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How to Get a $100,000 Personal Loan Fast

Content provided by Credible. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own.

This article first appeared on the Credible blog.

If you need to cover a substantial expense, taking out a personal loan might be a good option. You can use a large loan — such as a $100,000 personal loan — for almost any personal expense, such as consolidating debt, installing a pool, or covering medical bills.

Here’s what you should know before taking out a $100,000 personal loan:

Where to get a $100,000 loan

Some of your lender options for potentially finding a $100,000 loan include online lenders as well as traditional banks and credit unions. Credible is partnered with two online personal loan lenders that offer $100,000 personal loans:

Lightstream

Best for: Fast loan funding

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LightStream personal loans are available from $5,000 to $100,000. Most LightStream loans come with repayment terms from two to seven years, but if you use your loan to pay for home improvements, you could have up to 12 years to repay it.

Additionally, if you’re approved, you could get your funds as soon as the same business day.

Pros

  • Fast loan funding

  • 0.50% autopay discount

  • Accepts cosigners

Cons

  • Could be hard to qualify if you don’t have good credit

  • Doesn’t disclose minimum income requirements

  • Not available in Rhode Island or Vermont

SoFi

Best for: Borrower perks

With SoFi, you can borrow $5,000 to $100,000 with repayment terms from two to seven years. SoFi borrowers also have access to several perks, such as unemployment protection, career coaching, and investing advice.

Pros

  • Borrower perks like unemployment protection and investing advice

  • 0.25% autopay discount

  • No fees

Cons

  • Could be hard to qualify if you don’t have good credit

  • Doesn’t disclose minimum income requirements

  • Not available in Mississippi

Credible lets you compare personal loan rates from various lenders, and it won’t affect your credit.

Banks and credit unions

Most financial institutions don’t offer personal loans as high as $100,000. But if you’re looking for a $100,000 personal loan from a bank, you could try Wells Fargo, which has higher limits than most banks.

Citibank offers personal loans up to $30,000, though you might be able to borrow more if you visit a local branch. Some credit unions also provide large personal loans.

If your bank or credit union offers personal loans, you might get an interest rate discount as an existing customer. Many lenders also offer autopay discounts if you let them automatically withdraw your monthly loan payment from a checking account or savings account.

How much are monthly payments on a $100,000 loan?

The monthly payment on a $100,000 personal loan will mainly depend on your interest rate and the repayment term you choose. The table below highlights the relationship between the repayment term, interest rate, and monthly payment. Note that the interest rates in this table are hypothetical, for purposes of illustration only.

As you can see, borrowers can generally expect to have a lower monthly payment but greater total finance charges if they choose to stretch their payments out over a longer period of time.

If you decide to take out a personal loan, it’s important to consider how much that loan will cost you over time. You can estimate how much you’ll pay for a loan using Credible’s personal loan calculator.

How to apply for a $100,000 personal loan

Applying for a personal loan — even one as large as $100,000 — is generally a straightforward process. Just follow these four steps:

  1. Compare lenders. To start, research and compare as many lenders as possible to find the right loan for you. Be sure to compare not only interest rates but also repayment terms, any fees charged by the lender, and eligibility requirements.

  2. Choose the option you like most. After comparing lenders, pick the loan that best fits your needs.

  3. Fill out the application. Once you’ve picked a lender, you’ll need to complete a full application and submit any required documentation, such as pay stubs or tax returns.

  4. Get your funds. If you’re approved, you’ll need to sign for the loan so the lender can send you the money. The time to fund for a personal loan is usually about one week — though some lenders will fund loans as soon as the same or next business day after approval. Many lenders will also deposit the funds directly into your bank account.

You can use Credible to compare personal loan rates from various lenders in minutes.

How to get a $100K personal loan for bad credit

You’ll typically need good to excellent credit to qualify for a personal loan — a good credit score is usually considered to be 700 or higher.

Lenders will also likely be more stringent with their credit requirements when it comes to a high loan amount like $100,000 as they’ll want to make sure you can repay such a large sum.

Keep in mind: While some lenders offer personal loans for bad credit, these loans usually come with higher interest rates compared to good credit loans. And they likely won’t be available for loan amounts as high as $100,000.

If you have poor credit, here are a couple of options that could help you qualify for a loan:

  • Apply with a cosigner. If you’re struggling to get approved, applying with a cosigner who has good to excellent credit could help improve your chances. Not all lenders allow cosigners on personal loans, but some do — including both LightStream and SoFi. A cosigner can be anyone (such as a parent, other relative, or trusted friend) who is willing to share responsibility for the loan. This means they’ll be on the hook if you can’t make your payments.

