Personal Loan

A personal loan is usually unsecured, and is available from most high street banks. The amount you can borrow will depend on your credit history and many banks will now also check your income to see if you can comfortably afford the repayments. Interest rates on personal loans can be remarkably high, which makes them unsuitable if you only need to borrow a small amount of money, or if you plan on paying it back at a later stage.

If you are thinking of borrowing money to invest in property or a renovation, you may like to consider bridging finance instead. It’s a lot easier to be approved for this type of finance, regardless of your circumstances or credit score – however you do need to own a property and this is offered as security to a lender. This is a short term finance solution available to individuals or limited companies.

Business Loan

As the name suggests, this type of loan is for businesses or entrepreneurs setting up a new business. You could need extra capital to invest in stock or machinery, or perhaps renovate a property or expand. Being approved for a business loan from a bank is becoming more and more difficult, but there are alternative finance options available.

Crowdfunding

Rather than borrow from one strict financial institution (a regular bank) you now have the option to lend money from a group of small investors. This lowers the risk for the lenders as they aren’t lending the full amount alone. To qualify for this type of peer to peer lending, you usually need to own a profitable business with good records, but you can choose from a secured or unsecured loan.

Buy to Let Funding

If the reason you’re looking for finance is to buy a property to let, then there are tailored financial solutions for this situation. A buy to let bank mortgage may not be appropriate, but you could benefit from buy to let funding from premium lenders. This is the same as a long term commercial mortgage, but without the application hassle you’d experience at a high street bank.

Have you found the best loan for your circumstances? Get in touch with our financial experts at Genie Lending who can advise further.

The post Which Loan is Best for You? appeared first on Genie Lending: Business Loan Alternative Finance Specialists.

Being a property investor takes up a lot of time – so it’s not always a good idea if you haven’t got a lot of time to dedicate to market research and property management. Buy to let lending can be difficult to acquire without previous experience in the property sector, and being a landlord or paying a property management agency can be more expensive than you first thought.

If you’re wondering whether this is the right decision for you, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of property investment.

Pros of Buy to Let

Buy to let is a great investment choice, as having money in property is a tangible and reliable investment. Even if the market crashes, you can wait until house prices rise again to cash in your return. Here’s some other advantages:

Return on investment – this is pretty easy to calculate for investors and landlords. Find out the rental yield on each property before buying it, and you’ll be surprised at how much you could earn annually.

Funding options – banks are tightening requirements for buy to let mortgages, and further tax changes bring more bad news for landlords and borrowers. However, there are many other ways to secure funding for buy to let investment, such as alternative loans and peer to peer lending.

Cons of Buy to Let

After a series of government changes to the sector, buy to let isn’t quite as lucrative as it once was. Here’s some of the downsides:

Charges and tax – When buying and selling a property which is intended for buy to let, you’ll have to pay a much higher rate of stamp duty and other taxes. This should be considered when calculated the ROI.

Time and work – being a landlord doesn’t mean you can find tenants and relax. You have a legal obligation to keep up with repairs and maintenance, which will take time to organise and cost money to ensure is well maintained.

Becoming a buy to let property investor is hard work, but if you have the time to commit to the venture then it can be a secure investment.

The post Should I Become a Property Investor? appeared first on Genie Lending: Business Loan Alternative Finance Specialists.