Written By David Slade dslade@postandcourier.com Apr 30, 2017,  Post and Courier A little help with downpayments and closing costs could make all the difference for lower-income home buyers. For potential homebuyers with lower than average incomes, there's a South Carolina bank offering down payment and closing-cost assistance that could make the difference necessary to make ownership a reality. This may sound familiar, because I've written recently about homebuyer assistance from the S.C. State Housing Finance and Development Authority, but these homeownership programs are offered by Florence-based First Reliance Bank, using funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. There are a few variations of First Reliance's programs, but each of them offers thousands of dollars in financial help to buyers with incomes that don't exceed 80 percent of the area's median income, depending on family size. So, the income limits vary depending on where the applicant lives, and the ...