You may have heard a lot of talk about personal loans lately, and for good reason. If you go about it correctly, they can be a real life saver, saving you time and effort (not to mention money) compared to other, less conventional forms of borrowing. With a little research, you can typically get a much better deal than you would from a payday loan (bad) or from a tax return refund advance (not so hot either) etc. Another plus is that you usually don’t have to put up any collateral to get the loan, and many people find that to be extremely helpful. But there are some things to watch out for, and the goal of this article is to provide a little assistance in those areas, helping you to avoid any potential pitfalls. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
#1: Check around: Don’t jump at the first loan that you see, even if it sounds pretty good. With any loan, you are making a commitment to take on some debt, so you want to be absolutely sure that you’ve done some looking around, compared interest rates, understand what the total amount that you’ll be paying back is and so forth. Remember that not all personal loans are created equal, and of the many variables that go into what kind of deal you’ll end up getting, one of those variables is You.
#2: Check your Credit Report: It is usually a very good idea to take a look at your credit report to ensure that it is accurate, and that there are no errors or other unusual issues on it. Obviously, creditors will look at this, and the better you look in their eyes, the more at ease they will be about giving you a better interest rate. The good thing is that our government has mandated that every citizen has a right to one free copy of their credit report each year, and you would be doing yourself a favor to take advantage of this by contacting one of the big 3 credit bureaus, namely Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion.
#3: Maintain Good Credit: Another way to make a positive impression in the eyes of lenders is to make sure that you are caught up on all of your bills. Again, this is a sign to them that you are trustworthy and responsible, both of which can figure into what kind of personal loans that you will be able to get from them. When they see that you are paying these bills on time and that your credit report looks good, then as long as you’ve done your research, you should be able to get a really nice personal loan.