I have had several bloggers ask for advice on their listings or potential listings…  One of them even joined my group and successfully received a $25K loan at an interest rate he was happy with…

As a blogger the reputation of your blog has meaning for you both in terms of your persona, but also in real financial terms…  I have said privately, that I would lend to any blogger of 1 year duration or longer that placed their blog reputation on the line in the listing…

My offer to any blogger that has asked has been the same…  Write a listing and mention your blog and url and I will endorse and bid on your listing and offer all the tips and assistance I know how to provide in order to get your loan funded and the rate as low as possible… 

While I am still making that offer to any blogger, I thought I would share my tips for creating the best possible listing that anyone can use on prosper to get a loan.

1. There are some credit statistics that are factual and out of your control (current inquires, current delinquencies, etc.).  These are simple related to your circumstance and are difficult to adjust for your benefit by definition…  There are others that you can control namely loan amount and the related DTI.  If at all possible with your statistics that are our of your control, adjust your loan amount and there by your DTI to conform to a portfolio plan slice.  These slices are updating frequently and they can be a moving target (ask deep market… his listing went live at 3 in the afternoon and the slices were adjust that evening.)  Why? because the default portfolio plans have a lot of purchasing power…  (My own listing might have gotten as much as $12K+ in portfolio plan bids in 4 days.)
2. End your listing around 5pm est…  For whatever reason that seems to be the time when more bids are placed.  This leads me to believe this is a time of peak lender activity.
3. End you listing on Thursday (assuming normal weekend and not a holiday)…  This may no longer hold the same power as it once did (due to the $50 instant transfer for Facebook users), but the theory goes…  Any lender transfer  of money occurring between 11:01am est Friday and 11:00am Monday will result in the money being available for bidding on Thursday due to the time it takes for the transactions to clear the bank… Not everyone is a facebook user or has the Prosper facebook application installed and therefore I would still use this tip.
4. Tell you story.  Be truthful and honest and put as much detail into the story as you feel comfortable with…  An expenses breakdown and a list of income amount and sources might help with a lower interest rate.  But only provide what you are comfortable sharing.  Your listing should make sense financially, else why are you getting the loan?
5. Use a relevant picture… Do not you use a picture of someone else’s house or someone else’s blond girlfriend (hat tip to Freakonomics who says that young blond women out sell all other demographics in America).
6. Choose the right starting interest rate… Prosper now provides interest rate guidance.  Use the rate with the best chance of funding. You cannot get a loan if you listing does not reach 100% funded…  The listing will only begin to be bid lower after it reaches 100% funded.
7. Get endorsements from friends and get bids from friends who have endorsed your listing.  I had 14+ 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.  Try to get at least 3 friends to endorse and bid on your listing.
8. Answer questions.  If a lender takes an interest in your listing enough to ask a question, they deserve an answer.  I answered all the questions asked.  Even the question that involved details of my financial life that I am 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).  But even then I answer the question politely decline to answer and stating my reasons.

• Prosper Interest Rates On the Rise Prosper interest rates are on the rise -- in case you where wondering this is a good thing for lenders!  The release of the lender bidding guidance (general announcement, secondary analysis) seems to line up with a rise in near prime and sub prime interest rates.  Similarly, the graph that......
• RateLadder Requests Prosper Loan I am requesting a Prosper Loan.  I am a AA, homeowner, verified bank account, Prosper lender with an 11K+ lending portfolio. This is my 1st foray into borrowing on a p2p website. I believe in p2p lending and with this loan I will gain a borrower's perspective. My loan matches the......
• My Lowest Interest Rate Loan is a Payoff in Progress I have to laugh...  Early in my use of standing orders I had my best rate for low amt, low DTI, AA borrowers set at 9.40%.  (I didn't have any rhyme or reason for 9.4% it just seemed "right".)  Sure enough, the very first loan found by my standing order......
• Update: RateLadder Prosper Listing Request Reaches 100% Funded 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......
• Listings, Unique Bidders, Loans, Average Interest Rate, and Total Amount Lent Some of these are leading indicators and some are trailing. Do you see a pattern? Month # Listings # Unique Bidders # Loans Average Interest Rate Total Lent 11/2005  39 12  13  10.56%  $47,800 12/2005  20 17  9  7.57%  $30,887 1/2006  48 21  8  8.23%  $45,120 2/2006  832 266  75  11.45%  $457,934......

