Reverse Mortgages in Summerville, SC: Summers Corner's 55+ Section, the Age 62 Rule and the Dorchester County Tax Bill

Development at Summers Corner began in 2015 on land between the Edisto and Ashley rivers, and Lennar bought the land the following year (Lennar Resource Center). The master plan now includes a 95-acre lake called Buffalo Lake and a 1,000-seat performing arts center, and one of its Lennar sections, Horizons, is listed as 55 and older (Summers Corner). A reverse mortgage has its own age rule, and it is not 55.

A Summerville homeowner who is 62 or older can use FHA's reverse mortgage, called a HECM, to turn part of the home's value into cash with no monthly mortgage payment. That holds as long as the home stays your main home and the property taxes, insurance and association dues keep getting paid. HUD's rule for the loan is separate from any community's age rule. Everyone on the loan must be 62 on the closing date, and a 55+ community's rules decide who may live in the home.

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in South Carolina through C2 Financial Corporation, NMLS #135622, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I am licensed across the state and work with clients by phone. My Summerville page covers the town, the Charleston area page covers the region, and the home equity page puts a HECM beside a HELOC, a home equity loan and a cash-out refinance. A reverse mortgage is right for some clients and wrong for others, so that page is worth reading first, and cash-out refinancing in South Carolina covers the refinance route. Every HUD fact below comes from HUD's Handbook 4000.1, the HECM regulation, 24 CFR Part 206 or a HUD mortgagee letter, as of October 30, 2026.

Two ages, two rulebooks

HUD requires everyone on the loan to be at least 62 on the closing date, and sets no maximum age. A spouse who is not on the loan can be younger than 62. Horizons is listed as a 55+ section, and a person who is 62 or older is also over 55, so the HECM age is the higher bar. The community's own covenants decide who can live in the home and for how long, and I have not read Horizons's. The recorded covenants and the association answer that, and the loan does not change them.

The home also has to be your principal residence, which HUD defines as the home where you spend the majority of the calendar year. A person can have only one. Vacation homes are not eligible, so a client who splits the year between Summerville and somewhere else has to meet that test first.

What the loan costs, on a home at the county median

The Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS reports a 2026 year-to-date median of $400,000 for detached homes in Dorchester County. That is a county figure, and the appraisal sets your real value. HUD's maximum claim amount is the lesser of the appraised value, the sale price on a purchase and the national limit, which is $1,249,125 for 2026. It is one figure for every county in the country, so on a $400,000 home the appraised value is the limit that applies.

HUD Mortgagee Letter 2017-12 sets the up-front mortgage insurance premium at 2% of the maximum claim amount, which on this home is $8,000. The annual premium is 0.50% of the outstanding balance, charged monthly from closing. On a balance of $150,000 that is $750 a year. Because there is no monthly mortgage payment, the interest and the annual premium are added to what you owe, and the balance grows. How much you can borrow depends on the youngest person's age, the interest rate and the value, and I work that out on a real scenario.

Two bills the loan does not stop

Under the regulation, property charges include taxes, hazard and flood insurance premiums, ground rents, condo, PUD and HOA fees, and special assessments. A HECM does not remove any of them, and unpaid ones can lead to the loan being called due with HUD's approval. A Life Expectancy Set-Aside, or LESA, can be set aside from what you could borrow to pay property taxes and hazard and flood insurance. Handbook 4000.1 says it is not an escrow account, and association dues are not on its list.

I did not find association dues for Summers Corner from the community or a public record, so I do not print a figure. The amount is in the association's resale documents.

The tax bill is mostly the county and the Town. For the 2025 tax year Dorchester County's base millage was 79.4 mills and the Town of Summerville's was 66.0 mills. Dorchester School District Two levies 186.2 mills for operations. A home you own and live in as your legal residence is exempt from that, and the district's 65.0 mills for debt still apply (SC Association of Counties, 2025 property tax rates). South Carolina assesses that home at 4%, so on $400,000 the assessed value is $16,000. The three levies add to 0.2104, and $16,000 times 0.2104 is $3,366.40. A Summerville bill also carries flat fees of $176.25 for solid waste and $96 for stormwater, which is $272.25 together. That is arithmetic with the levies I listed and not a bill. Other levies are on a real one, and whether a Summers Corner address is inside the Town limits is a question for the parcel record.

