The hows, whys and whatnots of Lender Best Egg’s personal loans. Detailed Personal Loan Review.
We’re going to go over everything you need to know about Best Egg personal loans, so you can make an informed decision of whether to use them to consolidate credit card debt, make a major purchase, or cover a financial emergency. The first thing you should know is that Best Egg products are not available if you live in Iowa, Vermont, or West Virginia. Let’s get into the details.
How much you can borrow from Best Egg?
Best Egg’s minimum loan amount is $2,000. Residents of Massachusetts, Ohio, and Georgia will all have a higher minimum. If you need a loan for less than $2,000, you may need to move to one of these lenders. If you are looking for a more substantial amount of money, Best Egg will lend as much as $50,000. While there are a couple of other lenders that offer as much as $100,000, $50,000 is one of the higher amounts in the industry.
Best Egg’s terms range from 3 to 5 years. I am a little concerned about 3 years being the lowest term length. If you’re borrowing less than $3,000, you should try an avoid terms longer than 2 years. That’s just too long to be paying interest for what should be a short-term loan.
Best Egg does have a discount for homeowners. They say that it could drop your APR by as much as 20%. That homeowners discount is a secured loan. We’ll talk more about that a little later.
Now let’s look the APRs of Best Egg’s personal loans.
Best Egg’s minimum is 7.99%. 7.99% is a great rate right now. But to earn that rate, you need credit score above 700 and an individual annual income above $100,000. Best Egg’s maximum APR is 35.99%. 36% is a pretty standard APR ceiling.
Best Egg’s origination fees range between 0.99% up to 8.99%. The origination fee on a loan with a term that is 4 years or longer will be at least 4.99%. A little less than half of the lenders we track don’t charge an origination fee at all. Any fee over 6% is getting to be on the high side. But, 8 or 9% is not the highest in the industry. So, these numbers aren’t bad, but they also aren’t great.
The origination fee comes out of the proceeds of the loan. So, you need to make sure that you borrow enough for your financial need as well as the origination fee. The origination fee doesn’t actually increase the cost of the loan. A loan with a high origination fee and a low APR, is still a low-cost loan. But, you want a lower origination fee, especially if you plan on paying the loan off early. If you pay off the loan early, you save money on the interest you would have paid, but you don’t get a reimbursement of the origination fee.
Best Egg targets borrowers who have Fair-to-Good credit scores.
Based on my research, I believe they lend to people with credit scores between 620 and 750. Of course, the lower you go down in their ranges, the less likely you are to be approved. But these are just guidelines. Lenders don’t usually use credit score alone to determine eligibility. They also use payment history, debt-to-income ratios, utilization, income, bank transaction data, and other financial information.
The most common type of borrowing for a personal loan is unsecured. This means that you don’t have to put up any collateral to secure the loan. I like unsecured loans because additional financial setbacks are less likely to create a domino effect on your finances. Best Egg offers unsecured loans, but they also issue secured loans. When you secure the loan, you put up collateral to guarantee the loan. Best Egg will secure your loan with a lien against your motor vehicle or the fixtures permanently attached to your home. Best Egg will not actually use your home itself as collateral. So, that’s good. Securing your loan can make it easier to be approved, get a larger loan amount, or get a lower APR.
I will point out that Best Egg will also allow you to stack multiple Best Egg loans. That’s a two-edged sword. You don’t want to get buried in debt. But if you know you can go back for another loan if you need to, you can borrow the bare minimum of what you need the first time around. This can keep you from adding unnecessary debt or paying interest on money you didn’t really need. Your total existing Best Egg loan balances cannot exceed $100,000.
Best Egg will not accept a cosigner on their loans.
A cosigner is someone who agrees to pay off your loan if you fail to repay it. If you struggle to get approved for a loan, a cosigner can strengthen your application. Unfortunately, you would have to find a different lender if you need this option.
If you are using the loan to consolidate credit card balances or other debt, Best Egg will directly pay off those other creditors with the proceeds of the loan for you. It’s convenient when a lender will do that, but it also shows that the lender knows that the loan will replace other debts and not stack on top of them. Because of that, the new loan won’t change your debt-to-income ratio. That should make it easier to be approved by them.
If you are late on a payment, Best Egg will charge you a flat rate of $15. Some lenders don’t charge late fees at all. Others will charge as much as $39. So, Best Egg’s late fee policy is not the best…and not the worst.
What can you use a Best Egg loan for? Best Egg does not limit how you use the money. You are free to use the funds however you would like. The most common uses of a Best Egg loan include: Credit card consolidation, debt consolidation, home improvement, moving expenses, major purchases, life events like marriages, funerals, having a baby or adopting, home repairs, vehicle repairs, or unexpected emergency.
So, let’s summarize Best Egg’s personal loans.
Best Egg offers a wide range of loan amounts, especially if you consider their policy that allows you to take out more than one loan. Their APRs start low, but go up to the standard maximum 36%. They lend to people with Fair-to-Good credit. They offer various forms of secured loans that utilize liens which lessen the risk of using the assets as collateral. And they have features that will support people who are using the loan to consolidate credit card balances or other debt. All in all, I think Best Egg is a pretty good overall lender.
But, for many people, the most important thing about a loan is whether you can get the money you need with the best terms. That’s why we always recommend that before you accept a loan, you should shop around. Find the best deal. Get three to four offers before you make a decision on which loan to take. At The Yukon Project, we’ve tried to make shopping around easy. If you visit our marketplace page, you can apply to any one of our other featured lenders. Behind the scenes, we will check your rate with up to 40 other lenders. Our partners use a soft credit check, so applying won’t hurt your credit score. We will show you all of the approved offers so you can pick the loan that’s best for you.
If you have any questions we didn’t cover, leave a comment below and we will try and answer it. If you found this video useful, please like it and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching.
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