Personal Loans – When you need to Combat Financial Shortage

There are many occasions when own pocket becomes too short to meet the expenses. Personal loans, however, can meet financial needs of all types of people including tenants and homeowners. Some conditions of the lending companies require you to study them in order to find a suitable deal.

You can find an amount for any personal purpose. Mostly, these loans find use in home improvements, wedding, purchasing a car, debt-consolidation, holiday expenses, child’s education etc.

Categorized in secured or unsecured options, Personal Loans are accessible as per your requirement and circumstances. For homeowners, the secured loan is ideal, especially if they carry a bad credit history of late payments, defaults, arrears and CCJs. this is because the lenders at minimum risks, with the borrower pledging a home or any property for collateral. Its value can enable in borrowing £5000 to £75000 and its repayment carries an affordable duration of 5 to 30 years. But a big advantage is low interest rate due to collateral.

While the homeowners can also take out the unsecured loan option, it is sole option for the tenants or non-homeowners. The loan carries no collateral and makes the borrowing a risk-free affair. However, a slightly higher interest rate will be charged. The loan ranges from £3000 to £25000 for few months to 15 years. For bad credit borrowers, the rate will be enhanced due to risks.

Online mode of taking out personal loans can enable you in borrowing the finance at competitive rates. First, apply for the rate quotes to get bunch of lenders, who are offering the competitive rates and whose additional charges also are fewer. Timely repayment of the loan must be ensured. Borrow an amount that you can repay without burdening your finances. Surely, these loans are helpful in meeting variety of purposes, if you have availed a suitable deal.

source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080712_best_personal_loan.htm

Bad Credit Personal Loans: Help Secure Your Life Financially

Life is full of insecurities. With every passing moment, you realize the things which you have planned do not fall into place. It absolutely holds true that we can not always remain prepared for the future. Unexpected financial needs too keep the same mainstream. Further, if you are found bad credit in the past, very few and far between finance options left for you. In that, bad credit personal loans are considered best. They help secure your finances.

Usually personal loans are unsecured in nature. However, Bad Credit Personal Loans come in secured and unsecured forms. Secured loans are collateral-backed money provisions. Collateral is something worth asset of yours. Based on the assessed value of the placed asset amount of money is granted to you. Whereas, if you fear of loosing your asset then unsecured loan can do a good business for you. This money mode does not contain collateral as of the loan security. Cautiously, lenders on the other hand offer the provisions to the people they deem unlike to default in future.

Apart from this, rate of interest charged upon the money personal is a little higher to other money provisions. It is chiefly because of your teasing credit record. Despite all, you can shop around for the best possible loan rate. A vast money market is right available for you in this prospect.

Things happen all of a sudden. Therefore, when events happen in your lives, you feel despaired and devastated. Yes money has indeed become one of the most crucial things in our life. For that, bad credit personal loans are indeed one of the most convenient loan products in the money market. The sudden rise and boom in the financial industry has helped people to a great extent. With these loan products, you can now meet all your financial ends without having to take the help of your near and dear ones.

Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080607_bad_credit_personal_loan.htm

Secured Loans: Devising Viable Ways For You

You may have different meaning while considering a loan good for you. But one thing always vied by every one of there is to lower the burden of that help. It is obvious that you are seeking better terms on the rate and repayment option of the loan. If you are assured for such options then you really would not have to think much for the feasibility of that financial facility. Secured loans can be best options for such requirements, as it has better terms regarding the rate and repayment.

Secured Loans are provided taking any kind of your fixed asset as security or collateral. You generally put your home or vehicle to avail these loans that help you fetch an amount equal to its equity value. However, the general amount available with these loans varies from £3000 to £100000 that can be repaid over a longer period of 1 to 25 years.

Secured loans have always a lower interest rate, for the security put against it. These loans are for multipurpose usages and that is why you can go for it to make your several expenses cheaper. The expenses that are usually dispensed with these loans are college fees, outstanding bills, buying car, renovation of home, luxury holidays, wedding cost and debt consolidation.

Numerous options are available for availing these loans. Besides the traditional lenders, a number of online lenders too are providing these loans. The online lenders can be contacted easily and without wasting any time. You can apply here for the loan even sitting from your home round the clock.

Your bad credit is no more a hassle here, as these loans are provided even to bad credit holders. So, you can apply for these loans without any hesitation even if you have CCJs, arrears, defaults, IVAs etc.

The main factor that determines the feasibility of a loan is its rate. So, a lower rate can definitely help you cut the cost of loan and to make it apt to your financial condition. The longer repayment option can help you repay even the bigger sum with no hassle, as makes it possible get several little installments. Secured loans help you with all these features and make it most viable financial help for you.

Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080425_secured_loans.htm

Are you planning to take a home loan

The cost of a home has reached unimaginable heights. Many aspire to own a roof rather than live in a rented house. Here are a few factors that prospective borrowers must bear in mind before approaching a lender.

