The Need-To-Know of Qualifying for a Personal Loan
Loans, overall, have a relatively negative reputation. We all hear about the nightmare that can come of being in debt. Many of us have been extensively forewarned by family and friends who have fallen victim to financial troubles. But when it comes to ruling your own financial situation and finding financial empowerment, loans have the potential to open many doors and create new opportunities.
One of the best ways to utilize this type of credit as a tool is to leverage personal loans to secure for future monetary earnings. Personal loans are extremely flexible and are being utilized as a true financial tool more and more with time.
But because of the slightly ambiguous nature of personal loans, most folks do not know fully what they need in order to qualify for one. Here, we’ll go through the basics of personal loans and how to qualify.
What Are the Benefits?
There are a few surprising benefits of getting a personal loan that many folks don’t consider. Some of the top perks are as follows:
- Improve or bolster your credit score. No matter how great you are at paying your credit cards on time, you can only boost your score so much without diversifying your credit mix. Adding a personal loan can be a great way to show you are fiscally responsible. It can be a huge benefit when you must qualify for lending for other loans, such as stock loans, as well as housing, vehicle ownership, and more.
- Lower interest rates. Personal loan interest rates are typically significantly lower than credit card rates. After the introductory period, most credit card interest rates skyrocket. But personal loans are available at a myriad of much lower rates. This makes personal loans a great way to pay for planned expenses, like house repairs.
- Use a personal loan to pay off high interest debt. The longer interest sits, the more it grows. Personal loans can be used as a tool to consolidate debt and pay off those higher interest loans quickly, saving you money in the long run.
How to Qualify for a Personal Loan
No two lenders are quite the same or have identical qualifications, but there are some common threads required of almost any personal loan applicant.
- Credit Score. Lenders will check your credit score to determine if you are financially trustworthy or if you pose a risk to their institution. But even if you don’t have excellent credit, you can likely still qualify for a personal loan. If you have good credit, around 640 or above, your rates will likely be lower than if you have credit lower than 640.
- Payment History. By examining payment history in tandem with your credit score, lenders are able to determine if you are financially trustworthy. A single late or missed payment will stay attached to your credit score for up to 7 years, so those who struggle regularly with paying bills on time may suffer here.
- Income. In addition to payment history and credit score, the primary aspect of financial health lenders examine is income. At the bare minimum, you must have a stable income to get approved for a personal loan. But lenders look even further into it than that. They want to ensure that, when you consider all your existing debts and expenses, your income will still cover repayment of the added loan.
If you struggle to meet any or all of these qualifications, there is still hope for a personal loan! Everyone falls on tough times or has ghosts of poor financial decisions hanging in their closets. If you have a cosigner vouch for your reliability, you can likely still qualify for a high-quality personal loan.
