A consumer loan allows us to make our dreams come true in the shortest possible time. However, the price that one has to pay for this pleasure sometimes turns out to be unjustified. The main enemies when choosing a loan are haste and inattention. How can you maintain clarity of mind on the way to your cherished goal?
What is a consumer loan
Consumer loans are provided for the purchase of goods and services for personal, non-production needs of citizens. They are divided into non-target (for any needs) and target (for education, travel, buying a car, household appliances, etc.). They can act in the form of a deferred payment / installment plan for the purchase of goods - in this case, a trading company (store) acts as the lender, or a loan in a bank issued in cash or on a plastic card.
Consumer loans are issued both against surety or mortgage of real estate, and without security. Loan payments are made in the form of monthly payments of the same size - annuity or recalculated as payments are made - differentiated. In terms of terms, consumer loans can be short-term, medium-term and long-term - usually in terms of 3 months to 5 years.
The fewer documents are required to obtain a loan, the, as a rule, the higher the interest rate - this is how banks cover their risks. To obtain consumer loans for a small amount (up to 30,000 rubles), one or two documents will be enough: a passport and TIN, a military ID or a driver's license - to choose from. For larger loan applications, you may need a certificate from work, a signature of a guarantor, a work record book, a military ID, a certificate of ownership of real estate, a certificate in the form of 2-NDFL, and so on.
Two sides of the coin
The obvious advantage of a consumer loan is the ability to buy a thing exactly at the moment when it is needed. Moreover, you will not pay for the purchase right away, but in small installments for quite a long time, which allows, among other things, to purchase a product that, under other conditions, would have remained an unattainable dream.
Convenient and attractive, if not for the need for reckoning: the pleasure of the purchase, most likely, will last much less than the obligations under the loan agreement, and the initially attractive price of the product or service will increase due to the commission. During the processing and repayment of the loan, you need to keep your eyes open and be very careful not to overpay, among other things, for unnecessary additional services and special conditions.
Early repayment of a consumer loan is not interesting to banks, as interest income decreases. Therefore, they often set limits on the minimum period and amount, and even sometimes charge interest on early repayment. Carefully study how the conditions for early return are spelled out in the contract. Small print, of course.
Actively looking
When choosing a consumer loan, the first thing to do is pay attention to the offers of a bank with which you already have a relationship: a salary card, a credit card, or there is another positive credit history. Companies tend to offer their loyal customers preferential terms and a more flexible approach.
But even if the conditions in your bank are attractive, you should compare them with other offers on the market. To search for options, you can use credit calculators, for example, on Yandex, banki.ru or on the websites of the banks themselves. Various filters allow you to immediately mark the parameters of interest and study specific lending programs.
With a magnifying glass in hand
No matter how tempting the interest rate announced by the bank may look, you cannot be guided only by it. Since 2007, a law has been passed in Russia obliging banks to disclose all the details of a loan, its effective rate, so it is really worth spending some time carefully studying the text written in small print.
The final commission on a consumer loan, in addition to the monthly rate, may consist of such non-obvious payments as fees for reviewing documents, making transfers, servicing and opening an account, late fees, as well as deductions to third parties, for example, insurance, money transfer through other banks and other.
All these details are prescribed in the contract, and if they are not taken into account, they can significantly and very unpleasantly increase the amount of payments.
There is an unspoken rule that the amount of monthly payments on all loans should not exceed half of the family's income. So you will save yourself and your family from overwhelming debt obligations.
The most common pitfall that borrowers stumble upon is the fee for servicing the loan account. The commission for opening and maintaining an account can be indicated as a small monthly percentage, in addition to the basic rate. When multiplied by a year, an attractive 1% turns into 12% and fundamentally changes the pattern of payments.
Another trick - in the first month, the principal is not repaid, but only the amount of accrued interest. This enables banks to charge interest twice on the same loan amount.
You need to carefully study the loan agreement and other documents. If necessary, take it home and reread it in a relaxed atmosphere. And at the same time, once again weigh all the pros and cons, compare the conditions with their own real capabilities. It is worth consulting with bank employees about conditions that do not seem obvious enough. And only after that, sign the contract.
