How Much Can I Borrow with a Secured Loan?
With the rate that consumer debt continues to rise, it may appear to some like as if there is no limit to the amount they can borrow. This will appear particularly true if the debt is to be secured with a . However, all lenders still impose strict limits on the amount they will lend to you. In fact, if it appears as if a lender is too willing to lend you more than you believe appropriate, it is a good sign that you should begin to be getting suspicious of the practices and standards of the lender.
What is Your Credit Rating?
The way lenders calculate how much they are willing to lend depends strongly on your . This will be a that will use various pieces of personal information to determine what kind of borrower you are likely to be and how much of a risk is involved in lending to you. Your credit rating will involve looking at your address, how long you’ve lived there, whether you own or rent the accommodation, your age, if you are married or single, your education, your income, your past repayment habits, your outstanding levels of credit, and whether you’ve ever been declared bankrupt or legally pursued for debt before. Of all this information, probably your current income will be one of the most important, although lenders do try to build up an overall picture using all the information that is available to them.
Related information - - Information from a credit card site.
Credit agencies - &
Eligible for Greater Loan Amounts?
Lenders will also have different classes of loans, with different terms and conditions attached to each class. These will also be charged different levels of interest for the different that are on offer. These various terms will be applied to different borrowers depending on their . So for example, if you are a judge, with a high income and no unpaid bills ever in your life, you will be very attractive to lenders who would like to lend money to you, and therefore, they will offer you very good rates based on the fact that they believe you are likely to be able to pay back the amount without difficulty.
On the other hand, if you have a lower income, plenty of outstanding debt and some unpaid bills in the past, then lenders may still be willing to extend credit to you, after all, this is their business, but the terms on which they are willing to do so will be less attractive and the interest rates will be higher, to represent the greater risk involved in lending to you.
Apart from the terms of the loan, these kinds of criteria, will also be used to determine how much you are entitled to borrow. While there may be little risk involved in lending you one thousand, and thus the terms will be attractive, there is a greater risk involved in lending you say fifty thousand and the terms of the loan will represent this. On the same principles, there comes a point when lending you the sum of money you seek is so high that the risk is simply unacceptable and you therefore will not be able borrow this amount.
Security Required for Large Loans
In fact, practically speaking, there are certain sums which lenders will never give to anyone without some amount of security in return. This will be the case no matter how good your is. By security is meant that you will have to provide some assets, such as your house, which the bank can take legal security over. This means that if you become , the bank can come in and take the asset and sell it to recover the debt. Therefore, securing a loan over your home is always a move that you should only make after careful consideration because there is always the risk that if you fail to keep up with repayments, your home will be at risk. Particularly if you have a family or young children, this is a risk that you will not be willing to run and therefore you should only borrow on a secured basis if you are certain that you can afford to repay it in line with the terms and conditions of the loan.
Related Information - - It is easy for debt to get out of control. Student loans, losing your job, becoming ill or any number of other unforeseen events can easily cause debts to mount up.
Conclusion
Therefore, for most people, the limit to how much they can afford to borrow will depend on the value of their home. Homes generally have extra equity in them. This is the value of the home in excess of your current mortgage, so for example, if you have a home worth one hundred thousand, and a mortgage for fifty thousand, then you will have fifty thousand in unused equity in the home which banks will be willing to lend against. These days, with house prices continually increasing in value, most people who own their own homes will be able to borrow a substantial amount on a secured basis, depending on how much equity they have free in their home.
External Sites with more information
- - The new site from the FSA with sensible, practical advice
- - New scam that is fooling lots of UK residents, read the advice from Citizen's advice and don't fall into the trap.
- - feeling snowed under with your debt? Free impartial advice from the charity organisation.
More Information
- - Our article clearly defines what factors make up a secured loan in the UK.
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Especially if you are new to the credit game, and have not yet established your own personal credit, you may be unsure of what kind of deals you can get with your own credit, in terms of interest rates and stipulations.
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Credit scoring models are complex and can be difficult to understand. If one factor changes, your score may change — but improvement generally depends on how that factor relates to other factors considered by the model
- - Secured loans are one of the most popular ways of borrowing money. A secured loan is backed by property of some sort that is used to guarantee payback if the person defaults on the payments.
