When you are looking into buying a home, you might be worried about how to finance the down payment. It can be really hard to save up enough money for 20% of a home purchase, and with increasing rent prices, things can be harder than ever for those looking to buy a home. Besides saving up money or borrowing money, there is another option that might be available to help you to secure a home down payment.
In some cases, you might be able to use a personal loan for your down payment. This is usually not an option for borrowers, but there are limited situations where it might be possible to secure a down payment for your home through the use of a personal loan. If you want to know some more about the pros and cons of using a personal loan for a home down payment, you need to keep reading.
Cons of a Personal Loan for Home Down Payment
There are very few situations where you can even secure a personal loan at the same time as you are seeking a home loan. This is a practice that is frowned upon by most lending institutions because it can overextend borrowers and because it can lead to issues with prioritizing the personal loan payment over the mortgage payment each month. Interest will accrue on both loans as well, which can lead to a lot more debt than if someone simply takes out a mortgage loan.
· Personal loans limit the other kinds of loans you can qualify for. Personal loans can be very high risk, and this can make it so that you will not qualify for a mortgage on top of a high-interest personal loan.
· You might not need 20% down to buy a home, so taking out a personal loan for the amount of money that you only think you might need for a home purchase might not be necessary.
· Your credit will be impacted by the personal loan, it could lead to your credit being too poor to get a home loan.
· Interest rates for personal loans are quite high, and you will pay a lot of money in interest for your personal loan than you will for your mortgage.
Pros of a Personal Loan for Home Down Payment
· You will be able to secure cash for a down payment right away without having to save up over time.
· If you have very good credit, your credit score might not be impacted and could actually be improved somewhat by making payments against your personal loan.
· There are many lenders that will give a personal loan to someone with good credit so long as there is not a mortgage process going on at the same time.
Things to Consider When Looking Into Personal Loans
When you are looking around for a personal loan for any need, you should be sure that you know enough about the personal loan process to be a savvy shopper. There are various considerations that you should have in mind when you are looking at lenders, and you will want to be sure that you are aware of some of the common pitfalls for personal loans before you take one out.
· Look for the lowest annual percentage rate (APR) to save yourself some money. The APR is the total cost of the money that you have borrowed when fees are added in.
· Make sure that you know what the fees and penalties are for the loan. Some lenders charge origination fees which can be as much as 8% of the loan balance. You might also be charged for prepayment if you pay the loan off early, which can be bad news for those who don’t want to be locked into a loan for years that is accruing steep interest.
· Minimum credit requirements can be lowered for some companies if they are willing to allow for steep risk-based pricing penalties. This means that you might have to pay a very hefty amount of interest over the life of the loan, even if you do qualify with your less-than-ideal credit. This is frankly predatory, but it happens more often than it should.
· Consider the monthly payment and make sure that you can afford it. You will also want to be sure that you can afford to pay slightly more than the monthly payment so that you can hasten the process of repayment. If you will not be penalized for early repayment, you should make it your goal to pay off your personal loan as soon as possible.
Taking out a personal loan is almost never a good way to collect money for a major purchase, and you should be wary of any lending institution that will grant you this kind of loan when you have damaged credit or when you are already planning to buy a home.
Personal Loans Are Not Ideal for Home Down Payments
While it might be possible to secure a personal loan for your home down payment, this is not an ideal way to collect the money to buy a home. Saving up, borrowing money, or even shopping for a home that is more affordable can be a much better solution for your needs than trying to get a second loan to pay for your down payment. It can be very frustrating to shop for a home if you do not have a large down payment saved up. However, impacting your credit and creating another loan with steep interest associated with it is often not the answer.
Make sure that you look into other ways to save up or get the money for your home loan down payment before you commit to a personal loan for this need. There are many more astute and more secure ways to get the funds that you need for your home down payment, and you should look into these options first before you consider taking out a personal loan for this need.