I’ve moved away from talking about debt all the time on this blog and instead decided to incorporate some ways to make additional money…to use for debt repayment, of course. Some of these methods might be a bit unorthodox, so I know that it leaves many of you apprehensive about trying some of these things yourself. One such method might have been a peer-to-peer loan or investment on Prosper or Lending Club.
My last article on this spoke about what my own returns were like on Prosper.com as a lender. With returns close to 10%, it’s pretty impressive. Many of you sent me private e-mails wanting to know more about this investment vehicle and I answered them to the best of my abilities referring back to the sites themselves when I was unsure.
Still, I know that some of you are on the fence about this. Here I am to the rescue. Kinda. Okay, you might be rescuing me. Drumroll, please.
I have a listing on Prosper.com right now and you can make money off of me by bidding on it.
If I could put that in blinking neon lights I would have. It’s a pretty good listing, I think. Prosper.com even has it on their front page as a featured listing. Now, here’s the deal. I need a loan, the details of which are somewhat in my loan listing and the rest of which you will hear about in my monthly wrap up at the end of November. If you’ve been following my finances you know that I have some credit card debt currently at 0% and I took a loan out of my 401K to pay for the investment property last year. I put a listing on prosper to combine those two things into one.
Here is where we can both probably help each other out. You can choose to register on Prosper.com as a lender and invest in my loan. I’m not supposed to *guarantee* you any returns, but I always say that past behavior is a good indicator of future behavior. If you look at my past on Prosper.com, you will see that I have taken out two loans before and paid them both back well ahead of time. So, I would say that you’re almost, kinda, sorta, guaranteed that I will not default. I’ve never defaulted on anything in my life, and I won’t start now. I’m practically throwing the money right back to you…in monthly increments with interest attached.
I’m going to be honest with you. The loan term is for 3 years. If you have read this blog for longer than a week, you know that I’m not a fan of debt. I’m saying this to tell you ahead of time that I DO NOT plan on having this for the full three year duration. For borrowers this means that you won’t get the maximum return as possible on the loan. Sorry! I can say that your return will far exceed what Chase, HSBC, ING, Ally Bank and all of the others are paying in interest.
So, as the saying goes, you scratch my back, I scrape yours. Something to that effect. Sign up now, because this listing is only valid for another 13 days, and I need this loan to fund. I’m not above begging. Maybe I am. Okay, I lied, I’m not.
Image courtesy of buzzinn.net
Join the newsletter
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
It is a good listing Sandy, I think you make a compelling case for investors. I just kicked in $25 even though I don’t normally invest in A-grade loans. Happy to help out a fellow blogger.
I am confident you will get fully funded, particularly given that are a featured listing. There has been a huge influx of investor money in Prosper over the last month and you have already been the recipient of some of that. Some of these investors are kicking in $1,000 or $2,000 at a time.
If you get more questions about p2p lending I am always happy to answer them as well.
Love the photo at the end of your post.
Peter,
Thanks for chipping in! I lost my AA status after a fiasco with the NY state court system which they’re trying to fix. Everything helps! You won’t regret it, and you’ll make some $$$ too. 😉
good luck with the funding of your loan. I currently have a lending club account and have crappy returns since the recession hit 🙁
How crappy? Is it negative? You might need to rethink your strategy. Read how I make 10% on mine.
Sounds good. I kicked in for the cause. Good luck with your listing.
Sandy – If not 3 years, how quick do you plan to pay it off?
I’m thinking it’s will be about 2 years.
I have been with Lending Club for over a year, and I can confirm that returns of over 10% are indeed possible. I’m getting those rates right now – even though I have less than $1k invested (yes, I’m aware I’m talking about a small amount of money). To get this rate:
* I invest no more than $25 per loan (the minimum that Lending Club requires)
* I invest only in Grade B loans (the ideal risk/return ratio, I believe)
* I consider loans where the applicant has a decent income and has been with the same employer for a number of years (this means that I wouldn’t even loan to myself!)
I’ve had one default out of over 30 loans in a year’s time. I think that’s a pretty decent write-off rate. Peer-to-peer lending is a great alternative investment vehicle in my experience. If you’ve tried it and have had bad returns, you need to take a good look at the loans you invest in and avoid overly riskly loans.
I don’t have an account on Prosper – good luck with your loan!
My sister has been with a lending club for a few years, and she loves it. I have yet to really put a lot of time into checking it out, but I might have to do so now.
If you want to put your toes into Prosper. I’m the safest bet that you can make! You should check out my tutorials in P2P investing too.
I signed up but have to wait for my bank account to be verified. You will probably be funded by then 🙁 for me and yay for you.
Sorry Libby! If I ever post another loan you are the first one that I’ll e-mail. 😉 I’m such a safe bet that it looks like it will get funded in only 3 days! Record time for a 20K+ loan.
That’s a fantastic way to get a loan. Glad to hear it is probably going to work out for you.