Wednesday, January 22, 2014

4 Important Facts About Student Loan Consolidation

4 Important Facts About Student Loan Consolidation
4 Important Facts About Student Loan Consolidation  
When getting loans you should always understand what you’re getting yourself into before you sign up. So here are 4 important facts you should know about consolidating student loans.

Fact 1: Same Interest Rates For Everyone At The Start

All federal student loan consolidation rates must start with the same rates that are suggested by Congress every year. Student loan consolidation companies are required to give everyone the same federal rates

Fact 2: You Save Money On The Benefits

If it’s your first time consolidating your loan then the real savings are in the benefits and discounts of signing up.
Standard benefit: 0.25% off your rate for using automatic checking account withdrawal. 

Standard benefit: 0.6% off your repayment rate if you consolidate in your grace period. 

Extra benefit: if you have more than $20,000 in federal student loans, 1.0% off after your first 36 on time payments.
Ok let’s start with a scenario, of $25,000 in federal Stafford loans and your rate before 1 July 2006 is at 3.37%. If you’re still in your grace period (6 months before your payments start only for graduates) you’re rate will decrease to 2.875%.
Automatic checking account withdrawal will reduce is further to 2.625% and after your 36th on time payments your rates will drop a further 1.0% to a new low of 1.625%. This is how the benefits of student loan consolidation really works and it really saves you a lot of money.

Fact 3: Read The Fine Print Before You Sign Anything!

Some loan companies will give you a list of borrower’s benefits for signing up with them. For example if you make 24 on time payments you’ll get 1% off which is great but in the fine print it’s only available for loans above $50,000. Statistically, only 17% of all graduates will have a loan debt this high so it’s not advised to sign up with this particular company.
Other companies give even better benefits like 2.5% off your rate but they’ll only give you a grace period of 3 days. That’s not going to work because what happens if your mail got delayed or worse you didn’t check your mail? It means that you’ll loose your benefits so be careful and always read the fine print.

Fact 4: Good Customer Service Is Important

Some student loan companies will do anything to make you call them but when you do you find yourself lost because some companies don’t train their phone staff well and they fail to answer simple questions. So when ringing up loan companies make sure they are well versed in their products and they know their products and rates. Also make sure that when you wait on the phone for a consultant, that you don’t wait too long like 1 hour because it could mean they are under staff or they are taking on too many applications at one time which means they might not always be able to take your call after you’ve sign up.
I hope these facts will help you in your decision and may you have a successful time finding the best student loan consolidation comp

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Can I Apply For Student Loans Without a Cosigner?

Can I Apply For Student Loans Without a Cosigner?
Can I Apply For Student Loans Without a Cosigner?
Certain student loans require a cosigner if the student or parent soliciting a loan does not meet minimum credit requirements to receive a loan. This applies to both private and some federal loans; the PLUS loans for graduate students, which can be received by parents or students, have minimum credit requirements, and in either case, parent or student can use a cosigner with good credit to sign on the loan. Getting student loans without a cosigner is possible, and being a cosigner is a significant risk, as the cosigner will be responsible for any debt the borrower does not pay.

The Stafford federal loans do not require a credit check or cosigner, and should be the first step in your search for college funding. If you do not have any resource for receiving family assistance for attending college, you may qualify for financial aid, subsidized Stafford loans, or the subsidized Perkins loan, which is the hardest loan to attain but the best offer available.

Federal PLUS loans, on the other hand, do require a cosigner if you do not meet minimum credit requirements. These credit requirements are standardized and are not excessive, and this loan is only available to graduate students, so you may want to take advantage of your time as an undergraduate to use a credit card responsibly and build up your credit rating so you can later apply for a PLUS loan. This will also help you get better rates on private loans, which will really make a difference in expensive graduate programs.

If you have no one who could act as a cosigner or just want to go it alone, your loan, even with a low credit rating, is a valuable asset to a financial institution and they will compete for your business. The risk of loaning to students is comparatively low at the moment, because it is nearly impossible to absolve this student debts through bankruptcy.

If you have a good credit rating, lenders will offer you Prime interest rates on your student loans; if you have no credit or bad credit, they may ask that you have a cosigner. Ask at several different financial institutions what they can do to accommodate your education finance needs. Usually bad credit loans are given at a higher interest rate and/or with extra fees, but you can lower this number by calling different lenders and demanding the best possible rate. If your credit is very bad, you may have to take some time off to work and increase your credit score, and if you can keep working while you're at school, this can be a deciding factor in receiving a private loan as well.

While many financial institutions would prefer one, it is very possible to get student loans without a cosigner.