Tenure

Plan the tenure of your loan. Borrowers fall under two categories - the anxious and the complacent. The anxious ones are keen to repay their dues as soon as possible. They fear defaulting in case the rates surge to unaffordable levels.

Paying off the home loan commitment gives them the much-needed peace of mind. Short loan tenures are hence preferred by the anxious borrowers. Short tenure translates into heavy home loan repayment burden for the borrower. The monthly EMIs are high and sometimes become difficult to manage.

Those borrowers who cannot afford to pay huge monthly EMIs seek longer tenures. The complacent borrower keeps repaying his debt over the 15 to 20 year period. While EMIs appear more affordable over the longer tenure, the borrower actually ends up paying more interest to the lender for his loan. It has been observed that most borrowers end up prepaying their loans within an eight year period.

Arrive at right tenure by taking into account your tolerance to rate fluctuations, affordability and other financial obligations.

Amount

The decision on the loan amount depends on your current income level, growth prospects, other financial commitments, current debt obligations like a car loan, personal loans and other assets that you can fall back on.

A huge loan can mean a huge repayment obligation that not all borrowers can easily manage. This could lead to financial crisis and increase stress. Before opting for a huge house and a bigger loan amount, bear in mind that one mustn't fall into the debt trap. Borrow only the amount that you can repay with ease.

Options

Fixed, floating, step-up, step-down, hybrid - borrowers have a wide platter of options laid out before them. Fixed rates are more expensive compared to floating rates. However, floating rates are unpredictable and can fluctuate in either direction.

Hybrid loans are a middle path between fixed and floating options. The borrower can lock a portion of his loan amount under fixed and expose the remaining under floating rate.

A step-up loan is a kind of home loan which offers varying equated monthly installments (EMIs) spread over the loan's tenure. During the initial years of the tenure of the step-up loan, the EMIs are low. This makes it affordable for the young working population that holds tremendous growth prospects. As the years roll by, the EMI outflow increases.

It is assumed that the borrower will grow up the ladder, get promotions and earn increments. Hence, though the EMI increases with time, it will still appear affordable for the borrower. Since a step-up loan takes into account the future earning potential of the prospective borrower, it increases his loan eligibility.

If a borrower is close to his retirement years and has a huge earnings capacity, some lenders offer step-down loan products. Here, the rates are huge initially as the borrower can easily afford high EMI repayments. Gradually, as the years roll by, the EMI installments come crashing down. This is the step-down loan, where the burden of EMIs comes down with time.
source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Financial_Times/Are_you_planning_to_take_a_home_loan/articleshow/2867632.cms

No Credit Check Loans – Meet Urgency without Enquiries

Salaried people want a loan to come in their hands without any delay. This is because they need money for some urgency of for any regular expense. Hence, they want that there should not be wasted any time in enquiring their history of credit. No Credit Check Loans can provide them such a loan, but they should borrow money with keeping its certain aspects in mind.

These loans are provided within 24 hours into the borrower’s bank checking account, without making any credit checks. This is because the loan amount is approved against a post-dated cheque from the borrower. The cheque consists of the loaned amount and fee.

Another reason for the approval being without any enquiries is that the amount of loan is very small, in the range of 100 to 1000, depending on the borrower’s monthly salary. The approval comes for two weeks only. This means that the borrower will repay the loan at the time of next paycheque. Clearly, there are few risks for the lenders.
PayDayOne_Brand_300x250

However, no credit check loans, also known as payday loans, are very expensive for the borrowers. Interest rate on these loans may go up to 30 percent, taken as financial charges. This clearly means that you will have to make high interest payment on total amount of the loan. What is more disadvantageous is that the financial charges will go higher once you extend the repayment.

A history of late payments, defaults and arrears is seldom a hurdle in approving the loan instantly. If you are a salaried person, getting fixed monthly salary, then these may be perfect loans.

To find a suitable deal, search the internet extensively. Some of the lenders may offer you no credit check loans at lower financial charges. Repay the loan on due date for improving your ratings and for avoiding any debt.
source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080307_no_credit_check_payday_loan.htm

Online personal secured loans UK

Online personal secured loans UK are available online, which is probably the greatest benefit of these loans since the online option makes the secured loans cheap as well as fast enough. And, you can take online secured loans almost for any reason, be it debt consolidation, car buying, home improvement or business updating. Even you can opt for Online secured loans UK to bear the costs of a holiday trip.

Personal loans are secured and unsecured in nature. Loans which need a guarantee are in the category of secured loans. The amount and the duration of the loan are decided by the lender after evaluating the value of the property. Taking secured personal loans is a serious business as the risk of property is involved in this case. The factors that add to the popularity of this type of loan are:

* Loan amount up to £250,000
* Choice of interest rates
* Longer repayment period

The limitation of amount followed by secured personal loans UK trigger from £ 5,000 to £75,000 with the elongated payback tenure of 10-25 years from date of approval. a strong feature of this specific loan is that it prop applicants to execute demands in clusters at easy and affordable interest rates. Personal demands like holidays, weddings, renovation of house, buying a car, etc can be materialized and also amplify other ends with the helping hand of secured personal loans.

