The final loan bid I had outstanding, for $200 @ 20.75%, was accepted today. This means I now have all of my $500 loan amount invested across four loans. My average interest rate is 17.82%, or 17.32% after Prosper's fees.
There must be some sort of strange rounding errors going on because my account shows Principal Loaned = $500, Principal Repaid, Interest & Fees Paid, and Service Fees all equal to $0.00, yet my total Loan Value is shown as $500.04.
Anyway, I'm glad all my funds are now loaned out. The final loan actually was scheduled to end in over a week, but it looks like the borrower closed it once she had enough bids to fund the loan. She could have left the bidding open to see if she could get a lower rate.
All in all, it's been a fairly good experience so far. If you are considering lending through Prosper, I suggest reading through the Borrowing help screens first, so you understand the process from the borrower's point of view. I didn't do this until later and many of my questions would have been answered had I read it sooner.
Another Weed Issue & Electrician Scheduled
I got a call from the City Of Phoenix's Solid Waste Division regarding weeds in the alley behind House 3. Apparently, the city has been mailing notices to the house since the beginning of February (which is before I owned the place) about having too many weeds in the alley behind the house. The alley is where the trash cans are placed and where the trash trucks drive to collect the garbage. If the weeds are not taken care of by Monday, they will start issuing citations.
I just called my handyman and spoke with him. He actually walked out into the alley and said things didn't look too bad, but he would trim them back tomorrow and let me know when he is done, so I can tell the city the problem has been fixed.
I've also scheduled the electrician to be out there Tuesday morning at 7 AM to fix the outlet issues the handyman identified.
I just called my handyman and spoke with him. He actually walked out into the alley and said things didn't look too bad, but he would trim them back tomorrow and let me know when he is done, so I can tell the city the problem has been fixed.
I've also scheduled the electrician to be out there Tuesday morning at 7 AM to fix the outlet issues the handyman identified.
House 3: Rehab Questions From Handyman
I got an email from my handyman last night with a couple questions about how to handle some issues. The questions and my responses are below.
The outlet by the kitchen counter has burned wires and the wire are too short to install a new GFCI outlet. New wires should be pulled. What would you like to do?
Based on the other electrical issues you've found and mentioned below, I'll get an electrician out there to do this. Please mark which outlet this is.
In the addition, there are 4 outlets that the wiring is too short to change the outlets. These could be left as is or we could pull new wire. Advise.
If the outlets look OK, we can keep them. If they are broken or have burn marks on them, mark them and I'll have the electrician fix them. My goal in replacing the outlets was to make them look nice, so if they look OK, there is no need to replace them.
Do you want to keep the shelving in the laundry room?
Yes.
Did you find the light switch for the laundry room?
Nope.
The paneling in the fireplace room does not have drywall behind it. Do you want to drywall over the paneling or leave it alone?
Let's drywall over it.
On the wall where the cabinets were removed, there is some romex wire sticking through the wall and it is live. Do you want to put a light there? Terminate the wire?
Terminate the wire.
There is a leak in the ceiling at the ceiling fan in the front room. Do you want me to locate this?
Go ahead and try. Don't spend more than a day trying to find it though. If you can't find it, I've got a roof guy I can call.
There is a light fixture in the addition off of the kitchen that has a missing globe. Do you want this fixture replaced? New globe?
A new globe is fine.
I am not sure how you numbered the bedrooms, but as you look down the hallway bedroom #1 is on the left, bedroom #2 is the next on the left, and #3 is on the right. There is an electrical problem in bedroom #1 & #2. Three of the outlets have the wiring backwards (standard is black = hot & white = common), meaning that the problem is else where. These are wired in a series. Do you want me to trouble shoot this problem?
I numbered them the same as you are. I'll have the electrician look at these.
The tub drain is also plugged. Do you want me to take care of this?
Yes please.
There are three ceiling fans in the house. One in the front room, one in bedroom #1, and one in bedroom #2. The one in bedroom #2 does not work. The one in bedroom #1 is the same style as the front room. You asked for tow to be replaced. Which two?
The one that doesn't work in bedroom 2 and the one in bedroom 1. Leave the one in the front room as is.
The light in bedroom #3 does not have a globe. Do you want to replace this with the same style as we did for the laundry room and kitchen?
Yes please.
The front door locks are not working correctly all of the time, would you like these replaced and keyed the same as the lock that is already installed?