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I am offering for sale this site RateLadder.com (domain, content, and twitter account) and the domains ProProsper.com and P2PNoBank.com.

Serious inquires only please. Email: kevin at proprosper (.) com if you are interested.

• Confirmed My 5.1% Zopa CD Two days I purchased a Zopa CD right after the Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate 75 basis points.  I half expected Zopa to renege on the 5.1% that I signed up under, especially since Bank Rate not shows that a 5.1% 1 year CD is now the top yielding 1......
• Can Prosper Pay Interest? Please note the title (vs Should Prosper Pay Interest).  One of my most viewed articles at RateLadder is Prosper.com Lenders Unite: Where is our Interest?... I was reading a online Fortune article (What PayPal does with your money), which brought up the age old (in Prosper terms anyway) question...  Will prosper......
• Have Prosper or Personal Finance Blog with Prosper Posts? Let's do a link exchange. I have been reading a lot about SEO lately.  It seems there are quite a few things you need to do in order to have Google think highly of your blog and send visitors. 1st and foremost is content: original, compelling, and on topic content.  While I just started my blog......
• Prosper.com and Quicken -- The workable solution for playmates that don't get along. Prosper.com and Quicken (or Money) do not play nicely.  In fact, they can be downright burdensome to make them bridge the gap.  Here I present my workable solution, but this should be addressed by Quicken, Money, and Prosper.com   The heart of the problem is that Quicken doesn't understand the Prosper.com model...  Sure......
• New Lender Feature -- Rapid Transfers I received an email from Prosper today detailing a new feature and inviting me into the beta: Rapid Transfers Dear Kevin, Prosper is testing a new service called "Rapid Transfer" for established customers. We'd like to invite you to participate. If you initiate a transfer of more than $500 before......

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TheCreditTruth.org offers up exactly what it advertises–the truth about credit, credit reporting and those “free” credit report offers found all over the Internet. The first thing you’ll notice about the well-designed site is the “Credit Report Bill of Rights” listed on the left. This “Bill of Rights” explains that you can get a free credit report from each bureau (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) once per year, or within 60 days of being turned down for credit.

The site also explains that you don’t need so-called free credit report offers that require a paid service or credit monitoring, because you have the right to your information free, straight from the source. The sight appeals to the eye and is easy to navigate, drawing you in with the quality of the information rather than flashy graphics or effects.

The impressive blog has been updated regularly for almost 3 years, so that site visitors get the latest information on credit scores and financial concerns. The website itself explains why you’re entitled to your credit reports, what the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) means to you, and what your credit score numbers mean.

An easy to read navigation bar at the top lets you find your way through the 10 major sections of the site where you’ll find detailed, easily accessible and accurate credit reporting information. Unlike fluff articles that really don’t say anything but instead try to sell you on a service, the articles at TheCreditTruth.org are packed with information.

The section about “free” credit reports gives you step-by-step information about how to get your free credit reports online from the source credit reporting agencies, a strategy about when to get them that will let you keep an eye on your credit (for free), what type of information the reports will include and how to examine the reports to find mistakes and potential problems, as well as signs of identity theft.

The article doesn’t stop there. It goes on to explain what to do if you find errors or signs of identity theft to take care of the problems. The advice isn’t general, like “contact the agency about the error,” but rather a detailed list of what to do in which order to get the errors fixed. It explains what kind of a letter to send to them about an error, how to send it properly and what information you need to include.

All of the articles and sections at TheCreditTruth.org are just as detailed and helpful. Handy charts and pie graphs help you understand how your credit score is determined and how the information is weighted to come up with a number. There’s an entire section on avoiding credit scams, and one on how to improve your credit score. There’s even a list of pros and cons of credit monitoring, and a comparison chart to help you choose the best service if you decide to watch your credit report carefully for problems.