Secured personal loans can be conveniently availed even if you have a bad credit history. The interest rate may be little higher to enable the lenders ward off their risk attached in giving loans to people with bad credit history. You can also apply for bad credit secured personal loans through the Internet. Today’s hectic lifestyle does not allow borrowers to spend too much time in visiting the bank premises and meeting loan officers. Rather, they prefer to apply online. This explains the growing online lending market in the UK. People have started taking loans as any other regular purchase over the Internet. The benefits of online loans include easy availability, quick processing and competitive loan deals

Personal loans 'can be used to consolidate other debt'

Consumers thinking about consolidating their debt could consider using a loan, an industry expert has said.
Rachel Lacey, editor of Moneywise personal finance magazine, said that there were still some good deals on personal loans, but that it was becoming increasingly difficult to secure the best loan rates.
She added that personal loans had "to be used in the right way" for them to be most efficient.
"The thing is with a personal loan, they can be great for consolidating other debts, but you have to be really careful with the fact that you stop further borrowing," Ms Lacey said.
"It's no good consolidating all your credit cards and all your existing loans onto one personal loan just to carry on borrowing and using your overdraft and taking out another credit card."
Recent figures from uSwitch suggested that consumers could save £830 in interest by changing their loan deal halfway through a contract.
Mike Naylor, personal finance expert at the site, explained: "While they still can, consumers should give loan providers the wake-up call they need and move their business elsewhere if better deals become available.
"Whilst consumers continue to display this level of apathy, loan providers will rub their hands together with glee and continue to profit from the not so tarty loan customers."
Source:http://www.moneyhighstreet.com/news/18451419+Personal+loans+%27can+be+used+to+consolidate+other+debt%27/

Personal Loans – Lenders To Your Rescue

Are you looking for a loan plan that can improve your financial status with in a limited time period and can be availed for all legally correct purposes? Well, there is no requirement of going to the lender’s office and filling tiring application forms. You can be free from all the boring formalities and you can easily get £500 to £250,000 depending upon the nature of your pledged security.
All you have to do is to fill up an online application form and the cash will be in your account. These online loans can be used for any purpose. Whenever you feel that your financial requirements need to be supplemented by an external finance source, these loans may work wonders. You can use the loan amount for any big purpose like buying a new car, remodelling of your house, marriage expenses and repaying the other small debts or loans and so on.
Quick personal loans are the multipurpose loan plans that you may avail to fulfil your needs. You can use these loans to pay school or college fee and much more. To avail these loans you must be of 18 or above in age and must be a UK resident. You must have a steady flow of income upon which the lenders can trust. You must have a valid bank account at least 6 months old and residential proof is must for getting these loans.
When you search online, you will find a number of lenders ready to provide you these loan plans with easy and fast processing. Merely fill up an online loan application form providing all the desired information about you and the loan amount will be in your account with in the shortest possible time. Many brokers and middlemen are also available on the Internet to help you access the lenders who offer such loan plans.
Personal loans in general are long-term loan plans where the repayment period is longer than credit cards and overdrafts. Repayment term of these loans is within 5 to 25 years. Interest rates of these loan plans are also lower than other types of loans. There are two types of interest rates associated with these loan plans. They are fixed rates and adjustable rates. In case of fixed rate, the rate of interest and the amount of monthly instalments remain the same throughout the repayment period. In case of adjustable rate, the rate of interest swings with the changes in the interest rates prevalent in the financial market.
Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=2008021_secured_personal_loans.htm

Extend and improve

Do you want to move because you need more space? If that is the case maybe you can simply extend the property you already have. Kathleen Hennessy explains how.

Homeowners, like goldfish, tend to expand to fit any space around them. Traditionally, when homeowners have desired more space they have traded up to a bigger home, cashing in on the equity in their existing property.

But this moves comes far from cheap. Selling your existing property through an estate agent will incur fees of 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent of the selling price, even more if you sell using more than one agent. Stamp duty is now 1 per cent on property purchases up to £250,000 and 3 per cent up to £500,000. With the average UK property costing just under £195,000, this would mean paying £1,950 in stamp duty and up to £5,850 in estate agent’s fees.


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Add to this the price of a HIP, conveyancing costs, removals charges and mortgage arrangement fees, and you’re looking at very little change from £10,000 - and that’s before you’ve added so much as a lick of paint to your new home, or factored in the time it takes to actually find a property that suits your needs.

