A new home in the Upstate, with your own agent at the table.

The largest homebuilder in the country by volume, by its own account, with a Greenville division that builds across the Upstate: Simpsonville, Easley, Reidville and Greenville itself. Three brands cover three budgets. Express Homes at the entry level, Freedom Homes for buyers 55 and over, Emerald Homes at the top.

Known for: Choice and speed. With 63 communities in the Greenville area, there is usually a quick move-in home close to where you want to be.

Dan Ryan built his first house in 1990 in Frederick County, Maryland. The company became DRB Homes, majority-owned by Sumitomo Forestry since 2016, and ranked 21st on Builder magazine's 2023 Builder 100. Its Greenville office is on Patewood Drive, and it builds 55-and-over neighborhoods under its Elevate brand as well.

Known for: The attainable middle. DRB describes its homes as premium but attainable, and its 34 communities here are the second-largest count of any builder on this page.

Family-owned since Joseph K. Stewart founded it in Charlotte in 1977, and privately held still. Its Greenville division builds single-family homes and townhomes in Simpsonville, Mauldin, Greer, Fountain Inn and Spartanburg.

Known for: A family company that has stayed one. Nearly fifty years under the same ownership, and a Greenville office that keeps adding communities across the Upstate.

The other South Carolina builder, based in Irmo outside Columbia and founded by Michael Nieri more than thirty years ago. It became a public company in 2023 and describes itself as a top-50 national builder focused on affordable new homes.

Known for: The entry price. Great Southern builds toward a first-time buyer's budget, which in the Upstate means the outer towns as often as Greenville itself.

The second-largest builder in the country by its own reporting, and in the Upstate since 2020, when it opened Bird Quarry as its first community here. Its Everything's Included program puts the popular upgrades into the base price, and each home comes with its Connected Home package.

Known for: A price that is the price. The finishes most buyers would add are already in the number, so there is less to decide and less to add at the design center.

Founded in Scottsdale in 1985, and an eleven-time winner of the EPA's ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence, the award for builders whose homes beat the energy code year after year. Twenty-two communities in the Greenville area, Cedar Shoals among them.

Known for: The utility bill. Insulation, windows and equipment above code are the standard, and the monthly cost of owning the house is part of the pitch.

The South Carolina builder. Founded in Columbia in 1954 by Michael J. Mungo, family-run for three generations, and part of Clayton, a Berkshire Hathaway company, since 2018. The only South Carolina-based builder to have won the National Housing Quality Award, in 2008, and Builder magazine's America's Best Builder in 2012.

Known for: Process. The awards were for how the houses get built and how the customer is treated along the way, and the company still trades on both.

PulteGroup, founded in 1950 and based in Atlanta, came to the Upstate in 2023 with three communities at once: Indigo Park in Easley, Briarwood Reserve in Spartanburg, and the Alston Park townhomes fifteen minutes from downtown Greenville. Its Del Webb brand builds the 55-and-over communities, Del Webb Greenville among them.

Known for: The newest arrival with the longest record. Pulte's plans are proven in other markets, and its communities here are still early, so lots and timing are open.

Part of NVR, Inc., one of the country's largest builders, and building in the Upstate from Travelers Rest and Taylors to Boiling Springs, in single-family homes and townhomes. Ryan started as a family business in Pittsburgh in 1948 and still describes its focus as customer service, design, quality and price.

Known for: Reach. Thirty-two communities in the Greenville area means Ryan is often the builder in the neighborhood you were already looking at.

A Fortune 500 company that calls itself the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, public since 1986. In Greenville it builds small: Wrenfield is 32 estate-sized home sites eleven miles from downtown, and Cambric Village, opening in 2026, adds single-family homes with townhomes to follow. Its sales center is on Verdae Boulevard.

Known for: The top of the market. Larger lots, larger plans, and a design studio where the choices go well past paint.