  • Build your credit. If you can wait to get a loan, it could be a good idea to spend some time improving your credit first. Not only could this help you get approved more easily in the future, but it might also qualify you for better interest rates. You can potentially build your credit in several ways, such as making on-time payments on all your bills, paying down credit card balances, or using a tool like Experian Boost to have other bills (like utility or subscription payments) reported to the credit bureaus.

How fast can you get a $100,000 personal loan?

The time to fund for a 100,000 personal loan can vary from one lender to the next. For example, if you take out a loan with LightStream, you could get your money the same day you’re approved. With SoFi, you could get your money within three business days.

Tip: While you don’t have total control over when a lender will disburse your funds, a couple of ways to avoid any delays include:

  • Filling out your application as accurately as possible

  • Providing any required documentation in a timely manner

Factors to consider when comparing loans

You can use a $100,000 personal loan to undertake major home renovations, pay off medical bills, and even for debt consolidation — all without putting your home up as collateral.

But before pursuing such a large personal loan, you should do your research and take these factors into consideration:

  1. Interest rate

  2. Repayment term

  3. Monthly payment

  4. Total repayment costs

1. Interest rate

The interest rate is one of the most important factors to consider when shopping for a loan. It’s what you’ll pay in interest charges each year, expressed as a percentage.

Shopping for a loan would be simple if you could just look for the loan with the lowest rate. But your total cost will also depend on how long you take to pay back your loan, as well as any fees your lender charges.

Keep in mind: To help you understand the impact of any additional fees and expenses over the life of your loan, lenders are required to factor them into another calculation called the annual percentage rate (APR). Like the interest rate, the APR is just one factor that determines your overall repayment costs.

2. Repayment term

Another crucial factor that affects your overall repayment cost is your repayment term, or how long you’ll have to pay back your loan. The loan term for a personal loan usually falls somewhere between two to seven years, depending on the lender.

Keep in mind: The longer you take to pay back your loan, the more interest charges you’ll pay. However, a shorter term might not be feasible for a $100,000 loan, as the monthly payments could end up being too high to manage. Long-term personal loans could be a more affordable option when you borrow a large amount, although you’ll end up paying more in interest over time.

3. Monthly payment

A lower monthly payment doesn’t mean a loan will cost you less. In fact, it’s typically the opposite: To get a lower monthly payment, you’ll have to choose a longer repayment term, which will increase the total amount you’ll repay.

It’s important to understand the relationship between the interest rate, repayment term, and monthly payment:

  • The shorter the repayment term, the lower the interest rate offered by most lenders.

  • The longer the repayment term, the lower the monthly payment.

Tip: As a rule of thumb, you can often save money by choosing a loan with the shortest repayment term that you can still afford to make the monthly payment on.

4. Total repayment costs

Once you’ve found a loan that’s right for your situation, review the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) disclosure provided by your lender when you apply.

These are the numbers to look for:

  • Finance charge: This represents the total repayment cost of your loan, including interest and fees.

  • Total payments: This shows the total amount of all the payments you’ll make to pay off your loan — the loan principal plus finance charges.

If you decide to take out a personal loan, remember to consider as many lenders as you can to find the right loan for your needs. Credible makes this easy: You can compare your prequalified rates from multiple lenders in two minutes — without affecting your credit.

Alternatives to personal loans

With the new options provided by online lenders, it’s now possible to get unsecured personal loans of $35,000; $50,000; or even $100,000 without putting your home up as collateral.

But if you can’t qualify for a personal loan that size or the interest rate seems too high, here are some other options to consider:

  • Home equity loan: This is secured by the equity in your home. Like a personal loan, you’ll get the funds from a home equity loan as a lump sum. Keep in mind that if you can’t keep up with your payments, you could lose your home.

  • Home equity line of credit (HELOC): This also allows you to access the equity in your home. Unlike a home equity loan, a HELOC is a type of revolving credit — meaning you can repeatedly draw on and pay off your credit line. Just remember that your home could be at risk if you can’t make your payments.

  • Cash-out refinancing: With a cash-out refinance, your existing mortgage is paid off and replaced by a new loan with a higher loan amount than what you owe on your home. You’ll get the extra amount to use as you’d like — minus any closing costs.

Keep in mind: When considering home equity loans versus personal loans, remember that a loan that’s secured by your home will typically come with a lower interest rate. You’ll still have to demonstrate that you have sufficient income to repay a home equity loan, but the minimum credit score requirements might be more relaxed than for large personal loans.


About the author: Taylor Medine is a Credible authority on personal finance. Her work has been featured on Bankrate, Experian, The Balance, Business Insider, Credit Karma, and more. She’s also the author of The 60-Minute Money Plan, a self-published intro to budgeting guide for people who hate budgeting. Kat Tretina also contributed to the reporting of this article.

The post How to Get a $100,000 Personal Loan Fast appeared first on Credible.