Home financing in Greenville County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
6 institutions are headquartered inside the Greenville County line, and 11 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Greenville 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.
- 17
- DOORS HERE
- 6
- BASED HERE
- 36
- SC COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Home Financing
- People
- 526Kresidents of Greenville County
- Elsewhere in SC
- Richland County →16 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.
Caro Credit Union · Carolina Foothills Credit UnionOwned 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.
Caro Credit Union · Carolina Foothills Credit Union- Greenville Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Greenville Heritage Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- MTC Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Secured Advantage Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Spero Financial Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- IN THIS LIST
5 of the 17 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.
- CommunityWorksSBA microlenderCommunity lending · Business capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Greenville County line. You can walk in.
- Caro Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Carolina Foothills Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- CPM Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Duke University Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Family Trust Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- NO AGENDA
Nobody paid to be on this list.
The 17 doors inside the county line come off public data, and 16 of them are owned by their own members. We do not ask for your name, and we earn nothing if you knock on one door rather than another.
- Founders Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
Show the other 5Show fewer
- Market USA Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Self-Help Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Sharonview Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- South Carolina Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Truliant 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.
Who actually approves home loans in Greenville County.
home-purchase applications that reached a decision were turned down: 1,010 of 8,056.
- Applications
- 9,874
- Loans made
- 6,842
- Median rate
- 6.4%
- Too much debt for the income32.5%
- Credit history28.9%
- Information they couldn't verify15.5%
- Rocket Mortgage94473414.5%6.4%
- United Shore Financial Services69749315.2%6.1%
- Primelending5754662.2%6.4%
- Southern First Bank4704120.7%6.6%
- DHI Mortgage51537114.4%5.4%
- NVR Mortgage Finance29422616.3%6%
- Crosscountry Mortgage3342174.3%6.6%
- First Heritage Mortgage2432153.1%6.1%
- Loandepot.com31120823.7%5%
- Lower2401956.3%6.6%
The 10 lenders that made the most home loans in Greenville County in 2025, buying and refinancing together. The mark on each bar is the whole county's denial rate (17.3%). Home loans only: first-lien, owner-occupied, one-to-four-unit homes, as reported under the federal HMDA law. Small lenders below its reporting threshold — many of the credit unions above — don't report, so their loans aren't counted here. Rates are for loans made. Source: HMDA 2025 public loan records (FFIEC).
Buying, fixing, or renting out a home in Greenville County means competing in one of the Southeast's fastest-growing housing markets — from new subdivisions near Simpsonville and Greer to the old mill villages around downtown Greenville. This guide covers the main types of home financing, who tends to qualify, the documents to gather, which CDFIs and credit unions are based in or branch inside the county, South Carolina's attorney-closing rule and property-tax wrinkle, and the traps that target first-time buyers and ITIN households.
It's a process, not a rejection.
Home financing is any loan that helps you buy, repair, or hold a home. The common shapes are a purchase mortgage, a refinance that replaces an existing loan, a home-repair or rehab loan, a home-equity loan or line of credit, and, for small investors, a loan on a rental property with one to four units or a small portfolio.
Greenville County has been growing for years, and housing shows it.
New subdivisions keep spreading across the southern and eastern parts of the county, around Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, Mauldin, and Greer.
Closer to downtown Greenville, the old textile mill villages — small frame houses built for mill families — have become a market of their own, with buyers, flippers, and long-time owners all in the mix. In the northern part of the county toward Travelers Rest and the foothills, the market is more rural.
Each of those places points to a different loan. A first-time buyer looking at a new build may be a fit for an FHA loan or a state down-payment program.
A family buying a mill-village house that needs a roof and wiring may need a renovation loan, not a plain mortgage.
A contractor buying a second house to rent out will be looking at investor terms, which usually ask for more money down. Knowing which situation you are in tells you which doors to knock on.
Forget what the banks say.
Mortgage lenders look at four things: income you can document, your credit history, the money you have for a down payment and closing, and how much debt you already carry compared to your income.