I'm not sure what you are referring too. I've already had a locksmith out there who rekeyed everything. I know the "deadbolt" lock on the door is a bit tight. The latch doesn't catch very much. That one couldn't be on the same key as the other locks because the lock was made by a different manufacturer.
What color do you want the kitchen counter top?
Beige or tan, anything neutral.
What color of vinyl tile do you want?
White or off-white.
What color of paint for the inside?
White.
What color of paint for the outside?
I don't really care. Brown, tan. Again, something neutral that blends in with the neighborhood.
Last weekend, we just had our first rain in 143 days. It rained for almost 24 hours straight and I was wondering if any leaks would be found in the roof.
It sounds like some good progress is being made. When I meet the electrician out there, I'll take a look at things. I do like the fact that this guy uses email. It's easy for me and everything is in writing, so nothing should be forgotten (hopefully).
The outlet by the kitchen counter has burned wires and the wire are too short to install a new GFCI outlet. New wires should be pulled. What would you like to do?
Based on the other electrical issues you've found and mentioned below, I'll get an electrician out there to do this. Please mark which outlet this is.
In the addition, there are 4 outlets that the wiring is too short to change the outlets. These could be left as is or we could pull new wire. Advise.
If the outlets look OK, we can keep them. If they are broken or have burn marks on them, mark them and I'll have the electrician fix them. My goal in replacing the outlets was to make them look nice, so if they look OK, there is no need to replace them.
Do you want to keep the shelving in the laundry room?
Yes.
Did you find the light switch for the laundry room?
Nope.
The paneling in the fireplace room does not have drywall behind it. Do you want to drywall over the paneling or leave it alone?
Let's drywall over it.
On the wall where the cabinets were removed, there is some romex wire sticking through the wall and it is live. Do you want to put a light there? Terminate the wire?
Terminate the wire.
There is a leak in the ceiling at the ceiling fan in the front room. Do you want me to locate this?
Go ahead and try. Don't spend more than a day trying to find it though. If you can't find it, I've got a roof guy I can call.
There is a light fixture in the addition off of the kitchen that has a missing globe. Do you want this fixture replaced? New globe?
A new globe is fine.
I am not sure how you numbered the bedrooms, but as you look down the hallway bedroom #1 is on the left, bedroom #2 is the next on the left, and #3 is on the right. There is an electrical problem in bedroom #1 & #2. Three of the outlets have the wiring backwards (standard is black = hot & white = common), meaning that the problem is else where. These are wired in a series. Do you want me to trouble shoot this problem?
I numbered them the same as you are. I'll have the electrician look at these.
The tub drain is also plugged. Do you want me to take care of this?
Yes please.
There are three ceiling fans in the house. One in the front room, one in bedroom #1, and one in bedroom #2. The one in bedroom #2 does not work. The one in bedroom #1 is the same style as the front room. You asked for tow to be replaced. Which two?
The one that doesn't work in bedroom 2 and the one in bedroom 1. Leave the one in the front room as is.
The light in bedroom #3 does not have a globe. Do you want to replace this with the same style as we did for the laundry room and kitchen?
Yes please.
The front door locks are not working correctly all of the time, would you like these replaced and keyed the same as the lock that is already installed?
I'm not sure what you are referring too. I've already had a locksmith out there who rekeyed everything. I know the "deadbolt" lock on the door is a bit tight. The latch doesn't catch very much. That one couldn't be on the same key as the other locks because the lock was made by a different manufacturer.
What color do you want the kitchen counter top?
Beige or tan, anything neutral.
What color of vinyl tile do you want?
White or off-white.
What color of paint for the inside?
White.
What color of paint for the outside?
I don't really care. Brown, tan. Again, something neutral that blends in with the neighborhood.
Last weekend, we just had our first rain in 143 days. It rained for almost 24 hours straight and I was wondering if any leaks would be found in the roof.
It sounds like some good progress is being made. When I meet the electrician out there, I'll take a look at things. I do like the fact that this guy uses email. It's easy for me and everything is in writing, so nothing should be forgotten (hopefully).
Three Loans Made Via Prosper.com
I've got three loans funded now through Prosper.com:
The 8.85% loan was made to Gualberto. Don't default, Gualberto - I know where you blog! :-)
I've got another bid out for a $200 loan. That listing won't end for another 10 days, so it could be a while before I find out if I got that one.