TheCreditTruth.org really does offer the truth about your credit score and credit reporting by giving you enough information to make informed decisions about your financial health.

• Forbes (P2P Lending) and CNBC (LendingClub) This week has been a great week for p2p lending news. Forbes did an article (Banking 2.0: New Capital Connections For Entrepreneurs) and Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche was on Power Lunch at CNBC. I found this of interest from the Forbes article (small business loans from your local bank......
• Community Lend Review CommunityLend.com is still in their beta phase, and has yet to fully launch yet, but they do have some interesting features that are already obvious. Like most p2p lending sites, they are striving to create an alternative to traditional bank loans, but they are also trying to take that......
• Prosper Ordered to Cease and Desist by SEC http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2008/33-8984.pdf It appears to me that the ruling is that they have been selling unregistered securities without a license.  What does that mean for the lenders?   Doesn't the board and company officers have some personal liability too? There is some discussion at prospers.org: http://www.prospers.org/forum/prosper_order_to_cease_and_desist_by_sec-t10903.0.html No one seems sure just yet... SEC: UNITED......
• Virgin Money Review Virgin Money is another the brainchild of Richard Branson, the well known entrepreneur that is behind a multitude of businesses, record labels and projects throughout the world. His belief is that everyone should have access to the money they need when they are trying to get money for a business......
• Eric's CC Extended Credit Breakdown Eric's Community Credit is the 1st 3rd party site to make use of the new extended credit data available via the Authenticated API.  As you can see in the picture below or by following this link to RateLadder's profile on Eric's CC... he has added a chart breaking down my......

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SpendonLife.com is an easy to navigate website offering your credit report and credit score instantly online. Through the website, you can access your credit information from the 3 major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. But more than just helping you get this information, the website helps with credit monitoring, and highly informative articles about what the reports mean and why the information should matter to you.

SpendonLife is broken down into sections that are clearly marked in a navigation bar near the top. There are sections on debt, identity theft, credit reports, loans and a link to their blog where informative posts go up regularly with more information about current credit-related news and statistics. Occasionally, services are recommended in the blog that they think might be of interest to their website visitors.

Not only can you get your credit information, but you can find out just about everything you could possibly want to know about your credit report. Dozens of articles help visitors do everything from reading their credit report to preventing a child’s identity theft.

A website with this much information could be dense and hard to get through, but this one isn’t. The articles are balanced with helpful illustrations and images of things like example credit reports. In addition, the articles are reader-friendly. They don’t read like technical instruction manuals but rather as clear, friendly advice and tips on how to get your financial life in order.

You’ll find advice on important financial and credit matters including:

• How to get your debt under control
• How to keep medical bills from destroying your credit
• What to do if you become a victim of identity theft
• What to do to protect yourself from phishing, and what to do if you’re a victim
• What to do if your credit cards are stolen
• How to know which debts are better than others
• How to establish a good credit history
• How to know whether credit card charge-offs are a good debt-reducing option
• How to know if you should deal with a credit repair specialist or agency
• How to know if you’re overpaying on your mortgage
• How to handle tax time

Those are just a few of the informative articles at SpendonLife.com, but there are dozens more as well as the blog posts which keep the information fresh and current.

You’ll be immediately aware that the website offers you a free credit report as well as other credit services, but there’s such a wealth of information on the site it’s far more valuable than just the free credit information it offers.

The credit monitoring service offered at the site allows you to keep tabs on your credit score so you’ll be alerted if anything changes that could signal errors or identity theft. And with all the up-to-date information on the website, you’ll know what to do if this happens. The website is a helpful credit resource that encourages you to get your finances in order so you can spend more on your life instead of on your debt.

