What To Look For In A Personal Loan

Please note that the loan options below may be affiliate links that help support this website.

When looking for a debt consolidation loan, here are some of the most important things to consider when deciding whether to get a loan.

• Understand the origination fee whether it's 1-9%. This fee is REMOVED from your account before you receive your funds. So, if you get a $10,000 loan with a 5% origination fee, you will receive $9,500.00 into your bank account.
• Make sure there are no prepayment penalties.
• Make sure that checking your rate DOES NOT affect your credit score. Checking your rate should only result in a soft credit check such as the options below.
• It can be helpful to understand credit score requirements, but it's not mandatory if checking your rate does not affect you credit score. For example, Upstart has a minimum credit score requirement of 300.
• The biggest differentiator with loans may be the interest rate / APR, so it can be helpful to compare MULTIPLE options.
• Make sure that the funds are added to your account quickly.
• If you are continually denied, understand alternatives such as non profit credit counseling or debt settlement.

Here are 2 different loan options that we have vetted where you can check your rate without negatively affecting your credit score.

I Was DENIED, Now What?

If you continually are denied from debt consolidation loans, what are your options? There are two main other debt consolidation options called debt management and debt settlement. Please note that both of these options are sometimes considered debt relief options, so while you may save significant money, it's important to understand the pros and cons. It's also helpful to understand both the COST and the DURATION of this consolidation option.

As such, we built the debt management vs debt settlement calculator below to help you estimate your all-in cost, duration, and pros and cons of these non-loan debt consolidation options.

HOW DEBT CONSOLIDATION CALCULATOR WORK

• Check your debt consolidation rate and have a prequalified offer.
• Take the information from the loan including the loan amount, APR, and origination fee and input it in our calculator.
• Add your current debt obligations that you would consolidate with the debt consolidation loan.
• The calculator will output exactly how much you would save or lose if you take that debt consolidation loan.
• If you would lose money, we can share ideas and alternatives to help you get out of debt cheaper, easier and faster.