South Carolina Reserve Studies

A provider for your condo regime or HOA, from the Grand Strand to the Upstate, named within one business day.

Rainbow Row, the pastel row houses on East Bay Street in Charleston

Five storms that reached South Carolina

Tap a year for what happened and where.

Came ashore near Sullivan's Island just before midnight on September 21, 1989, driving a storm surge of up to about 20 feet into the coast north of Charleston.

Roofs, windows and ground-floor equipment were damaged across whole communities at once: the case a reserve plan and an insurance policy have to cover between them.

Source: National Weather Service, Hurricane Hugo

What the law says, in short

South Carolina governs condos under the Horizontal Property Act and HOAs under the Homeowners Association Act. Neither requires a reserve study or a set reserve balance.

The pressure comes from closer to home: master deeds that call for a reserve line, lenders who look at reserves when an owner sells, and owners asking after a hurricane why there was no plan.

Read the full law guide

Typical fees for a full study

Typical ranges, a guide, not a quote.

An update with a site visit usually costs somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of the first fee. How fees are worked out

Community	Typical fee
Small townhome HOA	$1,500 to $4,000
Single-family HOA	$2,500 to $7,500
Large planned community	$6,000 to $18,000+
Low-rise or garden condo	$3,000 to $7,000
Oceanfront mid- or high-rise	$7,500 to $20,000+

Along the coast

Most of the state's high-rise condos sit in three places.