• Eric's CC Extended Credit Breakdown Eric's Community Credit is the 1st 3rd party site to make use of the new extended credit data available via the Authenticated API.  As you can see in the picture below or by following this link to RateLadder's profile on Eric's CC... he has added a chart breaking down my......
• Prosper Delinquent Debt Sale In Progress Yesterday Prosper began a delinquent debt sale.  This happens when loans are 4 months or more late and are sold to delinquent debt buyers... Loans receive different amounts depending on the credit grade and other borrower information.  From my standpoint (observer as I have no loans in the debt sale)......
• Lending Club Stats If you want to try Lending Club be sure to sign up with this link to receive $25 bonus. Until now LendingClub has lacked a customer friendly loan and listing statistics site.  Sure you could sql query the data at ProProsper (select * from lendingclubloanstats), even though it is powerful it lacks......
• Green Note Review /caption] P2P student loans have exploded onto the scene this past year, due in a large part to a lack of availability of traditional loans. There has never been a better time for a p2p site to start offering student loan assistance, and Green Note is one of the newest......
• Forbes (P2P Lending) and CNBC (LendingClub) This week has been a great week for p2p lending news. Forbes did an article (Banking 2.0: New Capital Connections For Entrepreneurs) and Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche was on Power Lunch at CNBC. I found this of interest from the Forbes article (small business loans from your local bank......

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From my email inbox:

By Justin G. Moore
A little over one year ago I started looking for new ways to diversify my investments. As the declining economy led to interest rate cuts on my regular savings and money market accounts, I wanted to find if there were other places to invest my money aside from regular bank accounts or bonds with limited returns.

Inspired by the idea of helping other people while helping myself with a return on my investments, I looked into whether or not microlending was something I could do and found MicroPlace.com. In total I have invested over $2,500 in various funds averaging a return of about 3%; that is more than my bank currently offers for a money market account at 1.5%.

In April CBS Evening News did a story on the microlending trend gaining traction, with the help of services like MicroPlace, here in the United States. In their investigation, they were able to track money I invested to one of the funds’ recipients in a village near Lima, Peru, where a woman named Paulina used a microloan to help operate her business making artisanal ceramic pieces. The help financing her business allowed her to employ others and send her son to college – all with what many middle-income Americans would consider a small sum. According to MicroPlace, the money I have invested has helped at least four people like Paulina run their businesses and improve the lives of their families and communities. It is wonderful to know that my small recurring investments of twenty or fifty dollars here and there can have such a big impact. As microfinance continues to gain traction as a viable method of empowering people and supporting both financial and social responsibility, communities all over the world and hopefully here in the United States will be able to benefit from even the smallest of investments.

Watch MicroPlace featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric!

• Major Prosper Update -- Just in Time for Prosper Days  Prosper's First Anniversary First of all, let's take a moment to celebrate. On Feb 5, Prosper turned one year old. In our first year, exactly 7048 loans with a value of $35,166,711 were made on the Prosper marketplace. If you're coming from the perspective of a massive bank, $35M might......
• Prosper Marketplace Auctioning Debt The Baltimore Sun is reporting the Prosper Settlement. A settlement for $1 million dollars paid to 20 different states was announced today, with Prosper Marketplace agreeing to the payout after complaints poured in claiming that the peer-to-peer lending service was selling securities that were unregistered. Prosper Marketplace is a business......
• Microlending Now Paying 5 Percent Microlending is a popular means of borrowing money because small loans are capable of making large differences for many people. Not only is microlending popular for borrowers, but it also benefits those individuals who are willing to give out loans as well. Some microlending websites, like Microplace.com offer interest in......
• pninen in Prosper forums -- Magnificent Writeup on the Lender Costs of Not Paying Interest Here is the post in it's entirety because it is that good: In the early days of Prosper, I estimated that the cost of my idle cash (cash balance waiting to be bid, cash tied up in bids, cash tied up in loan verification, cash tied up waiting for payments......
• Loaning on Lending Club For the 1st Time So my money cleared and this morning I started to put it to work at Lending Club. I started with LendingMatch.  I reviewed the initial loans discarded half and then searched for more in the credit tranches my portfolio lacked.  Starting with the negative (ending with the positive)...   It took a long......

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