How to Get Private Money to Borrow

You can find private money to borrow through friends and family, but the relationship may never be the same ... even if you pay it all back. A better option might include personal loans through peer to peer lending as well as other private money sources. You just need to know where to look and be creative about finding the loan you need.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Credit score
• Income
• Applications

Private Money to Borrow

1. Gather your documents, download your credit report and decide how much money you need to borrow. You'll need your social security card, proof of income and past years' taxes. Check your credit report to ensure it's error-free, and peek at your credit score so you have an idea of the kind of interest rates you might receive. The amount of money you borrow depends on your purpose.

2. Consider peer to peer lending for a personal loan. There is a good amount of private money to borrow through P2P lending services online. At sites like Zopa (link below) your request for a loan is matched with an investor's deposit.

3. Look into private grants and loans for specific purposes or groups, such as new business start up funds, nonprofit organizations and schools.

4. Check for private loans and scholarship funds offered by your school, college or university. Some private high schools offer private loans to qualifying students, and many institutions of higher learning have private monies available as well.

5. Consider private investors and lenders when you're looking for private money to borrow. If your purpose is venture capital, business expenses or other investment possibility, some investors will lend money for a share of the profits or other arrangement.

Tips & Warnings

• Make all of your payments early, or on time, to maintain your credit and live up to your agreement.
• Be aware of falling into the trap of too much debt and the cycle of borrowing and paying back. Work toward debt freedom to improve your financial picture long term.

Resources

• Mvelopes personal finance software
• Credit report and credit watch from Equifax

[Wasatch]

on 10/29/2008 Good timely article. Thanks I got a loan on Prosper last year and lowered my credit card interest rates with it by paying them off with a lower rate loan.

[klnygaard]

on 8/7/2008 thanks for info

[LilacGirl]

on 8/7/2008 I've never heard of this either. Good resource, thanks for the information.

[Sprice]

on 8/7/2008 i had never heard of this information either, sounds very interesting!

[Hapworth]

on 8/7/2008 Never heard of this. Thank you.