Start up loan

[Steve]

I was looking on the prosper.com site and saw this person who was looking to raise money for their holiday lighting business. This is actually a relisting. A family friend has decided to loan me some of the money needed, but still need a little more to get things going. This is for a holiday lighting business to pay a start up business package and get supplies to begin. I will actually still keep my job which will give me more than enough money to pay for the loan each month. Thanks for taking the time to consider this loan. http://www.prosper.com/lend/listing....stingID=205139 They wanted to raise $2,000.00 @ 12.25% What do you think of this? Would you have lent some money to this person and business?

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[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

I found another business that I thought was creative. Good for this guy. I want to expand my photography business by adding a new selling technique. Currently, I attend sporting events and put the photos on a web site for patrons to visit and purchase. For larger events, tournaments, etc., I want to have the equipment at the games to print out contact sheets of the photos customers can order them immediately. I have a solid client base within my county, but teams from further away don't buy much; I think mostly because they don't realize what I do. I believe this is a way to get my business recognized by visiting teams and families much better. http://www.prosper.com/lend/listing....stingID=351956 I love the creativity I am seeing on this site.

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[Steve]

After doing some more research I see that prosper is currently not taking any new customers because of a problem with the government.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...7012629.column

Prosper has handled more than $178 million in loans since launching in early 2006.

$21.7 million in Prosper loans have defaulted as of October

That's a default rate of 12% or so. Quite fascinating isn't it? I'd like to know which group of loans has the highest defaults.

Here is another site that is similar to prosper.com but this one is functioning. http://www.lendingclub.com

Has anyone seen this one before?

[Steve]

Let's look at one of these loans.

Amount Requested $2,500
Loan Purpose Other
Loan Grade D1
Interest Rate 14.11%
Loan Length 3 years (36 payments)
Monthly Payment $85.58 / month

Funding Received $1,675 (67.00% funded)
Lenders 29 people funded this loan
Listing Expires in 8d 9h (12/19/08 3:39 AM)
Loan Status In Funding
Loan Submitted on 12/5/08 3:39 AM

Loan Description: "I currently work at a dealership repairing motorcycles and ATV's. I have a rare opportunity to buy their older shop equipment (tire machine,lifts,etc.) as they are upgrading. This purchase would allow me to do more repair work from my residence, and eventually work for myself."

So say you were to lend the full $2,500, if you were to add the interest
($2500 x 1.1411) = $2852.75

You would make $352.75 over that three year investment.

Would this be something you would find interesting?

If you were to have $2,500 in your hand now, how long would it take you to make that $352.75? Would it take you three years? More or less?