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Prosper(ing) So Far
By James | September 17, 2007
I made my first Prosper loan back in February. I contributed $100 at 8.4% to a $4,000 loan to a couple of grad students looking to max-out their IRA. Though the loan term is three years, they finished paying me (and the other 47 contributors) back this month.
After making my first three loans and seeing some money come in, in May I decided to really give Prosper a try. Including my initial loans, I invested a total of $10,000 in a series of $50 - $500 loan contributions.
My plan is to continue loaning money out, re-investing payments, for one year and then see how much I’ve made. Things are looking good; so far I’m up nearly $1,000. I loaned money to students to pay for college, people looking to consolidate debt, business owners looking to expand, a man looking to buy an engagement ring, a reporter looking to start a newspaper, a pregnant couple with no health insurance, a father looking to move closer to his children, and way more. In total, I’ve loaned money to twenty nine people and had a good bit of fun doing it.
Things haven’t been perfect, though. One loan is two months past-due and in collections (the loan holder was in a car accident, she told me). Another is over 15 days late. That said, even if both of those loans default I will still be in the black.
Even after seven months I am still very excited about Prosper. I am surprised by the skepticism it meets when I tell friends about it… I’d love to start an investment club for Prosper investing, but it seems that no one shares my enthusiasm. If anyone’s interested in borrowing or lending through Prosper, there is a special going on right now (they pay you $25 to sign up).
Topics: Money, Technology, Ideas |
September 17th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I thought that Prosper sounded really interesting too. I don’t have enough cash to tie up in anything like that, though. But please continue to let us know how it’s going for you.