Get a personal loan from Prosper through peer-to-peer lending. Personal loans you can use for debt consolidation, a new/used car, home improvements, a wedding and other expenses that may have crept up on your recently. Loans are at a fixed and simple interest rate that is payable over a three year term.
Crowd funding is a growing trend around the Internet.
When you apply for a Prosper loan, keep in mind these are real people investing in you, so be honest. After doing a little research into applying for and actually getting a loan, I thought I would share a few key points with you in hopes of helping you get the leg up you deserve.
If you are a borrower with not-so-perfect credit consider the following tips to help improve your chances of getting a loan.
Be Honest – First, falsifying information is illegal, but everyone has a BS meter that goes off when they hear a big fish tale. Just be honest, you'd be surprised at how many people will reward honesty.
Keep It Short & Sweet – Don't bore lenders with your life history – just get to the point. You want them to read what you have to say.
Sell Yourself – Prosper lender’s make their decisions with heart. Write with the purpose of getting lenders to trust you. Include hobbies or organizations you belong to. Mention your responsibilities at home and at work but do avoid the pity-me stories. Lenders want to help, still, they are making an investment, not donating to your cause.
Fast Forward – Write more about the future than about the past. Don't over-justify your poor credit that will only make you appear risky. How will the loan will improve your monthly cash-flow or improve your life.
Explain Your Credit – Just get to the point, provide an explanation of why your credit is not so great. Limit descriptions to things like “unexpected medical bills”, “lost my job”, or even “lived above my means”, etc. Keep in mind that everyone falls on hard times, or makes a bad decision. Whatever the case may be, keep it short, simple and to the point. Then you will want to provide a a brief explanation of how your situation has changed or how the loan will enable it to change.
Describe Your Job – Your employment is critical, it is the source by which you will payback your loan. You don't have to list your employer’s identity, but do note what you do, how long you have been in the job, and any promotions you have received.
Share Your Budget – Lenders want to see that you can afford a monthly payment in your current living situation. Provide a breakdown of your monthly debt and income. Keep in mind that Prosper loans are on 36 month terms. Don’t borrow more than you can afford to repay.
Your Picture – Lenders are more comfortable with borrowers they can visualize.
Select a Reasonable Interest Rate – Prosper provides graphs of past loans as a guide. Even if you believe, despite your bad credit, you should receive a 5% APR, lender’s won't agree. If your listing is attractive and you do not use Automatic Funding, your rate may be bid down.
Groups – Prosper’s group feature was created to allow peer-to-peer lending to leverage real-world and other virtual relationship networks. Groups are an option for borrowers to explore. You can get a decent loan without a group, and joining a group will not guarantee you will receive your loan.
With that in mind, are you ready to see if Prosper can work for you? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts and about your whole experience.
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