Picture an investor holding a three-bedroom brick ranch in the Windsor-Westview pocket, bought near $220,000 and rented out without a hiccup since closing. The six-month seasoning clock has run. The question is no longer whether to buy, but how much capital a DSCR cash out refinance can actually free up for the next deal, and whether the appraiser sees the same value the investor does. In Cayce, that second question is the hard one.
TL;DR: A DSCR cash-out refinance in Cayce, South Carolina is underwritten primarily on the property’s rental income measured against its full monthly obligation, so the process runs from a seasoned title, to an appraisal and in-place lease review, to a loan sized at no more than 75 percent of appraised value, subject to lender guidelines.
DSCR Cash-Out Calculator
Run the cash-out numbers in Cayce, SC
Rate source: Freddie Mac 30-yr average via FRED® — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · effective Sep 24, 2026
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As of Sep 24, 2026 · General Freddie Mac market benchmark, not a Lendmire loan offer. Property value, balance, taxes, and insurance are editable estimates. Maximum loan-to-value varies by lender, program, property type, and seasoning. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
- Redfin’s median sale price reading and Zillow’s typical home value are built differently and can point to different levels. Comps decide which one matters.
- Sample three-bedroom asking rents on Zillow sit in a fairly narrow band, which gives a workable starting point for rent assumptions.
- Modeled coverage at 75 percent LTV can clear the 1.0x range on average-rent cases, with taxes and insurance included, subject to lender guidelines.
- New Columbia-area apartment supply is the main risk to rent assumptions.
What Does the Equity Math Look Like in Cayce?
Cash-out proceeds equal 75 percent of appraised value, minus the existing payoff and costs. Programs generally look for about six months of ownership from title recording, a 1.00 DSCR baseline, and roughly six months of PITIA in reserves. Everything else is arithmetic on a value your appraiser has to defend.
The 75 percent ceiling is the part investors miss. Someone who bought at 80 percent leverage starts above the cash-out cap, so proceeds depend entirely on appraised value rising, or on principal paydown and improvements. Buy at the median, hold flat, and the refinance returns little cash. That’s not a Cayce flaw. It’s the math everywhere.
Now the price anchor. This article uses Redfin’s $236K median sale price, which reflects actual closed sales. Zillow’s $193,931 is a smoothed index of typical value, which is why it reads lower. Neither is wrong. For a refinance, the appraiser’s closed-sale comps matter more than either portal.
Here’s a modeled worked example. These are assumptions, not sourced market data. Take a $236,000 appraised value at 75 percent LTV, a 30-year amortizing structure, and state-average tax and insurance loads, so the coverage figures are on full PITIA:
- Rent at $1,350 (the low end of sampled asking rents): coverage sits right around 1.00x, slightly under on a conservative read.
- Rent at $1,500 (near Zumper’s citywide average of $1,499): roughly 1.1x.
- Rent at $1,750 (near Redfin’s average rent of $1,753): about 1.25x.
The bottom case is where files get harder. Sub-1.00 scenarios may be reviewed by select lenders through reduced leverage, interest-only structuring, or a sub-1.00 program, but each carries compensating-factor and pricing trade-offs, and eligibility depends on credit, reserves, and property review.
DSCR files in markets like this one typically look the same: a modest-priced workforce rental, a lease that sits in a narrow band, and a value story that rests on a handful of nearby sales. The strongest files come in with a signed lease, a current rent schedule, and a realistic read on where the appraisal will land. The weakest assume the top of the rent range and the top of the value range at once.
For the mechanics, the cash-out qualification details cover seasoning and reserves in full, and the guide “What Is a DSCR Loan” covers how the ratio is built.
Appreciation You Can’t Bank On
Cayce’s price signals disagree, and an equity-extraction plan shouldn’t assume the favorable one. Zillow shows values up 9.1 percent over the past year. Redfin shows the median sale price down 2.5 percent. Zillow’s figure for the partly rural 29172 ZIP is essentially flat, up 0.1 percent. Homes.com reports a 12-month median of $238,500, up 4 percent, with 43 average days on market.
Four sources, four directions. That’s thin-comp behavior, not a market trend. The city has roughly 13,700 residents per Census Reporter’s ACS profile, growing slowly, so sales volume is limited. An appraiser will likely pull from West Columbia and Columbia too.
The practical read: plan the cash-out at conservative leverage and don’t count on a post-renovation value bump. Cayce is a cash-flow-and-hold market that happens to sit inside a growing metro. Not an appreciation trade.
