Secured Loans-Manage Your Loan

Getting a loan in today's lending market can be easier said than done. Lenders are expecting more from you. They want to be sure that they are making a wise investment by lending you money. If you default on your loan, they stand to lose a great deal. Therefore, lenders look for ways to offset their losses and make sure that they only lend to people who repay.

One of the ways they do this is by offering secured loans. Secured loans are loans that are secured by property that is owned by you. The property could be your home, car, caravan, holiday home, undeveloped land, etc. Lenders will accept almost anything that has value and can be resold as security for your loan.

Once you offer up property as security, the lender will lend you money in exchange for a claim on the title deed of the property. If you do not pay your loan as agreed, the lender can take your property and resell it to get their money back. If you do pay the loan as agreed, the right to claim finishes at the end of the repayment term.

Secured loans have certain benefits over personal loans (loans that are not secured by anything). The following are just a few of those benefits:

• Higher chance of approval - Lenders are more willing to lend money when there is no chance that they will lose money in the bargain. If a loan is secured by property that is valued at or above the amount of the loan, lenders part with their money more freely.
• Lower interest rate - Interest rates are calculated according to risk. In other words, your interest rate will be based on how risky the lender thinks the transaction is. For this reason, secured loans often have lower interest rates than unsecured loans.
• More borrowing power - Many times you can borrow more money with a secured loan than an unsecured loan. This is especially true if you borrow against your home. You may be able to borrow tens of thousands of pounds through a remortgage. Personal loans normally max out at a few thousand pounds.

However, there are also quite a few drawbacks associated with secured loans. The loan amounts are almost always equal to or lower than the value of the property offered up as collateral. This may limit you in some ways. You may also lose your property if you default on the loan.

By Steven Clarke