Options

Alternatively, you might consider adding an extension or converting your loft to increase the size of your existing property – and, potentially, its value. Research from Alliance & Leicester in April 2007 suggests that the addition of a dormer-style loft conversion adds, on average, a whopping £100,000 to a property’s value – and at an average cost of just £23,000.

“Taking out a personal loan to fund all or part of a loft conversion can be a far cheaper option than moving to a larger house to gain an extra bedroom,” points out Richard Al-Dabbagh, senior personal loans manager at Alliance & Leicester. “Carrying out home improvements instead of moving can have amazing results, potentially increasing the value of your existing property.”

The other advantage of staying put and extending is potentially less upheaval in your family’s life: access to transport, good schools and place of work, plus proximity to friends and family probably influenced the purchase of your existing property and shouldn’t be over-discounted when deciding whether to move or improve.

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“Having chosen where to live and settled into a neighbourhood, it’s understandable that the majority of homeowners looking for more space would prefer to extend and improve, rather than starting the hunt for a new and potentially more expensive property,” says Allison Crawford, director of marketing at Standard Life Bank. “Your home is probably the biggest investment you will ever make, so it follows that you will want to spend money and time getting it exactly as you want.”

Choose carefully

But before you take a sledgehammer to your back wall, be warned: certain home improvements don’t recoup their costs and may even reduce your home’s value.

According to estate agents, the best home improvements for boosting property values are extra living space, bedrooms, studies or garages. Badly finished work - uneven brickwork, poorly fitted doors and windows, or bad plumbing/wiring - is likely to negatively affect your property’s value.

As Andrew Thompson, general manager of the Building Cost Information Service, says: “With any work on your home, it’s crucial to make sure it will be beneficial and add value. A surveyor can advise you about building regulations, planning permission and whether the proposed improvement will actually add value.”

Getting approval for any work you plan to carry out is crucial, says London-based builder Stephen Palmer. “You don’t need planning permission for all home improvements - you don’t generally need it for loft conversions, for example - though you still need building regulations approval for any construction work you carry out,” he explains.

Some exceptions

“Although each project is considered individually, as a good rule of thumb, if your extension is less than 50 cubic meters (or less than 10 per cent of the volume of the original house) and no higher than any part of the existing property, you most likely won’t need planning permission. There are some exceptions, including properties in conservation areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty, national parks or the Broads, and terraced houses. You might also have problems if any part of the existing house has already been extended.”

If the work you plan does need planning permission, you need to contact the planning department of your local authority. Fees for planning applications vary according to the type of work being proposed but residential applications cost £135 in England and £159 in Wales. Your local authority will then approve or reject your application.

Making progress

Once building work is underway, and even if you didn’t require planning permission, you will still need building regulations approval. These regulations govern building standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the health and safety of those living in or near them - so you can’t build walls that might crumble in the rain, or put up a roof that might collapse under its own weight, for example.

The work will need to be assessed at four to five key stages by your local authority building control officer. Generally, these stages are: excavation of foundations, insulation, drainage, foundations and roof construction. A one-off fee, calculated as a percentage of the building costs, is charged for building regulations approval, and there may also be a smaller sign-off fee once work is completed.

“Assuming you don’t need planning permission, you can start work at 24 hours’ notice, pay your fee and get the work approved as you go on, but it’s worthwhile waiting and getting approval for submitted drawings,” suggests Palmer. “That way, if there’s something you have neglected to account for - the most awful of which is having to go deeper than anticipated with your foundations - it can be sorted by building control before you start, rather than further along in the build. This can save you money.”

Building regulations approval is not an area where a devil-may-care attitude can work: if a building control officer declines to approve your work, you can be forced to tear it down.

source:http://www.whatmortgage.co.uk/mortgages/192210/50/Homebuying_in_depth/Extend_and_improve.htm

Bad Credit Secured Loans - Security to Secure Loans for You

When your run is in the bad credit turf, could you believe that there are very good and brightly colored loans available for you which are available for almost any of your personal needs. And, they are affordable enough for anyone. They are bad credit secured loans, with cheap and convenient rates attached.

Bad credit secured loans speak of one very good phenomenon rambling in the loan industry of today. It says, your bad credit history is no matter with the lenders here. You have the security pledging attached in the bad credit secured loans. This is the thing that lets you have the loans without any hassle. The lender remains assured that his money will be paid back timely, since there is the collateral attachment involved. So, it does not matter if you have a bad credit record.

Bad credit secured loans are available for a range of requirements like debt consolidation, business, car buying and holiday going etc. And, you can grab the amount of bad credit secured loans ranging from £ 5000 to £ 25000 for a term of 5 years to 25 years.

Bad credit secured loans online has got yet, another unique facility attached for the bad credit holders. Bad credit holders can easily regain their good credit status when they pay off refunding installments regularly and timely. Regular installments get counted as positive response and therefore, do have the capacity to soothe your credit record.

Online is the best way to go for bad credit secured loans. Applying online for Bad credit secured loans is free of cost and the pace of loan approval is optimum here.