Where the Coverage Holds: Windsor-Westview and the Avenues
The Windsor-Westview-Tiffany area is the cleanest DSCR fit. Sample listings show three-bedroom homes at $215,000 to $249,000 to buy and $1,525 to $1,840 to rent, per Zillow’s for-sale and rental listings. These are anecdotal samples, not medians. Still, at the lower price points, modeled coverage clears 1.2x to 1.4x at 75 percent LTV with taxes and insurance included, assuming the rent holds. This is the workforce single-family submarket that fits the program.
The older Avenues and Old Cayce streets near 12th and State carry the lowest entry prices, from about $125,000 for a two-bedroom to roughly $295,000. Cheaper basis means a smaller absolute equity pool. A cash-out on a $125,000 asset at 75 percent LTV doesn’t fund much of the next purchase, so these suit investors who want yield and are fine with small proceeds. Tenant demand comes from workers near downtown Columbia.
Riverwalk and the River Arts District are amenity-rich, with a 12-mile river path and creative-economy businesses. They’re also where flood diligence matters most. Redfin flags 15 percent of Cayce properties as facing severe flood risk over 30 years. Check status property by property before counting on that collateral.
Don’t Underwrite to New-Build Rents
The Knox Abbott and Brickworks corridor is where an investor’s rent assumption most often gets ahead of reality. New apartments ask far above the citywide numbers: Advenir at One Eleven lists one-bedrooms from $1,538 and two-bedrooms from $1,898, and Indigo at Brickworks lists two-bedrooms from $1,960, per Apartments.com. One nearby community was advertising a month free.
Concessions suggest a ceiling. Older single-family and duplex rentals compete against that product on the river-side corridor, so underwrite DSCR at Zumper-level rents, not new-build asking rents. If the number only clears 1.00 at Class A pricing, the file probably doesn’t work.
Do Duplexes Beat Single-Family Here?
Probably not on yield. Homes.com lists three multi-family properties for sale in Cayce, priced from $348,000 to $1,299,000. Run the numbers on a $348,000 duplex with two-bedrooms at about $1,250 each (Zumper’s two-bedroom figure). That’s $2,500 monthly, or about 8.6 percent gross rent-to-price. It’s illustrative arithmetic mixing sources, and it lands at a similar gross yield to the single-family cases above, with modeled coverage near 1.2x at 75 percent LTV including taxes and insurance.
So the advantage of multi-unit is diversified income and softer vacancy shock, not better coverage. With three listings, comps are shallow. Underwrite each deal on actual leases. This one’s a genuine toss-up: single-family offers more liquidity at exit, while the duplex offers steadier cash flow between tenants.
What Changes Over the Next 6 to 24 Months?
Supply is the swing factor. Columbia Metropolitan Magazine reports metro multifamily inventory up 7 percent since 2020, against about 2 percent in Charleston and Greenville, with another 1,800 units under construction. Colliers calls the market “balanced,” with Class A occupancy at 92.3 percent, and its later report says the downtown pipeline will add 25.29 percent to inventory. The two sources differ in tone, so treat supply as a risk to watch, not a crisis. That pipeline sits across the river from Knox Abbott and competes for the same renters.
On the demand side, Cayce rents to commuters, not to its own growth. The metro’s anchors include the State of South Carolina, Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC (over 10,000 employees, per Central South Carolina), and Prisma Health plus Lexington Medical Center, which together employ over 21,000. Cayce residents themselves work mostly in health care (956), education (908), and construction (817), per Data USA. Colliers cites 3.43 percent workforce growth, and the 803 Industrial Park near the airport is adding 45 jobs, per the Lexington County Chronicle.
Indicators to track: Zumper’s rent trend (currently down 10 percent year over year), concession activity on Knox Abbott, how many new units deliver downtown, and whether Cayce sold comps start to agree with each other. If rents stabilize and comps converge, equity extraction gets easier. If concessions spread to older stock, in-place rents get harder to defend.
Investors who vest the property in an LLC should confirm that structure fits the lender’s rules, subject to lender program eligibility. For a view of how this differs from bank underwriting, Lendmire’s comparison of DSCR and conventional loans is a useful reference, and its investor refinance breakdown covers rate-and-term and cash-out structures.
Where the proceeds go matters too. Cayce’s price point makes it a decent source of capital for a second or third rental, but the proceeds typically work harder in a market with stronger rent growth. Lendmire’s South Carolina DSCR loan programs cover other submarkets in the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cayce’s mixed price data change how much equity I can pull?
Yes, because the appraisal decides, not the portals. Zillow, Redfin, and Homes.com point in different directions, so the appraiser may lean on West Columbia and Columbia comps. Model the refinance at a value you’d accept if the appraisal came in low, and stay under the 75 percent LTV ceiling with room to spare.
Is a duplex or a single-family better collateral for a Cayce cash-out?
