No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Just thought I would post my experience with SoFi here, since I spent a lot of time looking for info before applying without finding a whole lot.
I currently have about $50K in credit card debt (yes I know) that I have been working on paying down, and we've been making some progress over the last couple of years.
However, monthly payments are so high that is tough to make real progress, but we've gotten things to a level where I felt with my credit score I could get a reasonable personal loan to consolidate my cards. At the time my FICO 8 scores were: EQ ???, TU 696, EX 717. Mostly my scores are where they are because of high UT. No derogs or anything.
I took a look at the various lenders out there (Lending Club, Prosper, etc.) as well as a couple of local CUs (DCU for one) to see what I might be able to get for both total $$ and rate.
For the most part, I got rates that were 13-14% with loan amounts from $20-$35K which was ok, but not really enough $$ nor a good enough rate improvement to see significant monthly payment reductions, although any interest drop was probably going to be worth it for both my credit score and my budget.
Somehow I stumbled into SoFi (nerdwallet maybe?) and I felt like I hit the jackpot, if only I could get approved. In January I did the pre-approval for $55K to see what I would get, and was pre-approved for the full amount at around 8%, but I was worried about my credit scores possibly messing with the actual real approval.
I did some research that suggested they did an Experian pull (they do), so the nervous me decided to wait a month until my cards all reported as I had just used my a sizable portion of my tax refund to pay my cards down so all were below 90% util (some were already).
So on Friday everything finally reported and my scores jumped a bit to EQ 708, TU 708, EX 740, so I decided to bite the bullet and submit my application for real on Monday morning. I already had all the proper documentation uploaded, so it was just submitting and waiting. I didn't wait long.
They called me about 15 minutes later to request one additional paystub (EOY 2015), and then less than two hours later my loan was approved!
The rate was a bit higher than I had hoped at 10.125%, but still a good improvement both interest wise over my cards, and monthly payment wise to help me pay down my cards faster and establish some savings for emergencies. Now it is waiting 7-10 business days for funding, although the customer rep I spoke with seemed to imply it could be faster than that, so we will see.
I am happy to answer any questions on the process for anyone who is interested
I'll also update everyone when I get the funds so there's another reference point.
One question though I have for you out there. Looking at my loan app after the fact, the score they used was Experian at 717, which was where it was back in January when I did the pre-approval, not what it was when the hard pull was run (which actually reported today). I wonder why that is, since why did they bother doing a hard pull if they weren't going to use the higher score? Supposedly scores don't matter as much to SoFi, so who knows if it made a difference. I am going to speak to them today to see if I can get more details.
Congrats! They have really good rates compared to other lenders! Got mine approved about 2 weeks ago. They deposited my money in less than 24 hrs afetr approval ... I highly recommend SOFI
. Did you get the full $50K?
@Anonymous wrote:Congrats! They have really good rates compared to other lenders! Got mine approved about 2 weeks ago. They deposited my money in less than 24 hrs afetr approval
... I highly recommend SOFI
. Did you get the full $50K?
I did take the full $55K that I had applied for. I wish it was less than 24 hours for me! I can't wait to pay off my cards.
@cmoynihan wrote:
One question though I have for you out there. Looking at my loan app after the fact, the score they used was Experian at 717, which was where it was back in January when I did the pre-approval, not what it was when the hard pull was run (which actually reported today). I wonder why that is, since why did they bother doing a hard pull if they weren't going to use the higher score? Supposedly scores don't matter as much to SoFi, so who knows if it made a difference. I am going to speak to them today to see if I can get more details.
I did get a little bit of clarity on this.
SoFi couldn't tell me what score they use, at least the CS rep I spoke to didn't know, just that it was definitely the hard pull score from yesterday on the report. They also said they don't use the number as much as they do the payment history and missed payment indicators in the report. They say as much on their site, but just more info to back that up.
Experian verified that my FICO 8 is 740 (no surprise there as myFICO says the same thing), and told me that SoFi may use the FICO 8 score but tweak the model to fit their criteria perhaps resulting in the score difference.
