Our pick of the best P2P loans
This post is part of a regular series where we highlight what we think are some of the best P2P loans available in the UK and Europe. These loans may sell out very quickly. Even if they do, it is likely that similar opportunities are available on each platform.
Our goal is to help highlight the types of opportunities that are available on various platforms, and which types of loans offer the best balance of risk and reward.
Description
Why we like it
Link
Interest rate: 12%
Buyback guarantee
Term: 1 Months
Short term Personal loan
Poland
This loan (and many like it) can be found on the new P2P site called Lendermarket. The reason we are highlighting it is that Lendermarket is the new funding vehicle of lending group Creditstar. Creditstar have decided to fund their loans directly now, rather than place loans on the Mintos platform. Creditstar have one of our highest loan originator ratings – 79/100. It is almost impossible to find loans on Mintos currently with that yield and high rating level. Lendermarket are also currently offering a 1% bonus on funds deposited and invested in the first 60 days after opening an account (just click on the logo link and you will qualify).
Loan PL-1081999011
Interest rate: 12%
LTV: 68%
Term: 10 Months
First Lien mortgage
LATVIA
Sometimes we highlight here loans that sold out almost instantly when they went live. We do this to highlight the types of opportunities that are available on certain sites that can offer good opportunities, but require you to be quick to receive an allocation. This is one of those types of loans. The security for the loan is a building in a central part of Riga, Latvia, that is undergoing renovation and conversion to apartments. These types of projects are usually much lower risk than pure development projects, as the construction period is shorter, and there is much less scope for things to ‘go wrong’. We also think the fundamentals for the real estate sector in the Baltic region are very strong right now, which also makes having secured loan exposure there a good place to be. Bulkestate has been increasing the availability of loans recently, but loans like this still tend to sell out within 24 hours. If these types of loans are of interest, you really need to open an account and wait for the new deals like this to come along.
'Briezu' loan
Interest rate: 11%
LTV: 48%
Term: 36 months
CAR LOAN
BUYBACK GUARANTEE
Turkey
It has been hard to find good loans on Mintos recently, but we think that new Turkish auto lender Wowwo is interesting. It scores highly in our Mintos lender ratings (70). This loan offers a yield of 11%, and is secured on an Audi A3 with an LTV of 48%. We expect Wowwo loans to sell out pretty quickly at these yields. If you want to add them to your portfolio, it could make sense to add them to your list of loans to buy in the auto-investment tool, otherwise they may be hard to find on the primary market.
Loan 26293482-01
Interest rate: 6.7%
LTV: 49%
Term: 12 Months
First Lien mortgage
London, England
Some Kuflink loans are better than others. This loan is one of our favourite types of loans that appear on Kuflink. Its a bridge loan, so there is no development or construction risk. The property is located in outer London, has a mid-level value, and looks in good condition. The building is let out to tenants, so the owner is receiving an income that can cover the interest payments. The borrower also owns other properties, which makes them less likely to default on this loan. We think that an interest rate of 6.7%, for a first lien mortgage with an LTV of 49% represents a good risk adjusted return.
'Brighton Road' Loan
Interest rate: 8.4%
LTV: 57%
Term: 6 months
1st lien mortgage
London, England
This is the type of super-boring (but attractive) bridge loans that Bridgecrowd excels at. The buyer of this property wants to perform a quick renovation and then sell it at a higher price. The collateral is an apartment in an attractive Victorian building located in Cheltenham, which is a popular, high income area of England. The renovation will add value to the property, reduce the LTV, and make it easy to sell quickly if necessary. An interest rate of 8.4%, good quality collateral, first lien mortgage security and an LTV of only 57% makes this one of the best UK P2P loans at the moment. The one downside of Bridgecrowd is that the minimum investment in each loan is £5,000, so it suits investors with larger sums available to invest.
'Cheltenham' loan
Interest rate: 15%
LTV: 69%
Term: 12 Months
First Lien mortgage
LATVIA
We have never highlighted two loans from the same platform before, but we are making an exception for this upcoming loan from Bulkestate. It has not yet been launched, so we have not yet been able to perform a full analysis. However what we do know is that this loan is secured on a property located in this magnificent building, located on one of the most central streets of Riga. The interest rate will be 15%, with an LTV of 69%. We expect this loan to sell out almost immediately when it launches later this week.
'Blaumana' loan
And here is one we DON'T love....
Interest rate: 10%
Term: 1 year
Secured on trees in a forest somewhere in LATVIA
If we ran a P2P site we would immediately hire the web designer from Crowdestor. The site is well laid out, professionally presented and slick. It’s the content where the site falls down in a big way. This loan is a great example of that. What is the value of the land that is secured on this loan? Crowdestor don’t tell us. Instead we are told that 52% of Latvia is covered in forests. OK, what about the financial statements of the borrower? No luck there. Instead we are given a lot of information about ‘Biological Diversity’ and ‘Forest and Society’. Hmmmm, what about the capital structure? No luck with that, but there’s plenty on the ‘EU Renewal Energy Directive’. This loan is what professional investors call a ‘crapshoot’. Anything can happen. You could get your money back with interest, but more likely see it turn into sawdust.
Maz {18,6} loan
If you are interested in any of the loans above, please make sure to read all the information provided by each investment site and make sure that they are suitable for you. While we aim to highlight interesting opportunities, you must perform your own assessment of the risks and make your own independent decision on whether to invest, and whether these, or similar loans offered on each site are suitable for your investment objectives.
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Hello. Do I understand correctly that in Lendermarket there isn’t group guarantee like in Mintos with Creditstar ? If so, which country loans you think are safer ?
I asked them about it and they told me “Creditstar Group AS is providing a group guarantee to all its branches.”
The problem with Lendermarket is about taxation. The company was registered in Ireland, take care – http://p2pindependentforum.com/thread/15577/lendermarket-creditstars-branching-out
Hi Oscar, thanks for answering.
In the main page of Bulkestate, where ‘Blaumana’ loan is posted, we can see that the collateral is equity.
Hi Fran, they explained that the 69% stated LTV includes both the Bulkestate loan plus a bank loan. They didn’t do a good job of explaining the finance structure on this one. In any case the loan sold out within 10 minutes of going on sale, so was very popular, as expected….
The collateral of the second Bulkestate loan (‘Blaumana’ loan) is equity. Don’t you think it makes it riskier?
Hi Fran. Thanks for commenting. That’s not our understanding. They have announced an LTV and interest rate, neither of which would apply if it was an equity investment. The loan is coming to market later this week so we suggest waiting for the full information to be published. But we believe it looks very interesting if it is a first lien loan, which we would expect.