All my loans are less than a week old, so there haven't been any payments yet. My average interest is 15.36%, after Prosper takes their 0.5% service fee.
One thing I would like to see is an email notification when I have won a loan. Currently, you need to log in to the site to see the status of your bids. Also, an email notifying me when a payment has been made would be nice. Of course, that might already be implemented - I haven't gotten a payment yet, so I can't tell - but so far, I don't think I've received any system generated emails from Prosper, so I'm guessing I won't get one for payments either.
Another thing I'd like to see would be some clarification of how their bidding process works. Prosper lenders bid an amount and minimum interest rate they will accept for a loan. Multiple lenders are grouped to reach the borrower's requested loan amount. I'm a bit unclear about how Prosper determines who the winning lenders are.
For example, someone wants to borrow $1,000 @ 10%. The current bids are, in order of date received:
$500 @ 10%
$250 @ 9%
$250 @10%
There are enough bids to fund the loan and the resulting loan would be $1,000 @ 10%. However, suppose the bidding is still open for another day and now someone else comes in and bids $100 @ 8%. What happens?
It's probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the engineer / programmer in me is curious to see how this situation is handled. It's a bit more complicated than the standard eBay auction model, since there are two variables involved.
- $100 @ 8.85%
- $100 @ 15.00%
- $100 @ 23.75%
The 8.85% loan was made to Gualberto. Don't default, Gualberto - I know where you blog! :-)
I've got another bid out for a $200 loan. That listing won't end for another 10 days, so it could be a while before I find out if I got that one.
All my loans are less than a week old, so there haven't been any payments yet. My average interest is 15.36%, after Prosper takes their 0.5% service fee.
One thing I would like to see is an email notification when I have won a loan. Currently, you need to log in to the site to see the status of your bids. Also, an email notifying me when a payment has been made would be nice. Of course, that might already be implemented - I haven't gotten a payment yet, so I can't tell - but so far, I don't think I've received any system generated emails from Prosper, so I'm guessing I won't get one for payments either.
Another thing I'd like to see would be some clarification of how their bidding process works. Prosper lenders bid an amount and minimum interest rate they will accept for a loan. Multiple lenders are grouped to reach the borrower's requested loan amount. I'm a bit unclear about how Prosper determines who the winning lenders are.
For example, someone wants to borrow $1,000 @ 10%. The current bids are, in order of date received:
$500 @ 10%
$250 @ 9%
$250 @10%
There are enough bids to fund the loan and the resulting loan would be $1,000 @ 10%. However, suppose the bidding is still open for another day and now someone else comes in and bids $100 @ 8%. What happens?
It's probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the engineer / programmer in me is curious to see how this situation is handled. It's a bit more complicated than the standard eBay auction model, since there are two variables involved.
House 3: Rehab Under Way
I hadn't heard from my handyman Mark (not his real name) this week, so I gave him a call. I mailed off my check to him on Tuesday morning and was hoping to hear that he got it and would be getting started soon. Turns out he started yesterday! Sweet!
He said he's got most of the trash inside the house removed and now he's working on the trash outside. He had one question. Apparently, under the pile of all the junk in the room with the fireplace, there was a small, low wall. (A picture can be found in this post. It's the one titled "This is a room just off the converted room.") I didn't notice it before because some windows and wood paneling were leaning up against and stacked on top of it. Mark wanted to know if he was supposed to remove that wall. He guesses the old owners were trying to make a bar because behind this short wall is where the cabinets that I'm having removed are hanging. He also mentioned the wall is very unstable. I told him to remove it.
I feel better now that the rehab has been started. First, it's good to know that progress is being made. Second, I'm glad to see Mark was true to his earlier word that he would be able to start the job towards the middle of this week.
He said he's got most of the trash inside the house removed and now he's working on the trash outside. He had one question. Apparently, under the pile of all the junk in the room with the fireplace, there was a small, low wall. (A picture can be found in this post. It's the one titled "This is a room just off the converted room.") I didn't notice it before because some windows and wood paneling were leaning up against and stacked on top of it. Mark wanted to know if he was supposed to remove that wall. He guesses the old owners were trying to make a bar because behind this short wall is where the cabinets that I'm having removed are hanging. He also mentioned the wall is very unstable. I told him to remove it.
I feel better now that the rehab has been started. First, it's good to know that progress is being made. Second, I'm glad to see Mark was true to his earlier word that he would be able to start the job towards the middle of this week.
