Another Financing post

[donlentz83]

I have a question.. Is there anyway to finance older Vessels? I'm talking about mid to late 70s and early 80? I have found one person but he wanted 50% down and a 22.5% interest rate. In my mind that's some form of theft. But is there anyone out there that is willing to finance a 30+ year old SV? I have found a couple I'm interested in, and from what I can tell they were taken care of. I feel like this is happening everyday I keep looking for financing

[Snore]

Yes

If you have good credit space coast credit union will finance

[donlentz83]

Thank you.. I'll look into it

[mogulskibum]

Lightstream.com which is part of sun trust bank does unsecured boat loans*, so they really don't care how old the boat is.

*they do have somewhat high credit standards (not just credit score, but debt to income ratio too); if you qualify, the interest rate is great and the process is ridiculously easy.

(no affiliation, just a very pleased customer)

[donlentz83]

Well phooey.. just found out my Credit score isn't that good...any other options out there. Just my luck.

[barnakiel]

If your rating is not good, you are not getting a good rate. Simply save up or buy a smaller vessel.

b.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by donlentz83

Well phooey.. just found out my Credit score isn't that good...any other options out there. Just my luck.

Your best bet is to improve your credit score. There are a few keys to improving credit.

1) Carry a variety of lines of credit. Start with store credit cards, then move onto Visa, MC, etc. A secured Line of Credit is great, but don't place any debt on it. Having only 1 credit card or credit line is not great for a credit score.

2) Carry no balances on those lines. The lower your total debt ratio is the higher your score.

3) Carry the zero balance lines for a ling time. The longer any one line is open the higher your score will go.

The higher the ratio of credit (potential debt) to actual debt, the better. The longer these lines sit at zero balance the better.

For example, having 100K worth of credit but 75K in debt is not great, even if you are making regular payments. Pay down existing debt. Open new lines, then throw away the cards. Be patient.