms as of September 2026:

Program	Rate	Max LTV / LTC	Term
Bank / credit union	6.5–8%	65–75% (80% multifamily)	5–10 yr
SBA 504	6.25–7.25%	Up to 90%	10–25 yr
SBA 7(a)	8.5–11.5%	Up to 90%	Up to 25 yr
DSCR	6.75–8.75%	Up to 75–80%	5–30 yr
CMBS	7–8%	Up to 75%	5–10 yr
Bridge	6.25–8.25%	65–80%	12–36 mo
Construction	6.75–10.5%	65–80% LTC	12–24 mo

How each range is built: commercial real estate loan rates by type.

South Carolina commercial real estate loan FAQ

What are commercial mortgage rates in South Carolina?

Commercial lenders price a loan on the property and the borrower rather than the state, so South Carolina rates follow national ranges: about 6.5–8% for a bank loan, 6.25–7.25% for SBA 504, 6.75–8.75% for a DSCR loan and 6.25–8.25% for a bank or debt-fund bridge loan (benchmarks as of September 2026).

How much down payment do I need for a commercial property in South Carolina?

Typically 25–35% for a bank loan and 20–25% for a DSCR loan. An owner-occupied building can qualify for SBA 504 with 10% down (15% for a business under two years old or a special-purpose building, 20% if both).

What does South Carolina charge on a commercial property purchase?

The deed recording fee is $1.85 per $500 of value, so a $2,000,000 purchase owes $7,400 — $5,200 to the state and $2,200 to the county — which the statute places on the seller, with the buyer secondarily liable. Recording the deed costs $15 and the mortgage $25, so a $1,400,000 loan adds no tax of its own.

Is South Carolina a judicial foreclosure state?

Yes, in practice. A power of sale in a mortgage cannot pass title unless a court first establishes the debt or the borrower consents to the amount in writing after maturity, dated within 12 months of the sale. Sales are made under court order, usually on the first Monday of the month after three weeks of advertising.

Can a South Carolina lender collect a deficiency on commercial property?

Yes. The court can order the borrower and a guarantor to pay the balance the sale does not cover, and bidding then stays open 30 days after the sale. Within 30 days of the sale, the borrower or guarantor can ask for an appraisal that reduces the deficiency — unless they waived that right in writing at closing, which commercial loans may require.

Sources

Checked 2026-11-12.