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Personal Loans
Personal Loans, Personal Loan Guides, Personal Loan Reviews
Looking for a personal loan? We have
compiled a useful guide to help you through
the process and have also reviewed a number
of recommended lenders who specialize in personal loans of up
to $25,000 even to those with bad credit.
This guide
will give
you
important
information
you should
know before
applying;
such as
An
introduction
to personal
loans.
How much can
you borrow?
Dealing with
bad credit.
How to get a
personal
loan fast.
Personal Loans up to $25,000:
Prosper-
A new and innovative
lending service. We
were very impressed
with this one.
As you
may be aware, personal loans are not particularly popular with
banks at the moment. There is no collateral (like
with a home loan) and it is therefore a bigger risk.
To qualify for a personal loan directly with a main
bank (such as Bank of America), an excellent credit
score will most likely be needed and of course,
those looking for personal loans are likely not to
have one. Therefore there may be a need to look at some other options.
The good news is that there are some lenders out there at the moment who specialize in helping people with a less than perfect credit history and we have provided reviews of each of them a little further down the page.
How do personal loans work?
The rules vary between lenders, but the general,
principles are the same.
Most lenders offer amounts between $1,000 and
$25,000 at a fixed interest rate over a defined
term.
As with all borrowing, the better your credit score,
the more you can borrow and the cheaper the rate.
Interest rates are fixed at the start of the loan
and the annual percentage rate (APR) is usually tied
in to your credit score.
The loan term is fixed as well - often borrowing is
between 12 and 120 months.
BUT...the longer the loan term,
the more expensive the borrowing. Even though the APR will
remain the same, the lender will collect more interest the longer you take to repay what you have borrowed.
This can lead to the attractive looking monthly repayment levels, but overall the loan will cost you a lot more. Think about this carefully when applying. (Try using our loan payments calculator)
How much will you be able to you borrow?
Lenders will consider several factors to work out
how much you can borrow.
Besides your credit rating, they will also look at
affordability and do this by considering your
disposable income after paying tax, living costs and
priority bills.
There will also look at how much credit you already have and how you are
managing that debt will account for a lot as well.
What are the options?
If the major lenders won't grant you a personal loan due to bad credit reasons, you will either need to improve your credit score (take a look at our 10 tips for improving credit.), or alternatively, one of more of the following lenders may be able to help you, especially 'Prosper'.
Plain Green Loans specialize in personal loans up to $2500.
Prosper is a peer to peer lending service with loans up to $25,000
Quicken Loans is America's biggest lender. All loans catered for.
Spring Leaf finance can do personal loans of more than $10,000.
60 Minute Payday specializes in instant loans of up to $1000.
Read the reviews below...
Prosper
A new and innovative
lending service. We
were very impressed
with this one.
Who are they?
Prosper are the market leaders in
peer-to-peer lending. Launched in 2006
they have so far signed up over 1million
members and have arranged for over
$250million worth of personal loans to
be funded. The vision of Prosper is to
connect those who need money with those
who have money to invest so that
everyone prospers.
What do they do?
In simple terms, Prosper provides the
platform for peer-to-peer lending. As a
borrower you get to choose the loan
amount that you require (between $2000
and $25,000) and the purpose of the
loan. You then create a loan listing
that explains exactly why investors
should invest in your loan. After
reading your loan listing investors can
choose whether to lend you money, and if
they do it can be anywhere between $25
and the full loan amount.
When you have enough investors to lend
you the amount of money you require it
is deposited directly into your bank
account. The rates depend on the purpose
of your loan, the rating it gets on the
Prosper site and your creditworthiness.
You pay monthly installments as with any
personal loan but at interest rates that
are generally much lower than those
offered by other types of lenders. There
are no hidden fees, no prepayment
penalties and you don’t need collateral
to secure a loan.
What services do they provide?
Prosper provides the online facilities
to apply for a peer-to-peer loan in a
matter of minutes. The amount of time it
takes to receive the necessary number of
investor-offers differs according to the
amount of the loan applied for and the
proposed purpose.
Recommended!
In
Summary...
Get a
peer-to-peer
loan
with low
fixed
rates in
a matter
of
hours.
Borrow
from
$2000 to
$25,000
over 3-5
years.
No
hidden
fees and
no
penalties
for
early
repayment.
Connect
with
investors
who have
money to
lend you
right
now.
Personal loans,
mortgages and more
from America's
biggest lender.
Who are they?
According to the National Mortgage News,
Quicken Loans are now the biggest online
lender in the nation. They are also
reputed to be the 5th largest retail
home loan lender. It has only taken them
since their launch in 1985 to reach this
status, and as such they funded an
incredible $29billion in loans in 2010
alone.