Bad Credit Student Loans: Options Available To You

Bad Credit Student Loans: Options Available To You
Bad Credit Student Loans: Options Available To You
Like all banking credit products, private student loans are only available on successful completion of a check of the applicant's credit worthiness based on their credit history. Your credit history is built up over time based on how reliably you pay off any credit that you take out. Credit that counts towards this includes everything from your cellphone contract through to a mortgage. A bad credit history, with a lot of late or missing payments and even defaults, shows a bank that giving you credit would be a high risk.

However, what can also indicate too much risk to a bank when it comes to lending money, is if you simply don't have much of a credit history at all. This is the case for a lot of people going off to college - they simply aren't old enough to have built up a credit history yet sufficient to convince a bank to lend. And yet, often, they are in desperate need of finance to put them through school. So, if you are in this situation, where are the bad credit student loansall

Essentially, you have two options. You can either try and get a federal student loan, such as a Stafford loan or, if you can demonstrate a significant level of financial hardship compared with other students a Perkins loan, which has the lowest rate of interest of all federal student loan offerings. For federal student loans there is no credit check, so if you have no credit history or your credit history is even actually bad, this won't affect whether or not you are awarded the loan.

If these don't offer enough funding or you fail to get one, your other option is to apply for a private student loan with a credit worthy cosigner, so that together you can pass the credit check. A lot of people use their parents for this, but your cosigner can really be anyone who can pass the credit check and is willing to accept responsibility for your loan with you. Your cosigner needs to fully understand that they are taking on liability for the loan with you, and that if you fail to pay it back it will have serious negative consequences for them - they will either have to pay off the debt themselves or, if they can't, it will have a very serious impact on their own credit rating, and they may be at risk of being sued.

Essentially, there are no other options if you need a student loan now and don't have the credit history. There are products such as starter credit cards designed to help build your credit rating, but these methods do take time, and if you need funding now then you either need to find a cosigner or fill in and submit the FAFSA and try and get federal loans.

Many people find they need to take out both federal and private loans over the course of their college career, so be aware that this is something that may come up even if it doesn't yet, and have a conversation with your parents or other trusted people about their potential willingness to cosign with you ahead of time if you can, so you know if that is an option.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Can a Student Having Bad Credit Apply For a Private Loan?

Can a Student Having Bad Credit Apply For a Private Loan
Can a Student Having Bad Credit Apply For a Private Loan
There are just so many opportunities for a student to apply for private loans. However, the ultimate question is: Can a student having bad credit still qualified to apply for a private loanall

Some people would answer that it would too hard for anyone to apply for a private loan for a student with bad credit. However, this statement is not true especially that there are plenty of lending programs that accept and process loans of this nature. All you have to do is check out some of the websites that offer the facility for private loan for student with bad credit. Plenty of sites can be found in the internet and often provide the best and cheapest deal for any borrower. You just have to compare the prices of their services as well as loan details such as interest rate and recurrent payments offered in a private loan for student with bad credit.

After checking out the sites, then go to the lending body that you feel is giving the best offer. From there, it would be best to check out your various credit repair options. This service is also provided for in any sites online. There are plenty of tips given out by the experts on how to repair your credit history or standing.

In instances where the borrower failed to repair his or her credit state, the lending body would still allow the person to apply for the loan facility but is required to look for a co-signer who is qualified to get a loan. Most institutions would set standards as to who is qualified to be a co-signer. Most times, a person who earns at least $18,000 annually and maintains a good credit standing would usually be considered as a qualified co-signer for loans. The co-signer must be a person who experienced no bankruptcies, no late payments, and no record or bad credit.

Bad Credit Private Student Loans

If you are looking for a bad credit private student loan, there are a few options you can consider. Practically everyone has to take out a loan to pay for their college education these days. More than a few people end up with bad credit scores because of little financial mistakes. It can be a major headache to try to get a loan with bad credit. However, you still can take out a loan for students even if you have no credit or poor credit.

Bad Credit Private Student Loans
Bad Credit Private Student Loans
The first options you have for poor credit loans would be a federal student loan. Federal loans don't have any credit check requirements so no matter how bad your credit history is, you will be able to qualify for a federal loan.

In general, federal loans for students will be the best loan for you to get should you want to pay for college. The interest rates are low and there are no credit check requirements. Most people should have no problems getting a federal student loan.

If you have bad credit issues, you will face problems when you seek to take out a private student loan. The reason is that private lenders will look at your credit history to determine your loan-worthiness. If your credit history is not good, then it will be hard to get the loan assistance you need. However, you can take out a private student loan when your credit is bad if you have a cosigner. A cosigner accepts the legal responsibility for you loan debt should you fail to pay it back.

If you don't have a cosigner, then you will need to look at getting a private loan from a bad credit lender as your only option.