Think fast. Your brakes are shot. The dishwasher is saying, “Adios.”. And you’ve got another week until payday. What do you do? When you’re having a hard time financially, it feels like there’s always another bill or unexpected expense just waiting to drain your bank account at the worst possible moment. Online loans make it possible for you to get the funds you need without the hassle or embarrassment of asking friends for money or dealing with the bank.
How can you find an online loan that works for you? Keep reading to learn how to get a loan when you need money fast.
1. Figure Out How Much You Need
When your team takes on a new project at work, people don’t just hear the assignment and jump to it. Even if the process is as simple as saying “This is all we need to do.”, there’s always a moment taken to assess the scope of the task.
Taking out a loan is no different.
It might be tempting to use that extra few hundred dollars as a financial cushion. And when you’re panicking about the latest round of vet bills and traffic tickets, it can be easy to overestimate the amount of money you need.
CTV reported in 2022 that Canadians owed $1.86 for every dollar of disposable income they had. If that sounds familiar, you want to be careful about adding to your debt load.
Either way, however, the amount of money you’re looking for isn’t the main issue. There are lenders that are prepared to offer anything from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. What’s important is that you’re able to come up with an amount that’ll take care of your expenses without shouldering unnecessary debt.
2. Assess Your Borrowing Potential
Have you ever heard those stories about people having out-of-body experiences? During this stage of the loan-securing process, you’ll want to step outside of yourself for a minute and say, “If I wasn’t me and I was lending money to myself, what would my strengths and weaknesses be as a borrower?”.
As a general rule of thumb, there are two types of loans:
- Secured
- Unsecured
With a secured loan, the lender takes an item of yours, like a house or a car, and holds it as collateral. In the event of a default, they’ll be able to take ownership of your property. People often get secured loans because they often come with lower interest rates and less stringent credit requirements.
Meanwhile, with an unsecured loan, your lender will be relying on your credit history to make a decision. But even within these two larger categories, there are subcategories, like no credit check loans, that might appeal to you.
If you’ve got excellent credit and you’re in a rush to get approved, an unsecured loan could be a good fit for you. On the other hand, if you own property and you’re trying to borrow a larger sum of money, secured loans might make more sense.
The last thing you want to do, however, is apply for a loan type that doesn’t fit make sense for your circumstances. For this reason, you’ll want to think very seriously about how lenders might look at your application.
3. Start Comparison Shopping
At this stage, you know how much you’re borrowing and you have a general understanding of the type of loan you want. Now’s the part where you can start looking at online lenders.
You’ll want to compare features like:
- Quotes
- Interest rates
- Repayment terms and conditions
After all, it’s not enough to find a company that’s offering online loans. You want to make sure you’ve found the best loan options possible.
4. Gather Your Documents
There are few things more embarrassing than going to the store and forgetting your debit card. And if you haven’t used your social insurance number or your direct deposit form in a while, you could be the loan applicant equivalent of that shopper at the front of the line who’s saying things like, “Do you take credit?”.
At this point, you’ve more than likely got a list of two or three online lenders that you’d like to get a loan from. If they’re anything like us, they’ll tell you what forms of identification they need. All you have to do is make sure you have the forms you need beside you on the kitchen table.
Trying to get a loan is stressful enough in the best of times. Don’t make the application process harder than it needs to be.
5. Apply and Wait
So you’ve filled out the five or ten-minute application form and pressed the “Let’s get started!” button. What are you doing now?
Even after you’ve applied for funding, there’s a process that your lender has to go through.
As intuitive as the thought of applying for funds all at once might sound, however, you might want to hold off. For starters, your credit score could be impacted if there are too many credit inquiries happening at once for you. And secondly, although we’ve just talked about the lending process, same-day approvals are not unusual with online lenders.
Or put another way, here’s the part where you take a deep breath, make some coffee, and wait.
Here’s What You Should Know About Online Loans
When your back’s against the wall financially, online loans can keep you afloat. But going from “How do people even get loans?” to “Yes! I needed that money!” is a task that’s often easier said than done.
Online loans have all the hallmarks of being a resource worth keeping in your financial toolbox. But you don’t want to sign up with just any company. Fortunately, you can set yourself up for success by following a few ground rules:
Don’t over-borrow, understand the type of loan you need, and read the repayment terms and conditions over carefully.
It might feel like you’re delaying the process at first, but you’ll be glad you took the time to do your research before committing yourself to a loan.
Looking for money right now? We offer no credit check loans. Request your funds today!
