'Prosper.com' - Personal loans?

[heech]

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Hi y'all,

I just saw this on ABC news the other night. It's a new "personal" lending service, with private individuals joining in to loan money to other private individuals. I'm totally unaffiliated with the site (although I'm considering joining as a lender)... and I haven't even used the thing, so don't take this as a testimonial for the service. But it immediately made me think of some of the stories I've seen on this forum, of folks who have very temporary gaps in cash.

Anyone familiar with this site?

If you're short on a few thousand dollars (typically $3k-$10k) and don't want to tap anything as high-interest as credit cards, and don't/can't apply for another bank loan... prosper.com might be a good option for you. You can basically create your own listing (the site will want to validate your credit record), and describe why you need the money, and why you'd be a good risk.

Anyone who's a doctor in training will, without a doubt, be a very desirable target here. From what I've seen, people with good credit history and a good explanation for future income can get interest rates in the 8-10% range, on a 3 year loan. And no other lender/bank fees that I'm aware of.

Has anyone used prosper? Any opinions/feedback? It really "makes sense", from the point of view of allowing the Internet to really revolutionize another aspect of the business world... Anyone with questions is also welcome to PM me.

 

[DD214_DOC]

I registered today to try to get some funds for moving for medical school (Which I clearly stated in my listing). The costs of applying combined with crappy job prospects totally ruined my credit.

So far I have no bids. Even though you're going through private lenders instead of banks, it's still next to impossible to get a loan with poor credit. I think it's a really good idea, but so far I don't see what it has over banks.

 

[heech]

Ok, I'm going to jump in with both feet. I created a group on Prosper for all doctors to be, so that future doctors can be recognized as such (instead of just a poor starving 25 year old with a few hundred K in debt and no income).

I hope this doesn't qualify as an "advertisement", since I really have nothing to gain financially from this... there's no fine print on that. I'm not an associate, not a "distributor", not an "agent".. nothing. I just think this would be a great resource.

If you need a few thousand dollars (and can pay it back with residency and/or financial aid in 3 years), and your only other alternative is either begging on street corners or high-interest rate credit cards, *please* give this service a try instead... instead of borrowing from corporations, borrow from the average joes who'll be your patients a few years down the road.

I'd like to warn everybody that Prosper.com has only been around for a couple of months, so this is really a very new platform... but with time, this might prove to be a very conveneint, low-interest way of filling the gaps in your financing. Let average joes around the country help pay for part of your education.

Take a look at the profile for the group, and if you have any questions... let me know:

https://www.prosper.com/public/groups/group_home.aspx?group_short_name=doctors2be