The yield is close, so choose on diversification and exit. The duplex math in this market runs near 8.6 percent gross, similar to single-family, but with only a few multi-family listings, comps are shallow. Single-family has deeper resale liquidity.
DSCR vs. conventional financing
There are two common ways to finance an investment property in Cayce, SC, and they qualify you differently — here’s how investors weigh them.
Why investors choose it
- Qualifies on the property’s rental income — no personal tax returns, W-2s, or pay stubs needed to document income.
- No personal debt-to-income ceiling to clear, so existing mortgages and obligations don’t cap your borrowing the same way.
- Can be closed in an LLC, keeping the property inside a business entity.
- Built for scaling — not held to the limit on number of financed properties that conventional financing applies.
- Underwriting centers on the deal: generally qualifies when the rent covers the payment, a 1.00x coverage ratio being a common baseline (confirmed in underwriting).
- Designed specifically for investment property, including long-term and, where the program allows, short-term rentals.
Where it’s strong
- Often the lowest ongoing financing cost for a buyer who fully qualifies on personal income — a fit for a first property or a cost-first purchase.
Trade-offs for investors
- Requires full personal income documentation and must fit within a debt-to-income limit — salary, existing debts, and other mortgages all count.
- Typically held in your personal name rather than a business entity.
- Caps how many financed properties you can carry, which can become a ceiling as a portfolio grows.
- Evaluates you as a borrower as much as the property, which usually means more paperwork.
How investors usually choose: a first or single property often optimizes for the lowest financing cost; portfolio builders often optimize for leverage, vesting in an LLC, and scaling past conventional caps. The right answer depends on your goals, the property, and current guidelines — both paths run through select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, with eligibility and terms confirmed in underwriting.
How does Columbia’s apartment pipeline affect my coverage ratio?
It caps rent assumptions more than it hits in-place rents. Roughly 1,800 units are under construction metro-wide, and new Cayce communities near Knox Abbott have used concessions. Underwrite to in-place leases or conservative market rents, not new-build asking prices.
Can I refinance a property near the Riverwalk?
Often yes, but diligence matters more there. Redfin flags 15 percent of Cayce properties as facing severe flood risk over 30 years, so check each property’s status directly. Eligibility depends on property review and lender guidelines.
How long must I own a Cayce rental before a cash-out?
Programs generally look for about six months of ownership, measured from title recording. Cash-out proceeds then depend on appraised value, the 75 percent LTV ceiling, reserves, and coverage. To see what the numbers support, pull a DSCR quote or call 828-256-2183.
The Next Step
Before any application, pull recent closed sales within about a mile of your Cayce property, include West Columbia, and compare them against your in-place lease. If the sold comps and the lease both hold up, the refinance math usually follows. Reality checks like these tell an investor more about Cayce’s equity than any portal estimate, and they take an afternoon.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s DSCR loan programs page.
About Lendmire
As a DSCR and non-QM mortgage broker, Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — connects investors with wholesale lending channels across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C. The property’s rental income, not the borrower’s traditional personal-income documentation, is central to lender review, an approach that suits self-employed operators and portfolios beyond four financed properties. Lendmire is a 2026 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace and a 2025 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace, as covered in Lendmire’s 2026 Top Workplace announcement. Verify current local rental rules, taxes, and insurance with qualified local professionals. Review details are subject to lender overlays and are not a commitment to lend.
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References
1. Redfin, Cayce Housing Market
3. Zillow
4. Zumper, Cayce Rent Research
5. Redfin — Cayce Rental Market
6. Homes.com
7. Census Reporter’s ACS profile
8. for-sale
10. Apartments.com
11. Columbia Metropolitan Magazine, State of the Market
12. Colliers, Columbia Multifamily Report
13. Colliers — Columbia SC Columbia Multifamily Market Report 2026
16. Data USA, Cayce
17. Lexington County Chronicle
18. a 2026 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace
19. a 2025 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace
20. Lendmire’s 2026 Top Workplace announcement
This article is part of Lendmire’s investment property cash-out refinance program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Luxury Rental DSCR Loans In New Jersey · Jersey Shore Vacation Rental Loans: DSCR Financing In Ocean City, Cape May And Long Beach Island · DSCR Cash-out Refinance In New Jersey: Pulling Equity From A Rental
Guides: Investment Property Cash-Out Refinance in South Carolina
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- North Carolina Real Estate Broker · License# 343312 · Verify on NCREC
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Important disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage brokerage. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or financial advisor. All loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not constitute a commitment to lend. Rates, terms, and program guidelines are subject to change without notice and vary by borrower profile, property type, and state. Information in this article is general in nature and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.