In Greenville County, the income picture looks like the local economy:
- Plant and warehouse workers with W-2 pay — the simplest case; two years at steady work is what lenders like to see
- Healthcare, school, and service workers with steady paychecks but sometimes variable hours
- Construction subcontractors and tradespeople paid on 1099s — you qualify on what your tax returns show after expenses, so aggressive write-offs can shrink the income a lender is allowed to count
- Restaurant and salon owners with cash-heavy businesses — deposit everything, because income that never touched a bank account usually cannot be counted
- Small investors with one to ten rentals — lenders look at the rent the property brings in, your reserves, and your track record as a landlord
If you are self-employed, plan on two years of tax returns. If your credit is thin, a CDFI or credit union may look at rent, utility, and phone payment history.
If you have an ITIN rather than an SSN, most standard government-backed mortgages will not work, but some community lenders and credit unions offer ITIN mortgages from their own funds. None of the institutions in our directory for this county is verified as an ITIN mortgage lender, so ask each one directly.
Get your papers in order.
Mortgage files are paper-heavy. Gather these before you start:
- 01Government-issued photo ID
- 02Your SSN or ITIN
- 03Two years of W-2s or 1099s
And two years of complete tax returns if you are self-employed
- 04Recent pay stubs, usually covering the last month
- 05Two to three months of statements for every bank and savings account — explain any large deposits in writing, including money from family
- 06A gift letter if a relative is helping with the down payment
- 07For self-employed borrowers
A year-to-date profit-and-loss statement and your business license or registration
- 08For investors
Current leases, rent deposit history, and statements for any mortgages you already carry
- 09Proof of rent payments if your credit file is thin — canceled checks or a landlord letter
- 10For a repair or rehab purchase
Contractor estimates and the scope of work
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
The doors worth knowing.
Greenville County has a real local bench. Six institutions in our directory are based inside the county, and eleven more credit unions headquartered elsewhere keep branches here.
ALL 17 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 17
- DOORS HERE
- 42
- ACROSS SC
Based in Columbia, 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 Spartanburg, 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. It is CDFI-certified, and it is a minority depository.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Durham, North Carolina. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score. It is CDFI-certified, and it is a minority depository.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.Based in Greenville, 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.
Don't fall into these traps.
You pay the seller directly for years, but the title stays in their name. Miss a payment and you can lose everything you paid. If you consider one, have a South Carolina attorney review it first.
Long-time owners in neighborhoods with rising values get letters and calls offering fast cash. Fast usually means far below what the home is worth. Get an appraisal or talk to a real estate agent before you sell.
Some ITIN mortgages are fair; some carry balloon payments or rates that jump. Ask for every term in writing.
Scammers send fake emails with new wiring instructions. Always call the closing attorney's office at a number you already know before sending money.
A notario público is not a lawyer in the United States. In South Carolina, the closing attorney is the person with legal authority — not a notary.
Nobody honest needs a fee to start or a decision tonight.
Everything below is set by South Carolina, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 17 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
South Carolina requires a licensed attorney to supervise a real estate closing. That attorney is an important protection for you — ask them questions, and make sure you understand every page before you sign.
South Carolina taxes an owner-occupied home at a lower assessment than a rental or second home. You usually have to apply for the legal-residence assessment with the county after you buy. Miss it and you may pay the higher rate. Small investors should budget for the higher rate on rentals.
SC Housing offers down-payment help and first-time buyer mortgages through participating lenders. Income and price limits apply, and they change, so check current terms.
Many mill-village houses predate modern wiring, plumbing, and lead-paint rules. Get a full inspection, and ask your lender about renovation loans before you commit to a house that needs work.
Homes near the Reedy River and other creeks may sit in flood zones. Check before you make an offer — flood insurance can change your monthly payment.
The short version.
- 01
Greenville County's housing market moves fast, but you have real local help — two mission lenders and four other credit unions based in the county, plus a wide set of credit unions with branches here.
- 02
If you are a first-time buyer, start with CommunityWorks or Spero Financial, ask about SC Housing programs, and sit down with a free housing counselor. If you have an ITIN, ask every door directly whether they offer ITIN mortgages. If you are buying an older house, inspect it and price the repairs before you sign.
- 03
Compare at least two loan offers, file for the primary-residence tax rate after you buy, and never let anyone rush you.
- 04
Origen Capital is a directory, not a lender. We do not collect your information, and we do not sell you anything. Use this guide as a starting point, and work directly with the institution when you are ready to apply.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN GREENVILLE COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN GREENVILLE COUNTY →36SC COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in South Carolina, in this same lane.42 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.