@cmoynihan wrote:
@cmoynihan wrote:
One question though I have for you out there. Looking at my loan app after the fact, the score they used was Experian at 717, which was where it was back in January when I did the pre-approval, not what it was when the hard pull was run (which actually reported today). I wonder why that is, since why did they bother doing a hard pull if they weren't going to use the higher score? Supposedly scores don't matter as much to SoFi, so who knows if it made a difference. I am going to speak to them today to see if I can get more details.
I did get a little bit of clarity on this.
SoFi couldn't tell me what score they use, at least the CS rep I spoke to didn't know, just that it was definitely the hard pull score from yesterday on the report. They also said they don't use the number as much as they do the payment history and missed payment indicators in the report. They say as much on their site, but just more info to back that up.
Experian verified that my FICO 8 is 740 (no surprise there as myFICO says the same thing), and told me that SoFi may use the FICO 8 score but tweak the model to fit their criteria perhaps resulting in the score difference.
Doubtful; on the score disclosure you got, did it say FICO on it or not? If it did, no modification. If it didn't it might be an internal score using Experian's data.
What you're looking for is the score range, as that can often identify (at least currently) which verion was actually used. If you wouldn't mind sharing that data I'd appreciate it if it's there, I'm going to need to be sorting some financing in the future and while SoFI is more for student loan consolidation for me in the future if I go that route, I'd be very intersted in seeing if we can figure out what version they are using.
Just thought I would let you know, that I clicked on this specifically because you mentioned Sofi. I had never heard of them until last week... not for a loan or anything. I just had a really good friend join them as an employee/VP last week and he called and told me about his job change.
From what I gathered, Sofi is a very well known lender in the student loan marketplace but is heavily expanding their offerings in the personal loan and mortgage markets.
From what I understand, they are taking a different approach than most lenders with internal UW criteria that is not focused on scores.... that being said, I am sure for the size of your PL they want a score of over 700 and clean history... most likely looking for a history of monthly payment in the range of what your monthly payments will be on the $55k. He mentioned that for mortgages they consider applicants rent payment's... example you have been paying $1500 a month for rent for 3+ years on time and now you are applying for a mortgage in which your payment would be $1500 or less... ( I think I got that right)
Interesting timing on your post... hope this post gets traction as Sofi might be a great lender for some folks on this board. My buddy said they have a stellar reputation in the student loan marketplace with high satisfaction ratings. For the record, I have zero affiliation with them... again a buddy just landed a job with them last week... he was heavily recruited. Not stating that anyone should apply without doing research again... I clicked becasue last week was the only time I had ever heard of them and then saw your post tonight.
@Revelate wrote:Doubtful; on the score disclosure you got, did it say FICO on it or not? If it did, no modification. If it didn't it might be an internal score using Experian's data.
What you're looking for is the score range, as that can often identify (at least currently) which verion was actually used. If you wouldn't mind sharing that data I'd appreciate it if it's there, I'm going to need to be sorting some financing in the future and while SoFI is more for student loan consolidation for me in the future if I go that route, I'd be very intersted in seeing if we can figure out what version they are using.
Here is a screenshot of the score in my application. What you say makes more sense to me, but the ambiguity of the page in that screenshot lends to confusion.
@trnl2016 wrote:
Congrats on your loan! I appreciate you sharing... your story is very helpful in my personal journey. This may be too personal, and feel free to decline sharing, but do you mind sharing what 50k in debt equaled in terms of total % utilization? In addition, what's your income? The reason I ask is bc I'm looking to get a $25k loan to pay off my cards as well. We're at about 77% utilization, $25k revolving debt, and $40k income, and most people are saying that we likely won't get approved, or might get approved for less with a much higher rate.
My current util is 87%. I currently have a mortgage loan, two car loans, a very small personal loan almost paid off (home improvement), and the CC debt.
I think what was/is in my corner for this one is my income. It is a good amount over $100K, plus some bonus income. SoFi had me upload both my most recent pay stub, plus the last pay stub of 2015 to calculate bonus/commisions.