HELOCs and Home Equity Loans in Bluffton, SC: Borrow Against Your Equity and Keep Your First Mortgage

Kevin Icard, the Town of Bluffton's Director of Growth Management, told WTOC in August, "We're at about 80% developed residential uses in the town." A month later, a September 24 release said Tri Pointe Homes had bought 60.4 acres for the last 76 homesites in New Riverside. Sales there are projected for 2028. The Census Bureau's permit counts show the Town issued 331 single-family permits in 2024, and its estimate for 2025 is about 506.

If you live in your Bluffton home and like the rate on your first mortgage, a HELOC or a fixed-rate home equity loan lets you borrow against your equity and leave that first mortgage alone. A HELOC is a line of credit with a variable rate that you draw from as you need it. A fixed-rate home equity loan is one lump sum with a payment that stays the same.

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 work from Bluffton, so I am writing this for the client whose home is already built and already theirs. My Bluffton page covers the town itself, the Hilton Head-Bluffton area page covers the region, and the home equity page lays out the ways of using equity side by side, including the ones that are not a second mortgage. The loan terms below come from the written guideline sheets of the second-mortgage lenders I work with, dated May 2026, and I am quoting what the sheets say.

Keeping your first mortgage rate

A client who wants cash out of a home has two main routes. A cash-out refinance replaces the first mortgage with a new, larger one, and my South Carolina cash-out page walks through it. A second mortgage leaves the first mortgage exactly as it is and adds a separate loan behind it, with its own rate and its own payment.

If the rate on your first mortgage is one you would not get today, the second mortgage is how you borrow without giving it up. If your first mortgage rate is higher than what is available now, a cash-out refinance may come out ahead, and I will price both for you so you can compare them side by side. Either way, the answer depends on your balance, your rate and the amount you need, and it is quick to work out together.

HELOC or fixed-rate home equity loan

A HELOC works like a credit line secured by your home. On one lender's sheet, the rate is variable and follows the Prime Rate, a published benchmark that banks use. You draw from the line for 10 years, and the payment during that draw period is interest only. After that, the line moves into a 20-year repayment period and the payment includes principal as well as interest. Lines run from $25,000 to $750,000, and that lender's sheet lists no prepayment penalty.

Interest only means that if you borrow $100,000 and leave it alone, the balance is still $100,000 when the draw period ends, unless you paid extra along the way. That works well when the money is for something you plan to pay back within a few years, and it is good to have that clear before you sign.

A fixed-rate home equity loan is one loan for one amount. Another lender I use calls it a closed-end second, with terms of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, a rate and payment that are fixed, and amounts from $100,000 to $750,000. That lender also offers a HELOC with draw periods of 3, 5 or 10 years, interest-only payments during the draw and a minimum line of $125,000.

	HELOC	Fixed-rate home equity loan
Rate	Variable, follows the Prime Rate	Fixed for the life of the loan
How you borrow	Draw as needed during a 10-year draw period	One lump sum at closing
Payment	Interest only during the draw, then principal and interest over 20 years	The same principal and interest payment every month
Amount	$25,000 to $750,000 on one lender's line, $125,000 minimum on the other's	$100,000 to $750,000

A HELOC fits a client who does not know the final cost yet, or whose spending will happen in stages. The fixed-rate loan fits a client who knows the amount and wants the payment settled from day one. If you need less than $100,000, the HELOC is the one that goes that low.

How much a Bluffton home can support

Your room comes from your first mortgage balance plus the new loan, divided by your home's value, a figure the lender calls combined loan-to-value, or CLTV. Each lender caps it by credit score. On a primary home with one unit, one lender's HELOC sheet allows 95% at a score of 720 or higher, 90% at 680 to 719, and 80% at 640 to 679.

The value used is an appraisal, so a median price is only a way to show the arithmetic. The Hilton Head Area REALTORS report for ZIP codes 29910 and 29909 puts the year-to-date median sale price through August 2026 at $540,000, so I will use that as a round example, with a first mortgage balance of $320,000.