Bad credit secured loans are available irrespective of bad credit history of the borrower and it can remake the credit rating you have. So, you can say, this is one of the best loans the bad credit holders have these days.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/

Secured Loan Services Launches IVA Service To Brokers;

Master broker Secured Loan Services (SLS) has launched an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) service enabling brokers to help clients manage their way out of debt.
SLS is offering the service in association with accounting firm Grant Thornton. By giving its brokers access to an IVA service, SLS hopes it can help borrowers deal with their problems before they escalate into full-blown bankruptcy, which is not in the interest of either debtors or creditors.
Last year 110,000 IVAs were put in place, and during 2008 that figure is expected to rise to 130,000. With an increasing number of consumers struggling under the burden of personal debt and access to financial products becoming more difficult for adverse clients, it is imperative that those fighting financial problems deal with the issues at hand as quickly as possible.
Mat Manser, sales director at Secured Loan Services said: “Mortgage and loan brokers have increasingly been given responsibility under Financial Services Authority regulation to ensure their clients can afford the finance they are taking on. It therefore seems natural they should also be in a position to help those that struggle. Our IVA service will give them all of the support they need to make sure clients who are struggling in today’s difficult financial environment have access to the best advice and most appropriate solution for their needs.”
An IVA is a private agreement between an individual and their creditors by which a set amount of the debt is written off while the rest is paid back over a fixed period. The arrangement has to be agreed by at least 75%, by value, of the voting creditors and thereafter it is binding upon all of them. An IVA is only possible in cases where debts exceed £15,000. The average person entering an IVA owes just over £50,000 and agrees to pay back almost 40% of the total.
source:http://www.introducertoday.co.uk/News/Story/?storyid=630&title=Secured_Loan_Services_Launches_IVA_Service_To_Brokers&type=news_features

Causes of the bust

Florida's real estate boom, by any measure one of the biggest speculative investment bubbles in history, peaked in October 1925, and banks started failing in the summer of 1926. The bubble burst because of:

Bank fraud and insider abuse, aggravated by unsecured personal loans made to bank regulators, including state Comptroller Ernest Amos, who misled the public about the health of Florida's banks, according to historian Raymond Vickers.

National hostility against the "excesses" of Florida. This was orchestrated by northern bankers who were tired of seeing their deposits flow to Florida banks. To counteract bad publicity in the northern states, Gov. Martin and several developers held a press conference in New York City in early 1926 to tell "the truth about Florida." The press saw this as a sign that the boom was over.

Bad loans.

The public defection of Sen. T. Coleman du Pont from Mizner Development Corp.'s board, when he realized the company's marketing department was making guarantees to buyers that could not be kept. One advertisement for Addison Mizner's dream development, Boca Raton, promised grandeur and said: "Attach this advertisement to your contract for deed. It becomes a part thereof." Fearing personal liability, du Pont quit, and within a week, several other board members followed. This put Boca in a coma and the boom on life support.

Prices that soared beyond anyone's ability to pay. "We just ran out of suckers," said one developer.

A rail strike, in October 1925, which led to a rail embargo that kept needed building supplies out of the state when demand was the highest.

The January 1926 capsizing of the Prinz Valdemar, a four-masted ship that was to be used as a floating hotel, in the mouth of Miami's harbor. That blocked the import of building materials by ship for weeks.

Bad publicity following a hurricane in September 1926 that killed 400 people and left 50,000 homeless in Dade County.

source:http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080127/REALESTATE/801270421

AA Personal Loans: Female car dealers preferred

A new survey by AA Personal Loans suggests that many Britons may prefer to buy a car from a female salesperson.

AA Personal Loans conducted a poll in which they asked people which celebrities they would prefer to have as a car dealer.

Lorraine Kelly and Paula Radcliffe were among the top choices, the figures reveal.

In fact, four out of five of the top selections on the list are women, with Jeremy Paxman as the sole man appearing.

Mark Huggins, head of AA Personal Loans, suggested that some people may associate more trustworthy qualities with women, rather than men.

"With the gender balance in the car market shifting, women being just as likely to buy a second hand car as men, it makes sense that many would prefer to buy a car from a woman," he remarked.

A recent Sheilas' Wheels study suggested that women may not be doing enough to keep their hair under control as they drive, which could be a safety hazard.

source:http://www.moneynews.co.uk/4155/aa-personal-loans-female-car-dealers-preferred/

Bank said no? Try a personal lender online

When Betty Cabrera needed $5,000 to move into a bigger apartment, the Tacoma woman didn't hit up family or friends for cash.

She posted an ad on asking for a loan to cover first and last month's rent and moving expenses, and uploaded a photo of herself with her husband and two children "to show that I'm a family person."

Soon after her listing went up, complete with her credit rating and debt-to-income ratio, the bids rolled in, eBay-style. Perfect strangers made online offers to lend her money.

