Taking out a personal loan is a financing option available for those looking to spread out the cost of their project. With a personal loan, you would receive the funding upfront and pay it back in monthly payments over a set period of time (known as the loan term). Throughout the loan term, the monthly payment amount won’t change. At Cinergy Homes & Remodeling, we’ve partnered with Hearth Financing to extend this convenient financing option to our clients.
Benefits of Financing Through Hearth Financing
Secured vs. Unsecured Loans
Because Hearth’s lending partners offer unsecured loans, there isn’t any home equity requirement. Rather than putting up your home equity as collateral, you will see higher rates that cover the risk to the lending partner if the loan isn’t paid back.
Your Financial Profile
Lending partners also determine rates based on your specific financial profile. Here are the main four factors they consider:
1. Creditworthiness
Unsecured personal loans, like those found through Hearth, have higher rates than loans secured by home equity. Because Hearth’s lending partners can’t foreclose your home, they need another type of assurance to ensure that you will pay back the loan on time and in full. That assurance is your FICO score. Your FICO score is a representation of your creditworthiness. Lending partners use this number, which is between 300 (a poor credit score) and 850 (an excellent credit score), both to predict your ability to pay back a loan and to decide what rates to offer. It is important to note however that a high FICO score is not an automatic guarantee that you will get a loan offer or favorable loan terms and a low FICO score is not an automatic guarantee that you won’t get a loan offer or favorable loan terms.
2. Income and Employment Status
Lending partners will ask about your income and employment status. An income shows whether or not you make enough money to meet monthly payment and a steady job increases the odds that you’ll be able to make payments every month.
3. Debt-to-Income Ratio
Your debt-to-income ratio is the sum of your monthly payments divided by your monthly
income. A ratio of around 40% is usually the highest any lending partner will consider. Those with low ratios tend to get lower rates because they’ve shown that they make payments on time and don’t carry a lot of debt.
4. Individual Lenders’ Needs
Lending partners each have different criteria when deciding to extend a loan. Your financial profile and the lending partner’s individual model and specialization can affect the rates that you see. At Cinergy Homes and Remodeling, we will gather rates from several lending partners so you can find a partner who best suits your needs – at the lowest cost.
What Rates Can You Expect To See?
Most of our clients will see options with APRs in the ranges listed below, and some may receive options with lower or higher APRs. Exact rates depend on the factors mentioned above.
*For each self-reported credit score range, pre-qualification rate is calculated by dividing the number of pre-qualified Hearth users by the
total number of users who submitted a loan request.
**For pre-qualified Hearth users with this credit score range, our lending partners returned loan options with this range of minimum APRs for
the 65% of pre-qualified users with minimum APRs between the 10th and 75th percentiles.
***For example, a loan in the amount of $10,000 for a term of 5 years with an APR of 6.00% would be repaid over 60 monthly payments in
the amount of $193.33.
How To Apply For a Personal Loan
1. Prequalification
You can pre-qualify through Hearth and review options within 60-90 seconds. This process doesn’t affect your credit score.
2. Application
Once you have found your favorite loan option, you’ll be taken directly to the lending partner’s webpage. The lending partner will perform a hard credit pull and may ask for additional income or employment verification documents, such as a W-2 or paystub, for final approval.
3. Funding
If you are approved, funds will be distributed within 1-3 days.
Conclusion
Personal loans are a fast, hassle-free source of funding. By financing through Hearth, you won’t have to worry about putting up your home as collateral or about running into any delays while finding and applying for a loan. Now that you know how personal loans work, you can focus on what’s important.. your new and improved home!
