Who has done it recently? What steps did you take? All my loans are Stafford Subs/Unsubs or Parent Plus Loans. so no private loans. My first loans aren’t due till December but I have about 8 different loans out as of right now and do not want to be writing 8 checks a month.
Also, has anyone gone through http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov ?
Please help me educated speeders.
Haven’t done it but would like too…In cause knowledge is power.
In for info
About to go to bed but this thread has some good info http://www3.slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1380603
Also, with any loans 07 and after you’re stuck with the gay 6.8% interest rate and all consolidation does is put it in one place. variable rate loans you can lock in super cheap.
I have about 20K in gov’t and 30K in private loans. They are from the years 05-09 so some interest rates are great, others blow. I have all my loan separate right now and I’ve always thought consolidating my 05-06 loans wouldn’t help because they are a great interest rate but I just need to get my total payments down so I want to look into this.
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Just read the first few pages of that thread, What I got out of it is that pre 07 Fed loans can be consolidated but not post 07 fixed fed loans. I didn’t go through all 18 damn pages but I didn’t see anything about private loans.
---------- Post added at 08:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 AM ----------
Just read the first few pages of that thread, What I got out of it is that pre 07 Fed loans can be consolidated but not post 07 fixed fed loans. I didn’t go through all 18 damn pages but I didn’t see anything about private loans.
You can consolidate private loans with Wells Fargo.
bumping this up. I know recently Obama announced Special Direct Consolidation Loans but you have to be contacted by them in order to apply. I’m just curious if anyone else has some light to shed on the consolidation process. I’m not sure really where to begin or if it would be beneficial.
My wife has multiple loans so it would be easier if we can just make one payment on them a month and be done. If it can save us some money then that would be even better, but I’m mainly looking for the convenience factor. Anyone have any input?
In for the info…currently paying 3 separate places for loans.
I consolidated a few grand worth with meridia credit union… they cut me a check for each account that i owed money to.
Its nice because i can just transfer funds from my meridia checking account straight to the consolidation, and my car payment is on the same day too. Its nice being all in one place i spend maybe 10 minutes a month paying bills.
I ended up consolidating about 4 loans with Wells Fargo.
For those of you who are consolidating, is this saving you money over the long run? I’ll gladly deal with the hassle of paying multiple loans if it means my total payments will be less than if they are consolidated. All I’m really looking to achieve here is the ability to make one payment to one company as a lump sum of my normal individual loan payments, and if it’s possible to save some money in this process then that would be awesome too.
I ended up getting a lower interest rate, lower payment, and the ease of only one payment per month instead of 4 smaller ones.
Wouldn’t it hurt your credit (at least temporarily) to open a new line of credit for the consolidation? If so, I wouldn’t take the credit hit, just set up auto-pay and save the hassle. Unless you stand to save some money.
When I consolidated(through direct loans) the rate was determined by a weighted average of all of my loans, and I eliminated all the variable rates(2.3% fixed). When I did the math I was definitely saving over the life of the loans, and I still retained my ability to defer, modify the the repayment term, etc.
Good to know, thanks. Maybe I’ll look into Wells Fargo.
Who did you consolidate through?
My wife and I have great credit so I wouldn’t mind taking a little hit to save money. Plus, we pay more on our loans each month than the minimum; but at times that amount over the minimum varies so auto-pay usually isn’t an option.
Direct Loans, it’s US Dept of Ed. loan servicing corporation.
The hit you take is not as bad as you think. The old loans get reported as paid, the new consolidated loan will increase your score as it ages. In reality it will help your credit in the long run and those few points you might have lost will bounce right back. I would rather have 4 paid closed loans sitting on my report for 10 years than posskibly missing a payment on one or more and having that affect me for 7.
Thanks I’ll have to check them out as well.
Yeah makes sense. I’ll never miss a payment so there’s no concern there for me. It’d just be nice to make one or two payments a month as opposed to 5 or 6.
livin4hockey,
I started the thread and consolidated all of my loans through Direct Government loans http://www.direct.ed.gov/ My interest rate is 6.25% which is meh. Id look into seeing if you qualify for a special direct government loan 'bama just passed.
“Direct Subsidized Loans for graduate students and Direct Unsubsidized Loans for all students:6.8%”
Further you education? Pay a higher rate!
I can’t believe this is how the govt thinks it should help students while you can overpay for houses and go underwater(then ask for help) at ~4% all day long.
Would graduate students not be better off taking the unsubsidized or other loans they can consolidate to lower rates over paying near 7%? I am not too up on student loans but that quick tid bit rubbed me the wrong way.
Please tell me this Obama thing protects the rate and includes graduate studies?