"The more days it went, the lower the interest rate was," Cabrera said.

After a week, her loan, which started at a 13.99 percent interest rate, was bid down to 9.9 percent. A few days later, the money was transferred to her account.

Cabrera, who got a three-year unsecured personal loan, doesn't know who lent her the money or why they did. But she said she'll probably get another loan when it comes time to make some home improvements.

Peer-to-peer lending occupies a tiny fraction of the credit market, but it's gaining in popularity as borrowers and lenders look to bypass banks and credit cards for better deals. Social lending networks are emerging to help borrowers and lenders find each other.

"You cut the middleman out. You're getting a better deal," said Renaud Laplanche, founder and chief executive of Lending Club, which launched as a Facebook application last year before opening to the public in September.

Laplanche said borrowers get an interest rate on an unsecured loan that's 2 percent to 3 percent better than they'd get from banks, and lenders get a return of 10 percent to 12 percent -- better than many investments.

"The sites put the decision-making power in the hands of the individual," said Jean Garascia, an analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research.

Between $300 million and $400 million has been borrowed through peer loans in the U.S., a drop in the bucket of the $880 billion credit market, she said. "It's a relatively small population that's using it right now," she said. "That's not to say it won't change."

Younger consumers and higher-income people are the most likely to use it.

"A lot of it is knowing you have alternative options and not being afraid of the medium," Garascia said.

Ben Gillihan, 31, of Des Moines, likes to read people's "pitch" to find out why they need the money. He tends to lend to people who are trying to consolidate their debt or pay off high-interest credit cards.

"It's fun to read through (the listings) and feel like you're lending to an individual, versus (buying) a CD, which is more impersonal," said Gillihan, who has invested about $6,000 so far in the Lending Club and $1,700 with Prosper. "I can loan to them at 13 or 14 percent. Their credit cards are 20 percent. There's an upside for them, and a rate of return for me, too."

Many borrowers are looking to consolidate their credit card debts and loans, or start a new business. Others want to pay for a wedding, cover medical bills, restore an old sailboat or upgrade their kitchens.

The handful of sites -- Prosper, Lending Club, Zopa, Virgin Money and GlobeFunder -- all offer a slightly different model on peer lending. Virgin cuts out the awkwardness by facilitating loans between friends and relatives. Lending Club sets the interest rates depending on one's credit rating and tries to connect people with shared interests. Zopa, a United Kingdom-based company that debuted last month, allows lenders to buy certificates of deposit from credit unions to help borrowers.

Prosper, the largest in the U.S. with 500,000 members and $100 million in loans, leaves it up to the marketplace to decide who gets funded and at what interest rate.

"It's done by the community itself, so people can get the right prices on both sides," said Chris Larsen, chief executive of Prosper.

Larsen said the arrival of other competitors in recent months validates what Prosper is doing.

"We're all focused on competing with the credit card companies and traditional banks," Larsen said.

People who lend money are looking for something different, he said. They want to do well and get a better return on their investments, but they say, "I also want to feel good about what I'm doing."

David Laub of Mercer Island likes to help people who are trying to get out of high credit card debt because he hates credit cards. As an entrepreneur, he also identifies with those who need money to start their own businesses.

He recently took a pass on a borrower who wanted a loan to pay for breast implants and was skeptical of the retiree who had a $2,000 monthly income but wanted to borrow $25,000.

But he sympathized with a borrower whose car had broken down and who ended up taking out a payday loan to pay for the repairs.

"That person had a job for five or six years, a good credit rating," said Laub, chief financial officer of mobile technology firm Crushorflush.

Laub and Gillihan typically make small loans to many borrowers to spread out their money and reduce the risk of someone not paying.

"There's always the risk of somebody not paying," Gillihan said. But to date, he said, no one has defaulted.

source:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/money/348102_peerloans21.html?source=mypi

Bad Credit - How To Secure Loans With Bad Credit Status

Having bad credit status is like having disease and remaining helpless with no positive answers from lenders. Still there are some lenders who have managed reducing their risks and provide suitable loans to bad credit scorers.

Having bad credit status is like having disease and remaining helpless with no positive answers from lenders. Defective credit score was the main reason behind people's loan requests to be rejected. Even if they manage to get an advanced personal loan, they end up paying excessively high interest monthly installments. This is because lenders do not take account of the previous good credit status of borrowers due to their present imperfect payment records. They forgot people at present tarnished with poor credit history once owned good credit history. So is it then really so difficult for these bad credit scorer to take a bad credit loan, bad credit mortgage or a bad credit car loan? Negative answer to this question brings good news for owners of bad credit status.

How and What Loans Are Available For Bad Credit Status Owners

Recently some lenders started agreeing to the fact that people with good credit status earlier may be trapped into poor credit status. Moreover, now they admit that to expand their own scope of business they must expand range of loans and provide more scopes for this group of consumers. They must come up with different types of loans to suit and correct bad credit history of their consumers.

