Appliance Financing

Can I finance a new appliance?

It’s pretty easy for most people to get finance for an appliance. It helps if you have a good credit score as that makes the terms and APR on a loan favorable. Finance allows you to spread the cost over the term of the loan rather than having to find it all at once. You just have to choose which option for credit is the one for you.

Best Appliance Financing Personal Loans

Avant – loans of $2,000 to $35,000 with funding supplied as early as the following day.

Avant

✔ Funding: Borrow $2,000 - $35,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 550
✔ APR: 9.95 - 35.95%
✔ Loan term: 2 - 5 years
✔ Funding turnaround: within 24 hours in most cases

With Avant personal loans, borrowers with fair to good credit scores can get access to super fast funding up to $35K. Best for debt consolidation.

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Axos – will lend between $10,000 and $50,000 though you need a credit score of at least 700.

AXOS Bank

✔ Funding: Borrow $5,000 - $50,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 700
✔ APR: 7.15 - 17.99%
✔ Loan term: 3 - 6 years
✔ Funding turnaround: within 1-3 business days

AXOS Bank offers loans up to $50k and great refinancing options on existing loans. Best for borrowers with higher credit scores..

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Best Egg – $2,000 to $50,000 can be borrowed within 1-3 days.

Best Egg

✔ Funding: Borrow $2,000 - $50,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 640
✔ APR: 5.99 - 29.99%
✔ Loan term: 3 - 5 years
✔ Funding turnaround: 1 - 3 business days

With Best Egg personal loans, borrowers with fair to good credit can get funding for 3-5 years and have the option to use the loan for a variety of purposes.

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Discover – can supply loans from $2,500 to $35,000 with generous terms.

Discover

✔ Funding: Borrow $2,500 - $35,000
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 660
✔ APR: 5.99% - 24.99%
✔ Loan term: 3 - 7 years
✔ Funding turnaround: within 24 hours

With Discover personal loans, borrowers can apply up to $35K in funding as fast as next business day. Best for those who want to consolidate debt and have a good credit score.

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LendingPoint – can supply lump sums of between $2,000 and $36,500 and only require a credit score of 580.

LendingPoint

✔ Funding: Borrow $2,000 - $36,500
✔ Minimum Credit Score: 580
✔ APR: 9.99-35.99%
✔ Loan term: 2 - 4 years
✔ Funding turnaround: as fast as within 24 hours

With LendingPoint, borrowers with fair credit can obtain a loan between $2,000 - $36,500 and get funded within 24 hours. Origination fees may apply.

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How can I finance a new appliance?

In-house financing

Most big stores selling appliances are able to offer in-house finance for big-ticket items. This is usually in the form of a store credit card, which works like any other card, but is store-specific. This can make a lot of sense, particularly if you shop there often.

Commonly, stores offer incentives for new card holders, sometimes offering a period of 0% APR, which makes this form of borrowing very attractive. However, understand that when that period is over, any outstanding amount will attract the full card interest rate, so you want to check out what that is and that you can’t get a better deal elsewhere.

Personal loan

Some appliances are pretty pricey, particularly if you are looking at top-of-the-range items. In that case, it may be better to take out a personal loan. This is particularly true if you have good credit and a low debt-to-income ratio. You should be able to get a loan with a low interest rate and terms of 2-5 years.

Those with poor credit scores will not find obtaining personal loans so easy. They are likely to find any credit they can get comes at a high cost, which may make finding the monthly repayments difficult. Don’t go for any payday loan or similar – they have frighteningly high interest rates.

Credit card

Having a credit card is a very flexible way to borrow money. Once again, with a good credit score, you may qualify for a 0% credit card which means free finance for that introductory period. Don’t forget that 0% is usually charged for just a few months and that after that the APR may not be as low as some other sorts of finance.

401(k) loan

Borrowing money from your own pension funds is another way to get finance for an appliance. It is certainly a cheap way of borrowing (there is no interest to pay) but you must check whether it will have a negative impact on your retirement plans. Most 401(k) plans that allow you to borrow from yourself will restrict how much you can pay into your retirement fund until the loan is paid off.

HELOC

A home equity line of credit usually offers high credit limits and low interest but has one drawback. Part of the agreement is that your home is effectively collateral for the loan. As long as you can comfortably afford the repayments all is well, but if you default you could find your house is at risk. For many, this will be too big a risk to purchase an appliance, and taking on a higher interest rate from a personal loan costs more but puts them more at ease knowing their home isn’t at risk.

Lease

Another option is to lease your new appliance. Like a car lease, you get the appliance and then make monthly repayments. Often you can decide to stop payments and return the appliance or continue paying until you own it outright – usually in 12 or 24 months. As you don’t have to make a down payment or have a credit check, this may be an option for anyone with a less than perfect credit score.

Make sure you know what the total cost will be as there are usually fees involved making the appliance cost more than if you bought it outright. The extra cost may be a price you are willing to pay in order not to have to spend the whole amount in one go.

Should I finance a new appliance?

Pros

• You get the appliance when you need it rather than having to save and try and get by without it
• New appliances are often more energy-efficient than the ones they replace so reducing your energy bills
• Appliance finance allows you to spread the cost over time
• If you can secure a 0% finance deal and repay the whole amount while the introductory rate applies, you are getting free finance

Cons

• All financing will cost you more than buying the appliance outright
• The repayments will eat into your monthly budget
• If you default your credit score will be adversely affected
• If you have a poor credit score, finance will be hard to get and costly