2 years ago
PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) -- The economy has made it difficult for many people to prosper -- from higher energy costs to difficulties finding lenders to finance big purchases. For one woman from Portland, a desire to own an apartment building led her to the internet, hoping to borrow money from strangers.
Jennifer said, "With a 5 unit you need 20% down and I have about 10% down so I had to come up with a way to get the other 10% down."
So Jennifer put her story, and loan request, on a peer lending website -- Prosper.com. On Prosper.com you come up with an amount you need to borrow. Then other users offer you loans, and they choose the interest rate at which you repay them.
In Jennifer's case, around 200 people put in bids to come up with the $22,500 she needs. The downside is that the money comes with a hefty interest rate, a whopping 35%.
Jennifer remarked, "We made sure it was something we could afford at that rate, and we plan on paying it off a lot sooner so we don't end up paying 35% a year for three years."
Prosper also requires anonymity -- that's why we haven't given Jennifer's last name. She remarked, "They don't want somebody finding you and beating your kneecaps in."
She says it's a great way to help other people. "You're doing it based on why somebody wants the loan, not based on whether or not it computes in a calculator. It is based off of people, so not only are you investing money, but you feel good about it."
To help raise money to pay off her loan, which by the way was fully funded within hours of her story appearing on the front page of the Prosper.com site, Jennifer will be having a "Help Me Buy a Yard" yard sale on the 23rd of August in Cape Elizabeth.
NEWS CENTER
