Here’s How Much You Can Borrow With a Personal Loan

When you need a sum of money for a specific purpose — perhaps to pay medical bills or renovate your home — you might consider applying for a personal loan. You could pay for these expenses with your credit cards, but your credit limit might be too low to cover your costs or using your cards might lead to overspending. Instead, you can borrow money with a personal loan for the exact amount needed for a predetermined interest rate, a fixed-term and a predictable monthly payment.

Personal loans are available from traditional lenders, such as banks, credit unions and peer-to-peer online lenders. The minimum and maximum borrowing limits are set by each lender and the amount of your personal loan limit depends on your creditworthiness. An important factor for your creditworthiness will be your credit score at the time you submit your loan application. Keep reading to learn more about how much you can borrow from a lender.

How Much Can I Borrow With a Personal Loan?

Lenders offering personal loans generally set a range of loan amounts, typically from $1,000 up to $50,000, with some offering smaller loans or even loans into the six figures. Here’s a sampling of what some traditional lenders and peer-to-peer lenders offer for personal loans:

How Much Can I Get Approved For?

The amount a lender will approve for each person depends on a variety of factors, which all together are considered “creditworthiness.” Your credit score, assets – like stocks or real estate – and liabilities all come into consideration when it comes to determining the amount you’ll be able to borrow and the terms of repayment.

What Is a Good Credit Score?

Lenders decide for themselves what constitutes a good credit score that will qualify you for their maximum loan amount with the best interest rates and repayment terms. However, because the three major credit reporting agencies — TransUnion, Equifax and Experian — all use FICO Scores when reporting your credit history to a prospective lender, there is a consensus regarding what the range of FICO Scores mean. According to myFICO, the range of scores and ratings are:

Before applying for a personal loan, learn your credit score by getting a copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. Federal law requires the credit reporting agencies to provide you with a copy of your report at least once every 12 months.

How Much Personal Loan Can I Get With My Salary?

Final approval for your personal loan amount depends on your overall creditworthiness, not just your credit score. A prospective lender will review several factors including your credit history, gross monthly income and other debt payments. While your salary is an important factor, lenders will also analyze your capacity to repay a personal loan by determining your debt-to-income ratio, which is typically the percentage of your monthly salary that is used to pay off debt. As a rule, lenders require this ratio to be less than 40% – the lower it is, the more likely you’ll be approved for a loan and the better your repayment terms may be.

How Many Personal Loans Can You Have at Once?

Lenders set their own rules regarding whether an existing personal loan will prevent you from qualifying for a new personal loan. For example, you cannot qualify for a personal loan from Citibank if you have an existing personal loan from Citi that was opened less than six months before your application.

Personal Loan Terms You Need to Know

Below are some useful terms to know before shopping for a personal loan.

Annual Percentage Rate

APR is the true cost of a personal loan. Although it is often presented as a yearly interest rate, the APR includes all fees and other up-front costs you paid for the loan.

Many lending sites provide a personal loan calculator as a self-help tool that you can use to educate yourself about the cost of a personal loan. Lenders use a sliding APR scale for personal loans. The lowest APR is offered to applicants with exceptional credit scores.

The further your credit score is from exceptional, the higher APR you can expect to pay. For example, Discover has an APR range on personal loans between 5.99% and 24.99% . If you have a good credit score – 670 to 739 – you might pay between 9.99% and 13.99% APR on a $10,000 personal loan. The amount of your monthly payment depends on the length of your loan and your exact credit score. For a minimum three-year loan from Discover, the payment is between $323 and $342. Different financial institutions will offer different terms.

Origination Fees

This is a common fee charged when you receive a personal loan and is a percentage of the loan amount. It will vary depending on your credit score and creditworthiness. For example, LendingClub’s origination fee is between 2% and 6%. The origination fee is deducted from the principal amount you receive. For example, if your loan is for $6,000 and the origination fee is $230, you will receive $5,770.

Gross Monthly Income

Gross monthly income is the amount of your salary before taxes are withheld. This figure is needed to determine your debt-to-income ratio.

Debt-to-Income Ratio

DTI is the percentage of your gross monthly income that is used to pay your existing debts. Lenders consider a manageable level of debt to be less than 40% of your gross monthly income.

Prepayment Fees or Penalty

If your personal loan requires a minimum length of time, such as 36 months, you will incur extra fees or penalties as stated in your loan agreement if you pay it off early. Some lenders do not charge prepayment fees or penalties.

Secured vs. Unsecured Personal Loan

Personal loans are usually unsecured, which means that the debt is solely based on the loan agreement and related document you sign. A secured personal loan means collateral has been given to the lender as security for the debt. This is typically a lien on your property, such as your car title, a bank account or certificate of deposit. If you don’t repay the loan as agreed, the lender can take the collateral to satisfy the debt.

Fixed Interest Rate

A fixed interest rate is one that will not change during the entire length of your personal loan. These are common with personal loans. A variable interest rate would be subject to change at the lender’s discretion.

Down Payment

A down payment is the cash portion paid out-of-pocket when you obtain a mortgage to buy a home. Using a personal loan as a down payment is not acceptable to mortgage lenders.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation occurs when you use a personal loan to pay off other loans or credit cards so that you have only one monthly payment. Whether this is the right strategy for you depends on a careful analysis determining what you will ultimately be paying on your new personal loan versus continuing your current debt payments. If you will end up paying more on your new loan, this might not be a good strategy for you.

Amber Barkley contributed to the reporting for this article.

Rates and fees are subject to change.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s How Much You Can Borrow With a Personal Loan