Secured loans:An assurance to a carefree tomorrow!!!

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Secured Loans facilitate borrowers to avail of capital against the value of the asset placed as security with the creditor. The creditor now has the ownership rights to the asset, which acts as guarantee against the loan. Although the asset is normally in the form of a home, security can also be offered by placing any concrete property, a vehicle or a valuable asset as collateral. This is why; secured loans are often referred to as ?Homeowner Loans?, ?Home Loans?, ?Secured Personal Loans? or ?Second Charge Loans?. For secured loans, the loan amount ranges from £5,000 to £75,000 and the repayment period extends from 5 to 25 years. The purpose of taking a secured loan could be consolidation of your existing loans, to clear out unpaid bills, making home improvements or for taking that much needed holiday!

The interest charged on loans is known as APR (Annual Percentage Rate). For secured loans, it varies, depending on personal details of the borrower (like credit history), the loan amount, the loan term, etc. Although lenders are legally obliged to familiarize borrowers with the effective APR and other costs involved in taking up the loan, many of them, to fill up their coffers involve hidden costs that increase the loan cost tremendously. Sufficient collateral with good financial conditions will get you the best interest rates and a more relaxing repayment option. Converse will be the case if a borrower invokes insecurity with the lender. A creditor will then respond with relatively high interest rates, scrutinize the borrower?s case more minutely and decide on repayment options, which he feels - will bring back his money safely. When one applies for a secured loan, he signs an agreement that is called a security agreement. This agreement reduces interest, because the lender now has security against which he is lending his money.

As secured loans are backed by collateral, most lenders approve loans even in cases of CCJs, defaults, county court judgements and arrears. This make secured loans very attractive to people who would otherwise not qualify for a loan from their local bank. If a borrower has exceptional credit history and good financial standing he can expect amounts ranging up to 125% of his property value. All this depends on how comfortable a lender feels with the borrower?s collateral and credit history. People who have bad credit and disorderly financial conditions might find it difficult to get even a sum of 70% of the total value of their collateral. Thus, you can avail of a secured loan even if you have bad credit history, what you need to have is concrete property that can act as collateral or security.

Benefits of Secured Loans:

?The interest rate charged on secured loans is the lowest because the risk borne by lenders is very minimal.
?Repayment of secured personal loans is spread over a greater time frame.

?The Repayment period can vary from 3 - 25 years.

?The interest for secured loans varies, depending on personal details of the borrower (like credit history), the loan amount, the loan term, etc.

?Secured Loans offer flexible repayment options that should be chosen carefully after shopping around and comparing quotes.

The hassles associated with the process of getting a secured loan, dissuade many borrowers from getting one. They find, filling up applications, answering endless questions, incising enquiries on their credit history and bank balances, too time consuming and obstructive. The solution to these impending problems is to look for a lender who offers online applications or completes the process with minimum documentation and a minimum encroachment on time and privacy. It usually takes around 14 days for a secured personal loan to be completed and you can cancel any time within this period, with no penalties.
The common denominator in all definitions is that borrowers want the amount desired with minimum interest rates, minimum hassles, maximum flexibility in repayments and zero overhead costs. Shopping around and involving yourself in the loan selection will reap these benefits. Hard work bears fruit, so get going today!!!