Prosper Progress Report - April 2008
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On the 3rd day of each month, I will be publishing a status report of all the loans made through , a peer to peer credit website that allows you to borrow or lend money. It is important to track your Prosper investments so you can learn more about the borrowers and their ability to repay the loans. By doing so, you will gain insight for future investments.
| Loan Date | Established | Credit Grade | Loan Amount | Loan Rate | Loan Status |
| 3rd | 03/2008 | B | 59.67 | 24.41% | Current |
| 6th | 09/2007 | E | 75.00 | 22.00% | Current |
| 7th | 06/2007 | B | 100.00 | 16.00% | Current |
| 8th | 01/2008 | D | 70.98 | 18.95% | Current |
| 8th | 11/2008 | C | 63.90 | 28.80% | Current |
| 8th | 05/2007 | HR | 50.00 | 20.93% | Current |
| 14th | 02/2008 | C | 72.51 | 22.39% | Current |
| 20th | 03/2007 | C | 50.00 | 17.00% | Current |
| 20th | 03/2007 | C | 50.00 | 16.99% | Current |
| 24th | 01/2008 | B | 65.42 | 21.34% | Current |
| 24th | 04/2008 | E | 60.74 | 32.00% | Current |
| 25th | 03/2008 | HR | 91.40 | 35.00% | Current |
Summary
Daily Interest Accrual : $0.44
Average Interest Rate : 23.89%
Interest Income Earned : $11.83
Credit Grade Breakdown
| Credit Grade | # of Loans | Average Rate |
| B | 3 | 20.58% |
| C | 4 | 21.29% |
| D | 1 | 18.95% |
| E | 2 | 27.00% |
| HR | 2 | 27.97% |
Loans Paid In Full
To date, only one loan has been paid back in full.
New Loans
One new loan was added in April. The borrower requested $3,000 to pay off a Cash Call loan (another type of payday loan with very high interest rates). She had an credit rating of E and a 24% Debt to Income Ratio. She explained her situation where she had to use a Cash Call loan and how she changed her situation to enable a better management of her personal finances. There were 100 bids on this loan. I bid on this loan because the borrower clearly understands the snowball effect which is the purpose behind this loan. By paying off the payday loan, she will have more money to pay down her bills with.
Old Loans
All in all, the performances of the loan has been satisfactory. One of the borrower paid extra this month. Another borrower was less than 15 days late, had a payment in transit but it did not clear. I am not too concerned about it, it happened once before. The borrower resubmitted immediately and the payment cleared.
Net Income
Net income for the month of April was $11.83, an increase of $3.49 from March. For the year to date, my lending portfolio has created a total income of $34.92.
Strategy
I miscalculated last month the total lending investment which according to my investment exposure strategy (2% of my net worth) should be $650.00. To date, I have $600 invested. As a result, I transferred $25.00 into my account which will be combined with the April interest and principal repayments which was used to bid on a 12th loan.
I will revisit this strategy on a monthly basis since my net worth has been rising faster than I anticipated this year. While I am keeping an eye on the news regarding the credit crunch in today’s market, it appears the loans I have extended have been faring well regardless of the credit rates and the borrower’s credit scores. Several of the borrowers have been paying extra on principle which is a good sign of responsible credit management.
My exit strategy is to replace my capital with the interest I earn from this lending portfolio. I am not quite sure how this is suppose to happen. All I know right now is when the total value of my Prosper loans exceeds 2% of my net worth, it is time to transfer the excess balance out so I can control my risk exposure and keep the money moving into other investment opportunities that will help grow my net worth even more. Preservation of capital and growth of investment go hand in hand but often difficult to determine where the fine line is when it comes to risky investment, especially with loans and stocks.
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Comment by lulugal11 on 8 May 2008:
I only have two $50 loans on Prosper (hey I am paying off my own debt and building my emergency fund) but they have been doing well. While I have not received extra payments from the people who borrowed they have been paying on time and I think I might throw another $50 that way to fund another loan.
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Comment by Mark from TheLocoMono on 9 May 2008:
Lulu, keep working on your debt. Consider the two loans you have on Prosper now more of an education. You are learning about the process of being a lender, who the borrowers are and how the interest makes a difference for the borrower and for the lender.
I am sure you can realize from the Prosper loans now how your lenders view the interest on your debt so that’s exactly what you should be doing, working on paying it off.
It is tough to decide whether to add more investment capital or not. I am still figuring that one out because of the $50 bid minimum. I plan to write about my approach in this matter.
Comment by Bravo from Auto Insurance on 12 July 2008:
I do not like Prosper at all..lol. When hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana i was living in New Orleans near the lakefront and my entire house was destroyed. I tried to get a $500 dollar loan but because of not having perfect credit i only received fifteen percent of it. I’m sure it’s alot different now since it’s been 3 years since then, but i doubt i would ever try it out again.
Comment by Mark from TheLocoMono on 13 July 2008:
15% of the loan? Do you mean by the bids? There are many reasons why a loan may not be fully funded so it all depends on what happened with your experience. I did not start using Prosper till last year but I have noticed a lot of loans do not get funded due to lack of information.
It is not necessarily your credit rating that may have affected your loan. Often you would see people try again a second time due to experience and a better understanding of what did not work (meaning due to lack of information.)
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