SoFi Review
Good for: Home Mortgages, Mortgage Refinancing, Personal Loans, Student Loan Refinancing, Medical School Loan Refinancing
SOFI OVERVIEW
SoFi is a finance company that is not content with settling for the status quo. They take a radical approach to the lending industry by creating new tools for faster customer service so they can better help their clients be successful.
SoFi isn’t just a leading personal loan lender. They offer a wide range of lending services that include student loan refinancing, home mortgages & mortgage refinancing, and medical loan refinancing to name just a few.
SoFi’s primary goal is to empower borrowers to get the money when they need it and put it where it does them the greatest benefit. Life’s too short to be worried about money all the time. SoFi helps make life just a little bit easier.
SERVICES PROVIDED
SoFi is a consumer finance company that offers personal loans, home loans, and refinancing on student loans, mortgages, and medical school loans.
Personal Loans
Personal loans, also known as installment loans, are unsecured loans which means that you don’t need to have a credit check performed or put up an asset as collateral to qualify. Most personal loan lenders focus on your ability to repay your loan to determine your creditworthiness. These loans are becoming the most popular type of loan on the market because they typically have rather low interest rates and high loan amounts which makes them an incredibly versatile financial tool.
Mortgages & Mortgage Refinancing
Mortgages are long term loans that are typically used to purchase a home, but can be used to buy property of any kind. These are secured loans where the property itself is used as collateral so should you miss payments and default on your mortgage, the lender will foreclose on the property and ownership will revert to them. Refinancing your mortgage is an excellent way to lower your payments by leveraging your positive payment history to get a lower interest rate.
Student Loan Refinancing
Student loans are pretty much mandatory when it comes to attending college and you can rack up anywhere between $40,000 to $500,000 in student loan debt to get your degree. Refinancing your student loans will help ease the burden of this debt by lowering your monthly payments which will let you start your life off with a little less stress.
LOAN REQUIREMENTS
Government Issued ID
Social Security Card
Proof of Residence
Proof of Income
LOAN DETAILS
Loan Amount: $5,000 - $3,000,000
Loan Duration: 36 months - 20 years
Collateral Needed: No
Interest Rates: 2.47% - 14.87%
Minimum Credit Score: Not Listed
Approval Time: 1 - 2 Business Days
Loan Deposit Time: ~3 Business Days
Late Fees: No
Insufficient Funds Fees: No
SOFI REVIEW
So, all we can really say is, “Wow.”
SoFi is on a completely different level compared to other lenders. We’ll get this part out of the way first before we go into the rest of it. SoFi has incredibly competitive interest rates on their loans and long loan terms which makes your monthly payments exceedingly affordable. They have large loan amounts so you can be approved for up to $100,000 on a personal loan and up to $3,000,000 on a mortgage. Granted, you most likely have to have perfect credit and a great income, but the point remains, no non-bank lender is offering to fund loans of that size.
Now, here’s where SoFi is operating on that different level. Their benefits. Other lenders just approve you for loans, give you your money, and collect your payments every month. SoFi offers a suite of professional services like free career coaching, personalized strengths assessments, resume parsing technology, an entrepreneur program, community networking events, and more. They’re not just lending you money, they’re helping you become more successful in life.
Who does that? The answer to that riddle is no one.
The minimum 3 year term on personal loans could be seen as a drawback, but lengthening the loan term allows them to drive the monthly payment down to an affordable level. Your monthly payment on a $5,000 loan paid off over 3 years would be roughly $150 depending on your interest rate. If you compress that to 2 years, it’s roughly $230 a month and if you compress it to 1 year, it’d be about $460 a month.
Most people can adjust their budget to absorb an extra $150 or $230 a month, though $230 might be pushing it. An extra $460 a month is basically a second car payment. Very few people can do that and if they can, their income is probably high enough that they wouldn’t need a personal loan in the first place.
The only actual drawback we’ve found is that their approval times are a bit on the slow side. Where most lenders have immediate approval and deposit within 1 business day, it takes 1 - 2 business days to be approved and then up to 3 additional business days for the funds to be available. So, if you’re in a jam and you need money fast, you may need to look at another lender, which is unfortunate because of how great they are in nearly every other aspect.
This is our first 5 out of 5 star review and it may be our only one. SoFi has set the bar incredibly high and they’re deserving of a perfect score. Color us impressed.
IS SOFI GOOD FOR YOU?
Yeah. Does the 5 out of 5 stars not make that clear enough? Great rates, great services, great customer service. No origination fees, no pre-payment fees, no hidden fees at all. SoFi is the total package. If you qualify for their loans, go for it.