Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

[palmer]

Alright.
So I'm now like a year out of school and have just started paying back my loans. Going to art school, I ended up taking out a rather substantial amount of money. So I need to find a way to lower my payments... right now. Seeing this much money disappear from my account each month is stressing me out. I could easily afford a porsche with what I'm paying. My federal loans were easy to manage and I set up a pretty agreeable payment schedule but these private loans a muthafucka. Personally I don't know anyone with any experience in this, I don't trust the lenders advice, and Google gives me endless pages of shady ass results.
That is where you fine folks come in.

Does anyone have experience in private loan consolidation?
What is the best option outside of faking my own death or fleeing the country to lower my monthly payments?
Thank you in advance for any advice. I appreciate it.

[Jenks]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

whatever you do, don't consolidate your federal school loans or they will cease being tax deductible. if you have private loans as well, which is what i'm understanding, then by all means, shop a rate for those, especially if you've got good credit.

[toasty]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Alright.
So I'm now like a year out of school and have just started paying back my loans. Going to art school, I ended up taking out a rather substantial amount of money. So I need to find a way to lower my payments... right now. Seeing this much money disappear from my account each month is stressing me out. I could easily afford a porsche with what I'm paying. My federal loans were easy to manage and I set up a pretty agreeable payment schedule but these private loans a muthafucka. Personally I don't know anyone with any experience in this, I don't trust the lenders advice, and Google gives me endless pages of shady ass results.
That is where you fine folks come in.

Does anyone have experience in private loan consolidation?
What is the best option outside of faking my own death or fleeing the country to lower my monthly payments?
Thank you in advance for any advice. I appreciate it.

If you have enough equity in your house, refi and roll the loans into it -- then the interest on your loans will become tax deductible.

[anonin]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

palmer sign up on this board and post the exact same thing you posted here there, www.loanfaqs.org the guy that runs it is a student loan expert, he's helped me out SO much, highly recommended.

[day_for_night]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

yes, if you've got your own place you can use it to collateralize your loans and refinance at a lower rate. also, if there is someone willing to co-sign a refinancing (well-off family member maybe?), that would be another route to go if its available.

[simonr]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

My best tip is that once you've consolidated them, don't run up your debts again - set yourself a budget, keep to it, and try to actually save some funds for holidays/rainy days.

Naturally that's all easier said than done we all get overtaxed and fleeced to pay for the politicains mistakes ... I'd love to know how much gulf and iraq campaigns have cost the tax payer, especially when they want you to continue funding the health service,welfare state and unemployed.

Rant over !

[FM]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Who did you get them through?

Be also careful with what the payments are being applied toward...some places shade you and just put it all/mostly on the interest which means you'll never get any headway...

Could always just call them up and ask to rework your payments out for a while/make them smaller...??

I was very fortunate that mine were all government, so consolidation not only was easy, I got in at the right time since rates have jumped up quite a bit...of course I can barely even pay THAT as is right now, but the interest isn't going to kick my ass either But man, I keep seeing way too many stories of people getting killed on these private loans...it's quite the racket.

[palmer]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Thanks for the replies guys.
To field some questions.

Yeah, I'd like to shop around I just can seem to find any companies that I would trust. I have pretty poor credit so I'm probably better off just fucking paying my arm and my leg each month.

I don't own a home and probably won't for some time. I live in San Francisco where a decent house/apt/loft is in the millions. I make a pretty good salary but again I don't have very good credit so probably going to be holding out on a home for awhile.

My loan officer was a "student loan expert" too and look where that got me. It might be worth a shot to see what he has to say though.

My mother cosigned on the loans in the first place and I'm trying to become financially independent from my family. So asking anyone to cosign anything is out of the question.

I don't have any credit cards and have shit credit so this is the only debt I can probably even have until they are paid off. I'm fine budgeting my bills and living within my means. I just really want to pay a lot less on my loans for the next 2-3 years.

My loans are through AES from like 8 different lenders.

Sounds like everyone is getting fucked in the ass on these private loans. It is a fucking total racket. The only regret I have in my life right now was burying myself in school loans.... especially when I could have bought a bunch of books, holed up at my parents house for 4 years, and come out just the same (if not better).

Argh.

[floridaorange]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Funny how you call when you need something...

jk best of luck!

[toasty]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

student loan payments are the worst. Mine is a 4 digit number, every fucking month -- it's like a mortgage payment. You are all cordially invited to The Biggest Party In The World the day I pay those fuckers off.

Home ownership might not be as far away as you think. There are programs like FHA that are specifically designed for first-time home buyers that do not have hordes of cash saved up for a down-payment, and/or who do not have sparkling credit. Rates are comparable to 30-year conventional mortgage rates -- the kicker is that they are typically a bit more stringent on the home inspections so not all sellers allow that type of financing. Also, there are price limits on a home that you can buy using FHA -- it is modified to account for cost of living in different regions, but in San Fran, it might still be too little, I have no idea. They typically require only 3% down, but there are workarounds to that as well.

The bigger thing, though, is the tax benefit you get from owning a home. All of your interest is deductible, and for the first few years that you're paying on a home, it's almost entirely interest. You can end up with a significant refund at the end of the year from that alone -- and since you'll be itemizing your deductions, you'll be able to take other deductions that might have been previously unavailable. I fucking love tax time now -- I literally cannot wait to do my taxes...

The point is, don't assume that it's totally out of reach. Especially with the market being pretty flat right now, it would be an ideal time to buy a first home.

[thesightless]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Home ownership might not be as far away as you think. There are programs like FHA that are specifically designed for first-time home buyers that do not have hordes of cash saved up for a down-payment, and/or who do not have sparkling credit. Rates are comparable to 30-year conventional mortgage rates -- the kicker is that they are typically a bit more stringent on the home inspections so not all sellers allow that type of financing. Also, there are price limits on a home that you can buy using FHA -- it is modified to account for cost of living in different regions, but in San Fran, it might still be too little, I have no idea. They typically require only 3% down, but there are workarounds to that as well

this is what i am doing now since i have left the accounting industry. i oversee the FHA loans for 2 branches at franklin first financial. they are tough to obtain, and require some debt negotiation, but they are capped at 7.5% on a 30 fixed and they ignore credit history. all they focus on to begin with are 12 months of on time payments, including rent. you might be able to go that avenue if you make some money.

[thesightless]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

PS, james said it right, you can go up to 97% financing on a first time purchase. and with a sellers concession, 6%. since you dont own a home, you cannot consoidate against equity. some credit card companies offer loan consol. but they are shady and shitty

[palmer]

Re: Private loan consolidation? Anyone?

Funny how you call when you need something...

jk best of luck!

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Thanks for the hope gents.
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