Sometimes the way to the American Dream of home ownership is through unconventional circumstances. For example, you may enter into a partnership on a house purchase without the legal rights of marriage. What considerations do you have to watch out for in such an arrangement? How can you assure your rights of ownership in case [...]

• Case Agriculture Advertising Collectibles

• Maxwell House Coffee, Tea Advertising Collectibles

Continue reading → Friends, Lovers, Partners

The mantra of real estate — location, location, location — also can apply to the equity in your home. If you live in an expensive market (even in this economic downturn), such as parts of the Northeast or California, now might be the time to make that move you have always been thinking about - [...]

• Real Estate Opportunities

• Commercial Real Estate Opportunities

Continue reading → Home Equity Ka-Ching

The other day I was talking with a friend about the economy, and discussing the new world for consumer borrowers. My friend was considering obtaining an unsecured loan. Our discussion spurred a question: why, and when, is an unsecured loan a good thing for a good borrower? After all, isn’t a secured loan usually a lower APR? Here’s [...]

• Good Charlotte G Rock, Pop Music Memorabilia Entertainment Memorabilia

• Talking Heads T Rock, Pop Music Memorabilia Entertainment Memorabilia

Continue reading → When an unsecured loan is better…

In anticipation of the downturn in the economy, many credit card companies are reducing credit lines, denying more credit card applications, and increasing interest rates. For example, in the coming weeks America Express is raising interest rates 2-3 point in anticipation of higher charge-off in a bad economy. At Credit Karma, where we monitor over [...]

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

• Card Guards Casino Collectibles

Continue reading → Bad Economy Hits Credit Card Companies and Consumer Credit Scores

Within the vast billing network of your various goods and services, fees are affecting everyone these days. Banks, credit cards, mobile phones and even your retirement fund, for example, can siphon funds from you without your oversight. Make it a resolution now to look for the following hidden fees and gain extra money in your [...]

• Tee Times Green Fees Golf

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

Continue reading → Fee Falling

Prosper, America’s largest people-to-people lending marketplace for personal loans, released results for September 2008.
Chris Larsen, discusses what role Prosper will play and what trends we are seeing in the wake of this full blown crash of the global financial system.
Market Commentary By Prosper Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Larsen
In the midst of one of [...]

• Personal, Field Gear Surplus Militaria Collectibles

• Canteens Personal, Field Gear Surplus Militaria Collectibles

Continue reading → September 2008 Market Survey Results for Prosper Personal Loans

Hello and good morning to all our readers. Welcome to another edition of the Prosper Roundup. We have lots in store for you today, including a large section for our small business entrepreneurs and for those looking to create their own start-up during this economic situation. Drop us a line when you’re through to tell [...]

• Mixed Lots Small Size Notes Paper Money US Coins Paper Money

• Mixed Lots Indian Head 1859-1909 Small Cents Coins US Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Prosper.com Roundup - Small Business and the Economic Crisis

It’s not surprising that lenders have recently been calling and emailing us to find out if their Prosper cash balances are FDIC insured. We want to take this opportunity to let our lenders know that their cash balances are, in fact, FDIC insured.  Prosper is not a bank, does not take deposits, and is not [...]

• Cash Registers Banks, Registers Vending Collectibles

• Bank of Canada Canada North, Central America Paper Money World Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Lender funds have FCIC coverage

It’s not surprising that lenders have recently been calling and emailing us to find out if their Prosper cash balances are FDIC insured. We want to take this opportunity to let our lenders know that their cash balances are, in fact, FDIC insured.  Prosper is not a bank, does not take deposits, and is not [...]

• Cash Registers Banks, Registers Vending Collectibles

• Bank of Canada Canada North, Central America Paper Money World Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Lender funds have FCIC coverage

The collection of links this week comprises a list of reads for small businesses and those looking to start a small business. Several articles discuss investors and start-up money. Browse the other categories to read about lending, banking, and stocks.
Peer-to-Peer Lending:
• Learn how P2P lending’s popularity surges over at Seo(X)Factor.
• Tiny Crunch Newswire writes Washington Mutual Bites [...]

• Small Cents Coins US Coins Paper Money

• Small Size Notes Paper Money US Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup – Bailouts and Business

Wow, half the banks we knew and trusted last week are gone. This one bought that one, that one closed, the others merged and rest are waiting for a bailout that may never come.
“Don’t look now but there’s something funny going on over there at the bank George. I’ve really never seen one but that’s [...]

• George V UK Great Britain Stamps

• George VI UK Great Britain Stamps

Continue reading → George Bailey, Where Are You?

