Home financing in Charleston County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
6 institutions are headquartered inside the Charleston County line, Charleston included, and 2 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Charleston County.
The CDFIs, credit unions, and microlenders that actually say yes — county by county, in two languages. We are not a lender. Nobody paid to be listed. And where a county has no good doors, we say so.
- 8
- DOORS HERE
- 6
- BASED HERE
- 36
- SC COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Home Financing
- People
- 408Kresidents of Charleston County
- Covers
- Charleston
- Elsewhere in SC
- Greenville County →17 doors — the biggest list of any other county in South Carolina
- State
- South Carolina →36 of 46 counties hold a door in this lane
Certified by the U.S. Treasury to lend where a bank will not. Nonprofit, patient, and used to a file that is not clean.
Rev Credit Union · Charleston Redevelopment CorporationOwned by their members, not by shareholders. They look at your whole story rather than a score, and that is the difference when a bank says no.
Cpm Credit Union · Latitude 32 Credit Union- Cpm Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Latitude 32 Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- South Carolina Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Charleston Redevelopment CorporationCommunity lending · Business capital
- CLIMB FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- IN THIS LIST
4 of the 8 doors inside the county line are CDFI-certified.
The U.S. Treasury certifies them to lend to the people banks pass over. It is a loan, not a favour.
- South Carolina Community Loan FundCommunity lending · Business capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Charleston County line. You can walk in.
- Rev Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- State Department Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Mission Asset FundAccepts ITIN
Zero-interest lending circles and credit building. SSN or ITIN accepted. Works through nonprofit partners across the country.
Personal - Accion Opportunity FundAccepts ITIN
Nonprofit small-business lender. Accepts ITIN in place of SSN. Serves most states, in English and Spanish.
Business capital - Grameen AmericaAccepts ITIN
Microloans for women entrepreneurs. Requires photo ID and proof of address — no SSN requirement. Branches in major metro areas.
Business capital
How to read this list.
We do not ask for your name, your email, or your number. Nothing on this page changes based on who you are.
A door is headquartered here when its head office sits inside the county line. The rest are based elsewhere and keep a branch you can walk into. We list both, and we label which is which.
Every institution on this page comes from public federal data — the CDFI Fund certified list (Aug 2026), NCUA credit union data (Jun 2026), and the SBA microloan intermediary list (Sep 2026) — plus a short national tier we verified by hand. We refresh each list as its agency publishes. No listing is paid.
Charleston County has a growing and diverse housing market, and there are real financing options available for first-time buyers, solo contractors, and small real-estate investors — including those who use an ITIN instead of a Social Security Number. This guide focuses on the local lenders, credit unions, and nonprofit intermediaries that actually serve Charleston County residents. Federal loan programs like FHA and USDA provide helpful context, but the most important step is connecting with a trusted local institution that understands your situation. Take your time, compare options, and never sign anything you don't fully understand.
- 8
- DOORS HERE
- 43
- ACROSS SC
Based in Charleston, South Carolina. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Based in North Charlesto, South Carolina. A member-owned credit union, which means the people deciding on your file answer to depositors in the same towns you work in.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Charleston, South Carolina. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Based in Alexandria, Virginia. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Everything below is set by South Carolina, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 8 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
None of this is set by a lender. South Carolina sets it, and it applies the same in every county in the state — which is why it is worth knowing before you knock on any of the doors above.
- PROPERTY TAX0.53% effective
What South Carolina charges every year on what the house is worth. No lender sets it and it does not go away when the loan does — it is part of the payment from day one.
- MEDIAN HOME, STATEWIDE$299K
The number an appraisal gets read against. A house well under it is often the loan a big bank does not want — which is exactly what the doors above are for.
- STATE INCOME TAX0% – 6.2%
It comes off before a lender works out how much of your income can go to a payment.
- COST OF LIVING95.3
National index, where 100 is the country's average. Under 100 means your money goes further here than it does nationally.
Sources: Tax Foundation 2025 · Census ACS 5-year 2023 · BEA/MERIC COLI 2024 · Zillow 2026-Q1. As of 2026-04.
The short version.
- 01
8 doors sit inside the Charleston County line. They are up the page, by name and by town — and none of them paid to be there.
- 02
4 of them are certified by the U.S. Treasury as CDFIs. Lending where a bank will not is their mandate, not a favour.
- 03
This page did not ask you for a name, an email, or a number, and nothing on it changes based on who you are.
- 04
36 of South Carolina's 46 counties hold a door in this lane. If Charleston County does not have the one you need, the whole state is one click away.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN CHARLESTON COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN CHARLESTON COUNTY →36SC COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in South Carolina, in this same lane.43 institutions fund homes and repairs inside South Carolina county lines.OPEN THE STATE →Still don't see your situation?
Ask Iris. She'll explain it the way it should have been explained the first time.