Back on Prosper.com June 2012

Im back lending on Prosper.com and its changed over time. The eBay like style has gone away. Once the loan is funded the bidding stops. I do miss the auction style format but with the new instant fund stlye my money can start working faster. Also they have a progress bar with each listing telling the lender (note buyer) how far along the borrower is with submitting his or her paperwork. I find this to be a useful tip in deciding to lend to someone or not. If they are puctual with their paperwork hopefully they are with payments to.

As of today Prosper.com has

1,350,000members

$348,000,000 in personal loans funded

 

Thats a long way from where it all started in 2006. The person to person lending has been a positive experience for me. I have maintained a positive return even when not reinvesting my payments for over a year.

 

The types of loans offered has also changed since I have been away. Loans are now available in 1, 3, and 5 year options. See below chart for the new loan products.

 

Prosper Rating	<=$4000	$4,001 - $7,500	$7,501 - $10,000	$10,001 - $15,000	>$15,000
•AA	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•A	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•B	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•C	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•D	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•E	1yr, 3yr, 5yr
•HR	3yr

Based on the historical data you can expect to see defaults and will be similiar to the chart below.

Prosper Rating	Estimated Avg. Annual Loss Rate**
•AA	0.00-1.99%
•A	2.00–3.99%
•B	4.00–5.99%
•C	6.00–8.99%
•D	9.00–11.99%
•E	12.00–14.99%
•HR	≥ 15.00%

So defaults are coming down and rate arent getting bid down. Theres still alot of money being loaned so I think this was a good move for Prosper.com and their model. I hope they are around for a while I really enjoy lending on the site.

2008 Stimulus Check $600

Well for some the stimulus check is going to buy that new plasma tv or pay down those credit card bills. I have a week or so before mine hits my bank account and have been trying to find a place to put it. I will be investing it somewhere other than Prosper. I have reached a personal milestone on Prosper.com and will stop all additional fund transfers to the online lending platform. I am now receiving over $100 a month from my loans and its become self sufficient as far as funds go. I will still log in weekly to check balances and make new bids with available funds from interest and principle payments. So what to do with my new $600 windfall. I have recently started to pump up my TDAmeritrade for a stock purchase. I have thought about using the $600 to buy a few more shares but with the market the way it is... I have been buying shares of MVIS steadily for the past year. The price has been somewhat of a roller coaster. The company is developing a small pico projector that will be installed in cell phones and will allow beam of light to project whatever is on your cell phone screen to a wall or any other solid surface. This is a good idea for people that have trouble seeing the screen. They make the screens so small these days. The shares run between $2-4 depending on the month. They are a well known company in the military field and offer many other applications for their technology's. I feel they have a great future and will offer a great return on my $600!