As you may have read, Citigroup recently agreed to purchase Wachovia’s banking operations for about $2.1 billion in a deal brokered by federal regulators. Wachovia’s troubles are similar to those of Washington Mutual, whose assets were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation last week and sold to JPMorgan Chase. Wachovia sold thousands of adjustable [...]

• Banking, Insurance Advertising Collectibles

• Federal Reserve Notes Large Size Notes Paper Money US Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Help Your Neighbors

Welcome to this latest edition of Prosper’s Weekly Roundup. The title for this week’s roundup comes from a Forbes headline. There’s a lot going on in the news! Be sure to check out the Stocks and Banking Industry section for more information.

Peer-to-Peer Lending:
• TNL.net presents fast pace look into the History of Currency. P2P Lending is [...]

• Banking, Insurance Advertising Collectibles

• Postal History Worldwide Stamps

Continue reading → Weekly Roundup - Bottom-Feeders and the Banking Industry

Our global financial system is in the grips of a full blown crash – clearly now the worst since the Great Depression. Just when we think things are stabilizing, a new shock dwarfs all that came before. It’s safe now to say that the old normal will likely never return. This wasn’t caused by just [...]

• Grips Clubmaking Products Golf

• Full Runs Comics Collectibles

Continue reading → Message from Chris Larsen, Prosper Co-Founder and CEO

Welcome to a new edition of the Prosper roundup. There are many stories this week to relate. The first section of this roundup is on the stock exchange and the banking industry. If you have had your head in the sand use these links as a way to dive headfirst into what’s going on in [...]

• Banking, Insurance Advertising Collectibles

• Sand Dollar Shells Rocks, Fossils, Minerals Collectibles

Continue reading → Prosper Weekly Roundup

Ever since we changed the marketplace performance page from listing old loans as “Defaulted” to calling them “Charge-offs”, and then promising more changes inside lender accounts, we’ve had a lot of questions. Let me try to explain why we’re making this change, how it will look if you’re a lender, and what you can expect [...]

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

Continue reading → Charge-offs Explained

Prosper roundup gets switched around! Easy to read categories are going to be our new way of organizing the roundup.
Categories may change from week to week, but overall the feel of the roundup will be the same. 
Business Loans:
• SFGate posts an article this last Sunday on how right now it’s a hard time to get new [...]

• Deals Sunday River Maine Skiing Vacation

• Lamp Posts Outdoor Lighting Yard, Garden Outdoor Living

Continue reading → Prosper Weekly Roundup

Believe that preparing for your family’s financial future is little more than setting up your new baby’s college savings plan? Think again. Parenting comes with a whole host of new expenses and considerations, each rife with potential conflict. If you are expecting a child, therefore, use this time to talk with your partner about the [...]

• A Simple Plan A Rock, Pop Music Memorabilia Entertainment Memorabilia

• Mother and Child Statues, Figures Christianity Religions, Spirituality Collectibles

Continue reading → The Top Five Pre-Baby Money Matters to Discuss with Your Partner Now

Welcome to another roundup here at Prosper. School is in session for many, hurricane season has started, and summer is nearly over with autumn creeping in to take its place. How are you improving your personal finance?
Investing Intelligently blogs a debunking post to “why index investing may not be for you”. Which opinion do you [...]

• Summer Olympics Autographs-Original Sports Collectibles

• Post-1950 Beds Furniture Antiques

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup

When I search through listings on Prosper, I generally look for loans from borrowers who have really taken the time to give Prosper lenders a good understanding of their financial situation and the purpose of their loan.
After I bid on a loan, I tend to feel so confident that they are trustworthy and credit worthy [...]

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

• Engines, Multi-Purpose Outdoor Power Equipment Yard, Garden Outdoor Living

Continue reading → Diversification

My job at Prosper is to show lenders how to use Prosper and its various bidding tools. I speak with dozens of new lenders at Prosper every day. I often share the learnings of successful lenders, as well as the teachings of the marketplace results.
One of the most critical messages I try to share with [...]

• Cut-Off Tools Air Tools Tools Home Improvement

• Air Tools Tools Home Improvement

Continue reading → The Marathon, not the Sprint

In this crazy, mixed up world it has become more and more apparent that the bottom line rules. Everywhere you turn, hidden fees are nickel and diming us to oblivion (and into the poor house). Certain businesses have created these fees like an art form, com-plete with the brush stroke of fine print. And of [...]

• Tee Times Green Fees Golf

• Art, Fine Art Topical Specialty Stamps

Continue reading → See Me, Fee Me

Kiplinger’s recently published an article about Prosper entitled “Risks and Rewards of Online Lending.” The article addresses the expectations Lenders should have with regard to interest rates.
“Lend to a borrower with bad credit and you can expect a higher interest rate. A borrower with a better credit history will get you a lower rate?”
Generally speaking, [...]

