Unlike home or car loans, a personal loan is cash you borrow from a lender for your private, personal use. Any lending institution can do a personal loan, whether it be a bank, investment broker, or private lending company. You aren't restricted to applying for a personal loan in your local area, since many institutions now will allow you to apply on the internet.

It doesn't matter what you want to use the funds for. Personal loans are used for all types of needs from repairing vehicles, to vacations, sudden medical expenses or emergency home repairs just to name a few. You could also use these loans for the consolidation of other debts, especially if the loan has a lower payment than the sum of the other debts.

For most people, the largest personal loan they can get is usually around $15,000. The amount you can secure depends on several factors, from the lender's personal loan guidelines to what your monthly take home pay and credit score is. Some people confuse these loans with lines of credit, but the difference is that, with a line of credit, you are approved to withdraw funds up to the maximum approved amount, but you don't have withdraw anything at the start. On the other hand, with a personal loan you are given a check for the entire approved amount right away.

All personal loans fall into two categories: secured or unsecured. A secured personal loan requires you to provide the lender with an item or items of collateral. Collateral could include automobiles, real estate, boats or any asset that has significant value. If you cannot make your payments, the lender then has the right to take your collateral and sell it to pay off the loan. However, the vast majority of personal loans are unsecured so the lender cannot take any of your assets if you default. As you may expect, since this means the lender has more risk of loss with these types of loans, the interest rates are higher.

The length, or term, of a personal loan usually varies from one to five years. Before you apply for a loan of this type, you need to realize that the longer the loan term is, the more you will end up paying overall, because of the larger amount of interest. You should not borrow any more than you absolutely need and then keep the term as short as you can. At the same time, make sure that you can afford the monthly payment.

A very common use of personal loans is to consolidate other debts. Replacing several debts with a single monthly payment can be a good move financially, especially if loan payment is smaller than the total of all the previous payments. An exception to this is for people who have figured out that just paying the monthly minimum due on credit card debt will never pay it off. In cases like these, even though the monthly payment on the loan is higher, the requirement of paying a specific monthly amount can provide the incentive to reduce the debt each month and eventually pay it off.

Unfortunately, many people get into trouble here because they have not disciplined themselves to stop over spending. Once the personal loan reduces their credit card balance to zero, they go right back to their old habits and end up with more credit card debt. So remember that, while personal loans can be a help when you are trying to work your way out of credit card debt, they are not a cure for spending more than you make. Never apply for a personal loan to consolidate debts until you have developed the discipline to not spend above your income.

The application procedure is usually very simple and all you have to do is verify your employment, earnings, and home address. The lender also will do a credit check to determine your credit score. If you have bad credit or a limited credit history, you can still qualify for a personal loan, but you will likely have to pay a higher interest rate and your maximum loan amount will be smaller. Once you have your personal loan, make sure to always make the payments on time, or even ahead of time. This will give you a credit history with the lender and make any future loans much easier to secure.

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