Whether for buying car, home renovation or holiday plans, bad credit scorers can find suitable bad credit personal loans for them. If the borrower is capable of using his collateral to secure loan, his bad credit status is not an obstacle for loans. With valuable collateral of borrowers involved, lenders feel and know the loan will paid; otherwise borrower will lose his asset. Collateral usually becomes borrowers' home, car and other extremely valuable asset.

With the collateral getting involved into the business of bad credit personal loans, both lenders and borrowers feel secure from their own aspects. Because the main risk would involve a borrower's failure to keep up with the payments, his collateral removes this risk from lenders' end. Therefore, lenders do not hesitate providing loans to poor credit scorers. Moreover, earlier borrowers were imposed extremely high interest rates because of the risks involved. Now with their collateral involved personal loans, lenders now offer reasonable and considerably lower interest rates to people with bad credit. Hence, today borrowers with defective payment records can be entitled to suitable personal loans they need and that too with much lower interest rates.

Source:http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/49321

Cheap Secured Personal Loans With Minimum Rates

Secured personal loans provide one of the most interesting and inexpensive sources of funds. Whether you have good credit, fair credit or poor credit, you can always get finance through secured personal loans because the risk is always compensated by the guarantee that collateral provides and thus, your credit score will not define whether you are approved or not.

Instead, credit assessment will determine the interest rate you will have to pay for the money borrowed.

And since an asset is guaranteeing the loan repayment, cheap secured personal loans offer inexpensive financing even for those with a poor credit score. If you really want to obtain a cheap rate, by following some easy steps and advice you can ensure obtaining competitive secured personal loan terms and minimum interests.

First Step: Collateral Assessment

Use your most valuable asset to secure a loan. If you have a property that is worth a lot more than the amount you need to borrow, that asset constitutes excellent collateral as it provides a greater security for the lender knowing that if interests accumulate or the prices of properties drop, the asset will still be enough to cover the debt.

Second Step: Loan Conditions

It is important that you foresee the loan conditions that you will probably need to cope with and the limitations that you may have. This will let you ponder correctly the amount of money that you should borrow and the term of the repayment program. If you cannot commit to high monthly payments you will need to either sacrifice a portion of your desired loan amount (postponing home improvements for some months for instance) or choose a longer repayment program that will let you reduce the amount of your monthly payments.

Third Step: Lender Comparison

To obtain cheap secured personal loans you must shop around for a lender. There are many secured personal loan lenders out there but if you want to obtain a cheap loan you have to compare different quotes. The best way to do this is to take advantage of the tools that internet sites provide.

There are many online financial sites running comparisons which are modified periodically to reflect market variations that can help you make your decision. But if you are not comfortable confiding in these online sites, you can do your own research by searching the net for cheap secured personal loans and requesting loan quotes from different lenders.

Additional Tip: Credit Assessment

It is a common mistake to believe that when it comes to secured loans, the applicant’s credit score is not important. This is absolutely false. Though secured personal loans can be easily approved even with bad credit, this does not mean that bad credit will not impact on the loan conditions. You may obtain approval but your secured personal loan will not be cheap at all if your credit is far from perfect. Therefore, it is a good idea to try improving your credit score a bit prior to applying for your loan in order to get a cheap secured personal loan with advantageous terms.

Source:http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=48810

Secured loans are based on Equity in your home

In financial jargon, the word Equity means the difference between the market value of your home and the debts raised against it. In other words, it is the unencumbered value of your home that is known as equity. The concept of equity is important for a homeowner since a loan can be raised against the equity in your home. Many lenders offer a loan to value ratio of eighty per cent only. It means that if your home has a value of £150,000, you can take a loan upto £120,000.

The credit rating that you have at the time of taking loan is very important. A good credit rating implies that your past conduct in the financial transactions was trustworthy and, therefore, lenders are likely to offer you a low rate of interest. By releasing the equity in your home, you can borrow upto £250,000. People usually take loan against equity only when they have large monetary requirements.

How borrowers are advantageously placed when taking secured loans?

In the past few years, the value of an average home in the UK has increased manifold. This reflects in the prevailing home prices; an average home costing more than £200,000 in the UK. The higher the price, the higher will be the equity in your home. Thus, the homeowners who want to borrow money are obviously better situated than those who are living on rent. In normal course, lenders give 80 per cent of equity in your home as a loan but this is not a fixed criterion and you may get more or less depending upon individual financial circumstances.

Bad credit loans and credit reference agencies

Secured loans are also available to those people who are having a bad credit rating. The credit rating is a numerical figure that is attributed to every borrower on the basis of his past conduct in the loan market. There are several credit reference agencies in the UK that gather information from various sources like the electoral roll, county court judgements and financial institutions. On the basis of the information collected, these agencies give a credit rating to every borrower. Lenders check credit rating to their satisfaction before sanctioning any loan to the borrowers.

