Sometime late afternoon on Wednesday (1/30/08) my loan reached 100% funding.  This is a critical first step in getting a Prosper loan. Without reaching 100% funded you cannot get a Prosper loan.  Reaching 100% funded should be the 1st goal of an Prosper borrower and the tools for reaching 100% should be employed to their fullest.

1. Choose the right interest rate.  Prosper now suggests rates (borrower rate guidance) when you make the listing. Choose the best chance of funding. 
2. Include a picture. People like to know who they are dealing with.
3. Layout why your loan request makes sense financially.  Lenders want to know that you understand and control your situation.
4. Get endorsements from friends preferably that have bid on your loan.  I have 11 endorsements (maybe a bit of overkill) and 11 bids from Prosper friends.  I also have a number of bids from friends that are not confirmed Friends on Prosper. Thank you all!
5. Answer questions.  If a lender takes an interest in your loan enough to ask a question, they deserve an answer.  I have answered all but one question asked.  The question involved details of my financial life that I am just not comfortable sharing.  I intentionally left out an income and budget breakdown from my listing. I do not recommend this if you are trying for your lowest possible interest rate.  But I simply did not feel comfortable sharing that information (perhaps to my interest rate detriment).  I think my hesitation stems from my position in the community — I am not a stranger posting these facts.  In fact, I think I will answer the lenders question in this same statement.

Being open about your financial needs is hard.  Scary even.  But if your loan makes financial sense and your are honest Prosper Lenders will give you a great rate. 

Once you reach 100% funding the real fun begins.  Lenders compete for your loan.  Each future bid brings a potential loan rate reduction.  At the time of writing this blog post (10:36 pm pst on 1/30/08) my loan had been bid down from my starting rate of 12.23% down to 12.08%.  There is still 6+ full days of bidding to go. How low can it go?

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Listing Review, Prosper.com, Strategy