First off, what things do you need to look for in order to secure a good loan up to 1500, and what characteristics would make such a loan bad for you? The best loan will have the following characteristics:
- It will be long-term, and give you the option to pay it off over a long time period (such as 1-3 years)
- It will have a good interest rate. A good rate will be one that is lower than your credit card rates, and usually will be a certain amount of percentage points over LIBOR (which is the London Interbank Offer Rate, or the rate at which highly rated, large companies can typically borrow funds).
- It will be made by a reputable lender.
- It will help build your credit score if you pay it off on time.
Sadly, in order to find a loan like the one described above you need to have a good credit score – and even then it may be difficult given the small amount of money you are looking to borrow. Traditional banks just don’t make that much money off of such a small cash loan, which is why they usually won’t offer anything less than a 3000 personal loan. However, just because this is the case does not mean that you don’t have any options if you are someone with a bad credit history. You just have to think outside the box a little bit if you need a 1500 loan fast.
Typically, most people in such a situation end up turning to payday loan companies or title loan companies, and they end up paying the price for it. Such loans are very expensive, require that you pay them back very quickly, and really don’t build your credit score. In addition, many of the lenders are not the most reputable, so you would need to do a little bit of extra research to find a good one for you. Really, if at all possible, this is not your best option (and should be an option that you avoid if at all possible). Better alternatives for those who have bad credit but need 1500 dollar loans include:
- Borrowing money from a friend or relative. With this option just be sure to pay them back, otherwise you can end up losing that relationship, which is probably worth a lot more than $1,500.
- Take out an emergency cash advance from your credit card. Yes, you will have to pay a 3% fee, plus high interest rates, but at least you can pay it back overtime if needed (NOT recommended, by the way), and the rates are much, much lower than payday loan rates are.
- Find someone with good credit who is willing to co-sign on the loan for you.
- Pledge some type of collateral to back up the loan (but avoid title loans as the rates are still extremely high and you have to pay those loans back very quickly as well).
Finally, the best long-term option is to fix your credit before you take out the loan. This last option is your best, but will take some time – up to several years in some cases. As such, it is most likely something that you will want to start now even if you need an immediate cash loan today. That way, in the future if you need one again then you will have the good credit to secure a better loan option.