Many of you may have already done your research on tips to get your listings funded by reading the help pages or visiting the Prosper forums. There are many tips that have been reiterated time and time again – such as getting endorsements or joining a group. I hope to give you some tips from a slightly different angle, backed up by some interesting statistics.
At the time you begin writing up your listing, there will be many factors that are set in stone such public records, delinquencies, DTI ratio, and so on. They will play a huge part in whether your listing gets funded or not, but there are still some not-so-obvious factors that you can take advantage of to get your listing funded.
Timing of When the Listing Ends
Bidders are most active on Wednesdays and Thursdays between the times of 2pm – 8pm PST. If your listing ends during this period, it will receive maximum exposure by ranking higher in the listings. By default, the listings under the Bid On Loans tab are sorted by the amount of time left before a listing expires. The less time that is left, the higher your listing will rank and the more bidding activity it will receive.
The More Description, the Better
The Description part of the listing is very important for borrowers and becomes increasingly important as your credit grade lowers. You should take this opportunity to explain, in as much detail as you can, the purpose of the loan and how you plan to pay it back. Even more importantly, take this as an opportunity to explain some of the negative aspects of your credit history. Be honest and it will pay, literally. In general, funded listings contain about 36.4% more content as compared to non-funded listings. Statistically speaking, the lower the credit grade, the beefier the description will have to be in order to maximize the chance of the listing being funded.
Duration of the Listing
One would naturally think that if a listing is active for longer on Prosper, it will receive more bids. This is not necessarily true, as many lenders begin bidding when a listing is about to end. There is no reason for the lender to tie up his or her money on a listing that still has 10 days left when there is another similar listing that is about to end. The money would otherwise be in Limbo for 10 days doing nothing instead of earning interest. A shorter duration for the listing benefits the borrower as well since he or she will be receiving the money earlier.
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Allen Liu writes the blog Easy Prosper Tips