Dorchester County says to apply for the 4% legal-residence rate with the assessor as soon as you move in, and the filing is one-time (Dorchester County). Living in the home as your principal residence is also what a HECM requires.

Buying a home with a HECM for Purchase

A client selling a larger home to move into a smaller one without taking on a monthly mortgage payment is what a HECM for Purchase is for. The sources I have saved describe it as using the HECM to buy an existing one-to-four unit home that you live in as your principal residence, and everyone on the loan has to move in within 60 days of closing. A home that a builder has not finished is a separate question, and I would check HUD's rules on it before telling you it works.

HUD's list of eligible homes includes detached and semi-detached homes and townhouses. A condominium needs an FHA-approved project, a site condo or FHA single-unit approval. Co-ops are not eligible. A purchase also needs cash at closing for your share of the price and the costs, and I add those to the plan at the start.

Counseling, a younger spouse and what the heirs do

Before a HECM goes forward, the client, any spouse who is not on the loan and any other owner who is not on the loan must receive counseling from a HUD-approved HECM counselor. The lender gives you a list of approved agencies at first contact and you contact the agency yourself, and HUD's counselor locator is the place to start. A lender may take an application and give disclosures before counseling is finished, and it cannot collect any fee until it has the signed counseling certificate.

A spouse who is not on the loan has protection with conditions. After the last person on the loan dies, the due date is deferred for a qualifying spouse. That spouse was married to the person on the loan at closing and stayed married, was named in the loan documents and lives in the home as a principal residence. Within 90 days that spouse has to establish legal ownership or a legal right to stay for life, and keep meeting the loan's obligations.

The loan comes due when the last person on the loan dies and the home is not the principal residence of a surviving person on the loan, or when everyone on the loan conveys title. Heirs can pay the balance, sell the home, sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure or cure the default. A sale need not bring more than an amount HUD sets, which the regulation says "shall not exceed 95 percent of the appraised value." Because the loan is non-recourse, the heirs do not owe more than the home brings in a sale.

The next step

Reverse mortgages are not priced in the Rate & Best Fit tool on this site, so the next step is a call to me. My South Carolina page covers the state. I will ask about your age, your spouse, the home and what you owe, and tell you plainly whether a HECM fits.

Nothing on this page is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and it is not tax or legal advice. HUD's rules and each lender's terms can change, and the figures above are examples. The appraisal sets your home's value, and the guidelines at the time of your application govern.

Common questions

Can I get a reverse mortgage on a home in Summers Corner Horizons?

If the youngest person on the loan is 62 or older at closing, the home is your principal residence, it meets HUD's property rules and you complete counseling, yes. Horizons is listed as a 55+ section, and that age rule is separate from HUD's. A person who is 62 satisfies both, and the community's covenants answer who may live in the home.

Do I still pay the association dues and property taxes with a HECM?

Yes. The regulation lists taxes, insurance premiums, HOA fees and special assessments as property charges, and an owner has to keep paying them. A set-aside can cover taxes and insurance, but association dues are not part of it.

Can my spouse stay in the home if they are younger than 62?

A spouse who is not on the loan can be under 62 under HUD's rules, and the due date can be deferred after the last person on the loan dies if the spouse meets the conditions above. A 55+ community has its own age rule, and the answer for a younger spouse is in the recorded covenants.

Can I use a HECM to buy a home in Summerville?

Yes, through HECM for Purchase, on an existing one-to-four unit home that you will live in as your principal residence. Everyone on the loan has to move in within 60 days of closing, and you need cash at closing for your share of the price and the costs. A home a builder has not finished is a separate question I would check first.

What happens to the loan when I pass away or move out?

The loan comes due when the last person on the loan dies and the home is not the principal residence of a surviving person on the loan, or when everyone on the loan conveys title. A qualifying spouse can have the due date deferred. Your heirs can pay the balance, sell the home, sign a deed in lieu or cure the default, and because the loan is non-recourse they never owe more than the home brings in a sale.