What do they do?
The main financial products provided by
Quicken Loans are in the form of home
financing. They offer a range of
mortgage options including 15 and 30
year mortgages, VA loans (for military
servicemen and veterans), the Jumbo
mortgage and the FHA mortgage for first
time buyers.
Quicken Loans try to help as many
applicants as they possibly can, and so
it’s not uncommon for those with
less-than-perfect credit histories to
still be approved. The online
application is in many cases the only
application you need to make, and
depending on which loan option you
choose you may be able to benefit from
loan flexibility and lower equity/money
down on purchases.
The Quicken Loans financing options are
available for refinancing purposes and
to purchase a primary or secondary
property, such as a vacation home. The
interest rates and other benefits are
dependent on the loan package you choose
but they are always competitive and
often slightly lower than similar online
companies offer at the same time.
What services do they provide?
In addition to the personal loan options
mentioned above and the online
application service, Quicken Loans also
provides a number of handy calculators
aimed at helping you to work out the
best financial option for you. They also
have a live chat function so you can get
your questions answered within minutes.
Highly
Recommended!
In
Summary...
Apply
online
for a
personal
loan and
get a
fast
decision.
Numerous
loan
options
available
to suit
every
need.
Personal loans for
any purpose. Simple
and secure. Apply
online today.
Who are they?
Springleaf Financial Services have been
in business for over 90 years however
they only changed their name to
Springleaf Financial early in 2011. They
can arrange personal loans for
applicants in 40 states and have
approved well over 1million individual
loans so far. They also offer merchant
financial solutions and corporate
solutions too.
What do they do?
Springleaf Financial primarily offers
personal loans to those who need them.
It doesn’t matter what the loan is to be
for e.g. consolidating debts, home
improvements, emergency expenses etc.
because they have professional loan
managers available to make sure you get
the best loan package for your needs.
Springleaf Financial can also arrange
home equity loans and mortgage refinance
packages, plus retail financing for
merchants and for corporate clients.
The application process for a personal
loan from Springleaf Financial is a
two-step process. The first step
involves applying online. The details
you input are then checked and you are
either preapproved or you are declined.
The vast majority of applicants are
preapproved though.
The second step (providing you get
initial approval) requires you to visit
your local branch. Here you complete the
application process and arrange for the
funds to be deposited into your checking
account.
What services do they provide?
As mentioned above, in addition to a
variety of personal loan packages
Springleaf Financial also offers retail
finance and corporate finance solutions
to help with business expenses and
expansion. If approved for a personal
loan you can choose to make payments via
the website, and you don’t get charged a
dime for repaying your loan early.
Recommended!
In
Summary...
Choose
from a
selection
of
personal
loans
and home
equity
loans.
Start
your
application
online
with a
simple
form.
Find out
if you
qualify
for a
personal
loan
before
visiting
your
local
branch.
Get a fast and easy
pay day loan with
fast approval and
funding in as little
as an hour.
Who are they?
Although they only launched a few years
ago, 60 Minute Payday are one of the
biggest payday loan providers in the
nation. Their TV campaign has attracted
millions of customers over the last two
years, and over 90% say they are more
than happy with the service they
received.
What do they do?
60 Minute Payday market themselves as a
matching service rather than a loan
provider. This is because they don’t
actually fund the loans they provide,
they simply match applicants with
lenders that can offer what the
applicant needs. So, when you go to the
60 Minute Payday loan website you fill
in an application form and submit it.
The details are then matched with
potential lenders and you are presented
with a list of possible lenders.
By clicking on the lender that suits you
most you are redirected to their website
where the terms and conditions of the
loan are set out. You can then either
accept or decline the loan offer. If you
accept and you are approved you can have
your loan money in your bank account
within 60 minutes (although it does
often take 2-3 hours to register).
Repayment terms, APRs and other terms
and conditions do vary from lender to
lender, and so are based, to a large
extent, on the information you provide
in your initial application. Most
lenders will agree loans of up to $1000
in the first instance.
What services do they provide?
As mentioned above, the main service
provided by 60 Minute Payday is a
matching service that matches borrowers
with lenders. By using the online
application facility you could have cash
in your bank account within hours.
Highly
Recommended!
In
Summary...
Get
emergency
cash
directly
into
your
bank
account
within a
matter
of
hours.
One
simple
application
form
matches
you with
numerous
potential
lenders.
Borrow
up to
$1000 in
the
first
instance.
No
credit
check
required
and no
need to
fax
through
reams of
paperwork.
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