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

• Heart Rate Monitors Monitors Pedometers Gym, Workout Yoga Exercise Fitness

Continue reading → Distinguishing between Interest and Return

It’s been a while, but I have a few updates here. First, I’ve added a Map function to the lender data screens that will show a kind of “heat map” for which states you are lending to. Not extremely useful, but a neat curiosity anyways.

Second, I finally added a real blog to the site. I’ll…

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• United States North America Maps, Atlases Maps, Atlases, Globes Antiques

• Real Estate Opportunities

Continue reading → Borrower Maps, Blog & Bug Fixes

Gymnastics gold, silver, and the fabulous one two of Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson inspire this week’s roundup.
To start off CNN Money writes 17 ways to raise fast cash; of course there is a catch. This is a list of the 17 worst ways to raise the money even though each item does include a [...]

• Foreign Gold Gold Bullion Coins Paper Money

• Gold Coins US Coins Paper Money

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup: Gold and Silver

I have always loved magic. As a kid I was amazed at how the magician could make a beautiful lady disappear and reappear in a different outfit or cut her in half and put her back together. My favorite trick is the one where the magician is able to pull deck after deck of cards [...]

• Magician Memorabilia, Ephemera Magic Fantasy, Mythical Magic Collectibles

• Pontoon Deck Boats Powerboats Motorboats Boats

Continue reading → Getting funded magically

Within the vast billing network of your various goods and services, fees are affecting everyone these days. Banks, credit cards, mobile phones and even your retirement fund, for example, can siphon funds from you without your oversight. Make it a resolution now to look for the following hidden fees and gain extra money in your [...]

• Tee Times Green Fees Golf

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

Continue reading → Fee Falling

If you are a first time loan seeker, whether for home, auto or any other personal need, what do you need to do or know? What do loan institutions look for when assessing potential borrowers? There are many sectors of your personal finances that you need to delve into before you start your loan search [...]

• Personal, Field Gear Surplus Militaria Collectibles

• Canteens Personal, Field Gear Surplus Militaria Collectibles

Continue reading → Are You a Loan Ranger?

The Olympics are upon us and I for one have been looking forward to this event for some time — the purest form of athletic competition and a political tool. Will the issues around censorship and human rights get the attention they deserve?
Get Fit Slowly (the fitness and health counterpart to the wildly popular Get [...]

• Olympics Cards Sports Collectibles

• Olympics Autographs-Original Sports Collectibles

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup Beijing Olympics Edition

Starting a business is a daunting task – but for many it is a desire to follow a dream. To embrace risk…and the possibility of failure. It’s impressive how many people start businesses, follow their dreams and take those risks. And we see it everyday on Prosper – interesting stories about members’ business ideas.
As I glanced [...]

• Hydroponics Seed Starting Gardening Plants Yard, Garden Outdoor Living

• Hydroponics Hydroponics Seed Starting Gardening Plants Yard, Garden Outdoor Living

Continue reading → Starting your own Business

GenX Finance offers How to Tell if You Have a Bad 401k Plan.
Rich Credit Debt Loan tells you How to Keep Cash Flow Coming In.
LazyMan covered a recently reemerged story in Extreme Foreclosure!.
The Digerati Life laments Lost Money: How Money Drains Add Up To $175,000 In 10 Years.
Cash Money Life discusses the need to Get [...]

• Cash Registers Banks, Registers Vending Collectibles

• Life Savers Candy Nuts Advertising Collectibles

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup Solar Eclipse Edition

In October 2007, Prosper launched a Facebook application for our members. In April 2008, we then launched a new Facebook application which allows people to transfer funds to their Prosper lending account instantly. We provided this service because lenders wanted a more immediate ability to bid on loans they liked without having to wait for [...]

• Service Businesses Businesses for Sale Opportunities

• People Postcards Collectibles

Continue reading → Prosper Facebook Application Reaches 5,000 Users

Are you still toting that faux leather booklet around, filled with your Care Bear checks? The days of that payment method may be numbered. With more and more on-line services offering non-paper ways to pay, why do things the old fashioned way (not to mention irritating postage and the time to mail a bill)? .
It’s [...]

• Leather Handbags

• Leather Womens Shoes

Continue reading → The Checkbook, R.I.P.

With summer upon us, taking to the road is a delightful way to see America in all its beauty. Many like to do this economically by purchasing or renting an RV. While gas may be expensive, the costs of your overnight stays are minimal. However, vehicle financing has been a complicated process that usually ended up being [...]