Bad credit loans are available in two ways – by providing a security or without it. However, lenders prefer to give bad credit loans only to those borrowers who can provide a security. This is usually done to cover the risk involved in giving loans to people who have dubious credit record.

Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=011108_compare_home_equity_loan_rates.htm

Personal Loan – An External Monetary Help

Many a times planning go awry. This may happen in your personal life as well as professional life. You may lose your job or suffer a big setback in the business. It is not as if people do not foresee these circumstances and fail to make provisions. The problem arises when the situation becomes too bad and your savings and reserves fail to bail you out. To counter these circumstances, a financial help from some external source becomes necessary.

On personal level, financial assistance can be taken from relatives, friends or parents. However, this is not always possible to do so. Many people intentionally avoid this type of lending and borrowing fearing that their relations may get strained due to inter-personal monetary transactions. On professional level, there are many lenders who may oblige your loan request.

There is a big loan market in the UK with almost all the banks, building societies and other financial institutions providing loans to the consumers. The loans can again be divided into commercial and personal loans. A personal loan is basically an unsecured loan wherein you do not require any security. However, lenders prefer that borrower has a good credit record, a decent monthly income and a debt to income ratio of less than forty per cent.

When you apply for a personal loan, the debt to income ratio assumes importance. A debt to income ratio reveals the repayment capability of borrower. If you have an income of £5,000 every month and you are paying £750 every month to the creditors, it means that debt to income ratio is 15 per cent. Anything upto 20 per cent is considered very good, reflecting that you have an excellent repayment capability. Lenders normally do not refuse credit if you have less than 40 per cent debt to income ratio.

Take another case where you have 40 per cent debt to income ratio coupled with a bad credit history. Now, this scenario becomes grim as far as availability of loan is concerned. Lenders provide bad credit personal loans with utmost caution. If you have bad credit as well as a debt to income ratio of 40 per cent or more, there will be difficulty in getting borrowing money. You will have to contact sub-prime lenders who provide bad credit personal loans. These loans are high risk loans as far as lenders are concerned and, therefore, the lenders charge high interest rate. The only good thing is that you may be able to get money for fulfilling your requirement

Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=011108_best_personal_loan.htm

Personal Loans – The Reasons And Effects

More and more people are deciding to borrow. The statistics show that the level of personal debt is rising at among the highest rates in the world. This is occurring as more and more people are asking themselves, why wait for the things you want when you can have them now and pay for them later. Not only is this fuelling economic growth, but also giving people more options. It is also a matter of concern to some who fear that consumers will not be able to afford the huge amounts of debt that are being racked up and this is one of the major reasons why the government is worried about the state of the economy, we just keep on living beyond our means and continue to borrow.

What Makes Us Borrow?

The factors that are allowing people to borrow more and more are generally identified as the increase in house values, and expected increases in income. Many people are confident enough to continue borrowing because they know that all this debt is backed up by the increasing value of their home. This is also what they secure the loans against. This kind of debt is very safe from the point of view of lenders, who have their loans fully secured and also borrowers, who can get very attractive conditions and low interest rates on their credit because it is so secure.

What Happens If My Home Loses Value?

However, as most debt is secured against homes this also makes a fragile financial environment for our debt. However unlikely that events may come to pass, house prices could fall leaving many home owners that have secured their loan against their property in a financial mess. The bank or lending institutions would be less likely to negotiate with non payment of loans, panic and then call in debts against those who miss payments more quickly than if the economy was still as vibrant.

Borrowing For The Future

The other factors that are allowing consumers to continue to borrow is their age, optimism and future prospects. The population has a young and well educated work force many of whom have good future prospects. Banks are very willing to lend to university and young professionals on an unsecured basis due to the faith they all place in the future earnings of these borrowers. The logic is that because of their rising income, these borrowers can afford more debt.

On another note, It is also good banking policy to keep these ‘educated’ customers happy and a lifetime of banking may ensue, earning the financial institutions not only profit with the original loan but also the customer’s banking loyalty for life.

The Effects and Benefits of a Personal Loan

These loans therefore seem to be benefiting both lenders and borrowers. The lenders are happy because they have a good supply of borrowers who have good prospects of repaying the loans. From the borrowers point of view, the loans allow them to make investments now, in the things that they will be able to afford later. This allows them to take advantage of the higher earnings and higher house values that they are experiencing. With evidence showing that much of this borrowing is going towards funding home improvements, further education, and business start ups, it would appear that much of what is being borrowed is wisely being invested. It makes sense therefore, in many instances, to take advantage of cheaper credit that is available now and use it to invest in the future, but the overriding factor is be careful!

source:http://www.freearticlesarchive.com/article/Personal_Loans_%E2%80%93_The_Reasons_And_Effects/15680/0/