Interest rates

[JPM]

Does anyone know who has real good interest rates for buying a new Lund 1950 Magnum ?

[TBO/MN]

Check with your credit union, mine has a great rate of 6.75% for new and 7.25% for used. Most credit unions have much better rates than the local bank. There are dealers that work out some very good interest rates for their customers. The local Lund dealer here in MN has a deal with a lending institution for around 7.50%...very good rate.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'
TBO/MN

[Rich]

I just got a loan at 7.5% from E-Boat Loan online.(used boat)

Rich

[punch1]

You guys are paying too much. Take a loan out from a bank or credit union and then pay off the loan with one of those "teaser" rate checks you get from the credit cards companies. There are plenty of 1.9% and 2.9% rates out there and even a few 0%. All are for a limited time from usually from 6 to 12 months.

Before the rate expires transfer it over to another teaser rate card. I's not too much of a hassel and well worth the savings. I've been doing it for going on three years and have yet to have any problems. The one thing to remember is to cancel your card once your done with it so you don't end up with 5 or 6 cards with $20,000 limit on each, becuase that can be held against you when applying for credit.

[Westy]

Consider a Home Equity loan. You may be able to deduct the interest and get a great rate. I can get a HE loan for Prime rate (currently 4.75%) on a HE loan at 80% ltv or less with only monthly interest required on a revolving line of credit. Of course, one needs to make more than the interest payment, but it is a great rate and flexible terms. I can get a fixed rate HE loan on a closed end term ranging from prime to 7.5%, depending upon the LTV. (loan to value) As you may have guessed, I do this for a living and probably finance more cars, boats, motorcycles, debt consolidation, etc... with a Home Equity loan than regular term loans. Just a thought. Good luck with your financing.

[hgf]

Can't resist replying. I would not go the teaser credit card route, or the home equity loan route unless you are absolutely positively completely solvent and can always pay them off, no matter what happens. If you get sick, laid off, the car breaks down, the furnace blows, your wife get pregnant, or anything else goes sour, then it is awfully easy to let that credit card bill go a month or two, and get behind. Once you get 10 or 15 grand of credit card debts, the new cards may stop, and you are stuck with 18%. I see 100s of people every year with huge credit card debts in bankruptcy. (The record so far is $145,000 in credit card debts!) They started small, then something happens, and pretty soon its over.
Don't do it for a boat, unless you have an awfully big down payment, so that you can dump the boat if things go sour and still pay off the loan.
Remember you can generally keep your house if the world falls apart, so don't load it down with equity loans. Lots of companies out there ripping off people with big ads and high interest rates, so be real careful.

[BlackSilver]

Be careful, be OH SO CAREFUL risking equity in your home to pay for toys. Layoffs don't care about the size of your mortgage payment.

SET the hook!!!

Hans

[TimT]

I couldn't resist replying either. The balance transfer thing works if:
A. You don't use those cards for anything else.
B. You can use 2 - 3 accounts to transfer to/from.
C. You make sure you do your transfers before the rate goes up.

Note 1. You'll pay 35 - 50 for each transfer.
Note 2. You can call your creditor and request an extension of their "introductory offer", thus avoiding a transfer and related fee.

You really have to be on top of it for it to work. You must have self control and not go out and spend money with the cards. The thing about doing things this way, is I believe you're more apt to pay off a loan sooner than you woul with an "installment loan". You could bury yourself in interest if your not anal enough to stay on top of it, though.

However, with all that said, your purchase amount is probably higher than a single card would be approved for. Thus making everything I've typed irrelevant. (unless you put the thing on multiple cards, but that would be way too hairy to mess with.) Worse yet, I don't know who has the best rate for a marine loan.

[punch1]

Just to touch on what was already mentioned. My experience with transferring balances from three cards was that all charged a 1% fee of the amount transferred but had a cap of $28.00 to $30.00. Someone mentioned getting caught up in the debt. That goes without saying. You shouldn't stop buying things if you think the world will turn upside down tomorrow. You should be cautious no matter which way you go. The safest route is to save and pay in cash, but that's unlikely in today's world.

If you are disciplined and don't have credit problems, transferring is the least expensive way to go. Even with the deductable 2nd mortage, it will be hard to beat 0% to 2.9% that transferring offers. And getting the most bang for your buck is what is all about, isn't it?

[Prchjerker]

Weve been averaging around 7.45% out to 120 months on new boat loans.

[AWH]

I would second the suggestion to check out your local credit union. I just did that myself and am getting 6.5% on a 5 year loan.

As far as this credit card thing...good luck getting a dealer to accept a credit card payment. I was going to put my down payment on a card, just so I could get some cash back from my card that I have. I found out that there are very few dealers that will accept a charge greater than $500 on a credit card. That doesn't go too far in today's boating world.

[carp]

Did mine this last month at local credit union, 7.1 for six years, zero down.

[FJH1]

For my last two boats I've taken out a loan against my profit sharing account. You can usually borrow up to 50% of your vested amount. In my case my loan floats with prime (I pay prime). All of the interest is paid back to myself, I'm not making a banker rich. Some 401k plans offer this "loan" option as well. However, the 401k loan is usually fixed at a certain rate above prime. The payoff period is usually 5 years maximum. There is always a downside, and in this case if the stock market does really well I have less money working for me. I HATE paying interest but in this case I'll pay it because I'm paying it to myself. Just another option to look into.

Best Regards,

FJH

[StoneyPteTom]

I bet a lot of people were wishing they were paying their 401K boat loans interest this last year. A little interest to your account would have been a whole lot better than the -20% to -40% drops, 401K's seen. We all hope this market will turn around soon, so a loan right now on your 401K could be risky. May miss out on the rebounds if they ever happen!

I just was quoted 7.25% from an online boatloan company.