Credit score	Maximum CLTV	Most the two loans can total on $540,000	Room for a second mortgage
720 or higher	95%	$513,000	$193,000
680 to 719	90%	$486,000	$166,000
660 to 679	80%	$432,000	$112,000
640 to 659	80%	$432,000	$100,000 (the line cap)

Suppose you want $120,000. Your CLTV would be $320,000 plus $120,000, which is $440,000, divided by $540,000, or about 81.5%. At 680 or higher that fits. At 660 to 679 it falls $8,000 short, and the most you could borrow in that tier is $112,000. At 640 to 659, that lender caps the line at $100,000. The same $120,000 clears the $100,000 minimum on the fixed-rate loan, whose primary home limits run from 75% to 90% CLTV depending on your credit score and the amount. The other lender's HELOC allows 90% CLTV at a score of 760, on amounts up to $500,000.

The same report shows why the appraisal matters. The year-to-date median held nearly flat, up 0.2% from the same stretch of 2025, while the year-to-date days on market rose from 80 to 136. I would not plan a loan around prices rising. I work from what the home appraises for and what you owe today.

Bluffton homes in the Town and in the county

Hilton Head Area REALTORS' neighborhood reports show how wide the range is. The year-to-date median in Bluffton General is $469,820, in Hampton Lake it is $999,000, and in Colleton River it is $2,000,000. Colleton River is one of the gated golf communities outside the Town in unincorporated Beaufort County, with a club membership that comes with the property. At that price, the cap that matters is the size of the loan, because both lenders above stop at $750,000. A larger second mortgage is a different conversation, and I am glad to have it with a homeowner in one of the higher-priced communities.

The Town-or-county question shows up on your tax bill, and Beaufort County's parcel record gives your tax district. A second mortgage does not change that district. My Bluffton property tax page explains the 4% rate for a primary home.

If you are self-employed, the other lender takes 12 or 24 months of bank statements on its HELOC and its fixed-rate second at the same CLTV tiers, with personal statements capped at $500,000. My self-employed page explains how a business owner's income gets read.

South Carolina closing details for a second mortgage

South Carolina has no mortgage recording tax. The state's deed recording fee, set in S.C. Code § 12-24-10 at $1.85 for each $500 of value. The South Carolina Department of Revenue describes it as a fee for recording a deed when real estate is transferred to another person, and a second mortgage is not that kind of deed.

If your spouse is not on the deed, please tell me at the start, because the lender decides who signs the loan documents.

Documents to have ready, and the next step

Please provide your most recent mortgage statement for your first mortgage, all pages, even if the last page is intentionally left blank, along with the current declarations page of your homeowners insurance policy, when you are ready. I will tell you what else the lender needs after we talk through your plans.

HELOCs and home equity loans are not priced in the Rate & Best Fit tool on this site, so the next step is a call to me. I will go over your first mortgage, your home's likely value and the amount you want, and tell you which lender and which of the two loans fits. If you are weighing a home on Hilton Head Island instead, the island page covers it, and my South Carolina page covers the rest of the state.

Nothing on this page is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and it is not tax advice. Each lender sets its own terms and can change them, and the figures above are from sheets dated May 2026. The appraisal sets your home's value, and the lender's guidelines at the time of your application govern.

Common questions

Should I choose a HELOC or a home equity loan on my Bluffton home?

It depends on whether you know the amount. A HELOC suits spending that happens in stages, and the rate moves with the Prime Rate. A fixed-rate home equity loan suits a known amount with a payment that never changes, and it has a higher minimum loan size than a HELOC, shown in the table above. I run both against your first mortgage and your timeline so you can see the payments.

How much can I borrow with a HELOC in Bluffton, SC?

One lender's HELOC allows a combined loan-to-value of up to 95% on a primary home with a credit score of 720 or higher. The limit drops to 90% at 680 to 719 and 80% at 640 to 679, and below 680 the line itself has a lower dollar cap. The worked example above shows the arithmetic, line caps included.

Does South Carolina charge a tax to record a second mortgage?

South Carolina has no mortgage recording tax. The value-based deed recording fee applies to deeds that transfer real estate, and a second mortgage is not a deed, so that fee does not apply to it.

Can a self-employed Bluffton homeowner get a HELOC or home equity loan?

Yes. One lender I use accepts 12 or 24 months of bank statements for its HELOC and its fixed-rate second at the same combined loan-to-value tiers, with a lower maximum loan when the statements are personal rather than business. Everything else comes down to the complete file, and I would go through it with you.

Can I get a HELOC on a second home or investment property in Bluffton?

The terms on this page are for a primary home. A second home or an investment property has its own limits that I have not listed here, so please send me the address and how you use the home, and I will tell you what applies.