Comments on: Prosper … Will I Prosper? http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/ Making you richer every day. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:16:54 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Prosper – More Prosperity for 2008 : Money And Investing http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-1544 Prosper – More Prosperity for 2008 : Money And Investing Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:48:28 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-1544 [...] Ironically, Prosper.com is the only one of my portfolios showing all nice and green. Better than I expected, it shows all loans either current or paid (1 paid). So far, I have issued 31 small/shared loans, one of them has been paid off. The initial principal was $3,000 (small amount, but significant enough to try). I am increasing the principal amount $2,000 more. Short term goal is to have around 50 loans or around $100 each. I started my Prosper Adventure on September 2007. [...] [...] Ironically, Prosper.com is the only one of my portfolios showing all nice and green. Better than I expected, it shows all loans either current or paid (1 paid). So far, I have issued 31 small/shared loans, one of them has been paid off. The initial principal was $3,000 (small amount, but significant enough to try). I am increasing the principal amount $2,000 more. Short term goal is to have around 50 loans or around $100 each. I started my Prosper Adventure on September 2007. [...]

]]> By: Should I Be The Bank? : Money And Investing http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-1388 Should I Be The Bank? : Money And Investing Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:27:22 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-1388 [...] I have been lending money at Prosper. (P2P lending where lenders spread their risk among many borrowers, and borrowers get a chance for better interest rates than they get charged at banks). I increased my loan portfolio to $3,000 and may increase it a bit more early next year. I still have the goal of earning an effective rate of 8% (after fees and defaults). That should be a bit better than depositing at the bank and than corporate bonds (without going into junk bonds). My strategy keeps being the same: $100 loans to B, A, or AA grade individuals with no reported delinquencies or public records. By the time I reach $10,000 invested in prosper I should have at least 100 loans so that no single loan default will wipe out more than 1% of my invested loan portfolio. [...] [...] I have been lending money at Prosper. (P2P lending where lenders spread their risk among many borrowers, and borrowers get a chance for better interest rates than they get charged at banks). I increased my loan portfolio to $3,000 and may increase it a bit more early next year. I still have the goal of earning an effective rate of 8% (after fees and defaults). That should be a bit better than depositing at the bank and than corporate bonds (without going into junk bonds). My strategy keeps being the same: $100 loans to B, A, or AA grade individuals with no reported delinquencies or public records. By the time I reach $10,000 invested in prosper I should have at least 100 loans so that no single loan default will wipe out more than 1% of my invested loan portfolio. [...]

]]> By: mapgirl http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-964 mapgirl Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:11:34 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-964 FWIW, I have three $50 loans out there and it's on B,C and E grade loans. So far so good. I think you are right to go with higher grade borrowers. Somehow I ended up with the E grade by mistake. I was only seeking listings that were C or better, with a homeowner and verified bank account. I think that the latter two criteria are very important, more than the credit rating itself. A serious listing will have done the verification/vetting first and a homeowner will have a better idea of their budget, usually, than a renter. I don't factor in age, but I noticed that my loan holders are mostly over 30. I would love to hear your results! For me, it's still just mad money, but I could see it being a great investment vehicle if done right. FWIW, I have three $50 loans out there and it’s on B,C and E grade loans. So far so good. I think you are right to go with higher grade borrowers. Somehow I ended up with the E grade by mistake. I was only seeking listings that were C or better, with a homeowner and verified bank account. I think that the latter two criteria are very important, more than the credit rating itself. A serious listing will have done the verification/vetting first and a homeowner will have a better idea of their budget, usually, than a renter. I don’t factor in age, but I noticed that my loan holders are mostly over 30.

I would love to hear your results! For me, it’s still just mad money, but I could see it being a great investment vehicle if done right.

]]> By: Around the PF Blogosphere: September 5, 2007 | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-961 Around the PF Blogosphere: September 5, 2007 | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:48:10 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-961 [...] And Investing started a Prosper portfolio and wonders whether Prosper can make him prosper. It’s an option, but I doubt any serious money can be made without a sizable [...] [...] And Investing started a Prosper portfolio and wonders whether Prosper can make him prosper. It’s an option, but I doubt any serious money can be made without a sizable [...]

]]> By: Acero http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-960 Acero Thu, 06 Sep 2007 01:36:25 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-960 I'd like to echo Lazies input, 10 loans are not particularly diversified. I did sixteen $50 loans for my initial foray into Prosper. So far two of them are already kicking up and playing dead for me. I was silly and decided to have some fun and bid on a HR for the hell of it. That one died quite quickly. Unfortunately even the B's are not completely safe. The B had a completely clean credit report according to prosper, I almost feel sorry for that that now it will be ruined for several years. Just try to make it fun so that the loses, if you are unlucky, are not to mentally damaging. With only a few months under my belt, I've almost made back a full loans worth of net income to make up for one of the defaults. Thats a nice feeling. I’d like to echo Lazies input, 10 loans are not particularly diversified. I did sixteen $50 loans for my initial foray into Prosper. So far two of them are already kicking up and playing dead for me.

I was silly and decided to have some fun and bid on a HR for the hell of it. That one died quite quickly. Unfortunately even the B’s are not completely safe. The B had a completely clean credit report according to prosper, I almost feel sorry for that that now it will be ruined for several years.

Just try to make it fun so that the loses, if you are unlucky, are not to mentally damaging. With only a few months under my belt, I’ve almost made back a full loans worth of net income to make up for one of the defaults. Thats a nice feeling.

]]> By: Lazy Man http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/2007/09/05/prosper-%e2%80%a6-will-i-prosper/comment-page-1/#comment-958 Lazy Man Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:32:49 +0000 http://www.moneyandinvesting.net/?p=74#comment-958 If I can make a couple of recommendations... - 10 loans isn't very diversified. If one goes bad, you are almost guaranteed a loss. I would suggest going with 20 $50 loans, but it sounds a little late on this. - Think about setting up a standing order for autofunding loans for your parameters. I've been finding one or two a day reach my criteria (AA-B, less than 25% DTI, 0 delinquencies, offering a rate over 14%). I don't use public records, but I probably should and will soon. The standing order is great because you don't have to do any work. The auto-funding is great because it can't get bid down to nothing. - I've been lending for around 18 months now, and it's still difficult to determine how things are playing out, so it may take more months than you think. Since I switched to the above mentioned strategy, I've been doing quite a bit better. If I can make a couple of recommendations…

- 10 loans isn’t very diversified. If one goes bad, you are almost guaranteed a loss. I would suggest going with 20 $50 loans, but it sounds a little late on this.
- Think about setting up a standing order for autofunding loans for your parameters. I’ve been finding one or two a day reach my criteria (AA-B, less than 25% DTI, 0 delinquencies, offering a rate over 14%). I don’t use public records, but I probably should and will soon. The standing order is great because you don’t have to do any work. The auto-funding is great because it can’t get bid down to nothing.
- I’ve been lending for around 18 months now, and it’s still difficult to determine how things are playing out, so it may take more months than you think. Since I switched to the above mentioned strategy, I’ve been doing quite a bit better.

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