• Summer Olympics Autographs-Original Sports Collectibles

• Rescue, Emergency Vehicle Historical Memorabilia Collectibles

Continue reading → Recreational Vehicles for Summer Fun

The personal finance blogosphere was packed with great articles this week… Here are a few of our favorites…
GenX Finance details the Top 12 Money Mistakes Most People Make and special congratulations to GenX Finance for being named by PC Magazine to the Top 15 Websites for Managing (and Saving) Money
 
RateLadder updates 1 Month Late or [...]

• Investments Opportunities to Make Money

• Internet Businesses Websites Businesses for Sale Opportunities

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup

This week has been interesting to say the least…  I am very much looking to see what the future will hold.  I hope you had a great week as well…
Financial Blogosphere…
Loan Chimp thinks Portfolio Plans are Growing Up
Lending Stats blog on Privatizing risk, socializing losses
Cash Money Life offers this guide on How to Become A [...]

• Cash Registers Banks, Registers Vending Collectibles

• Life Savers Candy Nuts Advertising Collectibles

Continue reading → Prosper Roundup

Check out the new Lender Return Distribution report to see a nice “big picture” view of how lenders are doing on Prosper. I’ve provided quite a few customization options on this one as well to allow you to slice-n-dice the data in many different ways.

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• Wholesale Trade Distribution Businesses for Sale Opportunities

• VI Return of the Jedi Star Wars Science Fiction Collectibles

Continue reading → New Lender Return Distribution Report

I apologize for the lack of data updates recently - apparently I had a misconfigured server that was causing the update process to fail. It should be fixed now though and all the data should be back up to date by tomorrow morning.

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• Fixed Blade Knives Knives, Swords Blades Collectibles

• Back of Book Canada Stamps

Continue reading → Lack of Updates Recently

You can now sign up to be notified when one of your borrowers tries to get a second loan. This is a feature that many of you have asked for ever since Prosper allowed borrowers to take out second loans before paying off their first one. All you need to do is sign in and check the Notify me when a…

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Continue reading → Second Loan Notifications

Well, it’s been almost 2 years now, and I’ve finally gotten around to re-vamping the look and feel for the site. As much as I enjoyed the craigslist-style simplicity of the old design, it was overdue for a bit of an update. You may notice that many of the page names on the site have changed as…

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Continue reading → Welcome to the New EricsCC.com!

Inspired by a report maintained manually by Prosper lender Fred93 I’ve created a new Loan Aging report. This report shows how loans from each month have performed after 6 months of aging. I’ll be adding more options for customization on this report in the future as well.

• Anti-Aging Products Skin Care Store

• DDF Anti-Aging Products Skin Care Store

Continue reading → New Loan Aging Report

I’ve had a number of things in the works lately, most of them have been related to the behind-the-scenes data processing side of the site, so most of these changes will not be visible. There are a few notable things though:

• I am now consistently loading data from Prosper’s new private data export. This means more accurate extended credit breakdown info on the lender pages and more accurate and up to date information in the borrower segments report.
• I’ve updated the calculation for the lender amount invested field to use a better method of estimating current loan values. This should result in much more accurate numbers there.
• The data load process for this site has been completely re-engineered which should result in much faster and more consistent updates to the data here.

• Refrigerators Side-By-Side Refrigerators Freezers Major Appliances

• Private Aviation Transportation Collectibles

Continue reading → Recent Updates

For those of you that are also LendingClub lenders, I’ve just launched a new LendingClub stats site at www.lendingclubstats.com. Check it out when you get a chance and be sure to give feedback about what kind of reports you’d like to see over there.

• Annual Reports Paper Railroadiana, Trains Transportation Collectibles

Continue reading → New LendingClub Stats Site

Well, the holidays are over, so it’s time to get back to work! Lately I’ve been working on re-engineering the data update process for this site, which is why data updates and site availability have been a bit sporadic lately. This should be finished over the next couple weeks, so things should be returning to normal then. I’ve also been working on a new “secret project” that I’ll be announcing here on Monday, so stay tuned for that!

A couple bug fixes to announce as well - The filter by origination date on the loan search screen should be working correctly now. I’ve also fixed an issue with the prosper bidding activity chart that was causing it to not load correctly.

• Work Womens Shoes

• Holidays Postcards Collectibles

Continue reading → Update

I just completed a new Borrower Segments report which is basicly a much more powerful version of the original Loans By Occupation report. Instead of just showing listing and loan performance by occupation, you can now view performance by one of 20 different fields.

• Autographs-Original Sports Collectibles

• Original Comic Art Comics Collectibles

Continue reading → Borrower Segments

I’ve added some new charts to the lender summary pages that will show you the breakdown of a lender’s portfolio by three of the key extended credit fields. This should give you a better idea of the risk profile for a portfolio than just the credit grade breakdown alone.

• Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles

• Splash Pages Original Comic Art Comics Collectibles

Continue reading → Extended Credit Breakdown for Lenders