Originally Posted by **********

Hi Dead,

Sorry to hear you have trouble borrowing from the bank. I can tell you though from experience, that the bank doesn't care of if you're self employed or not. What they want to see are things like a good credit rating, steady income, little to no current debts, etc.

They also want to know your debt ratio. How much money do you take in every month vs your monthly bills. If you have to pay out 25% of your income to bills, thats not too bad. If you have to pay out 50%, the bank is less interested.

If you are going to borrow money for a project or to buy something, what they want to see is how it will be paid back. So let's say whatever you want to buy will be paid back in payments of $500.00 over 4 years for example, they want to see that you can easily afford that $500.

Don't forget that the bank actually wants your business. They make a fortune giving loans so when they see you they are drooling. They won't take any unnecessary risks, but they want your business.

What I suggest is that you do a little legwork first. Put something down on paper that shows your current income, all your monthly payments including to credit cards, etc, the new thing you want to buy, and finally, how you will budget to pay it back. This makes the lenders job easier.

Here's a dumb sounding "trick" that is actually pretty smart. If you owe money to credit cards or taxes, add what you owe to the amount you want to borrow. For example, if you currently owe $10,000 to credit card companies and want to borrow $40,000, ask the bank for $50,000, and tell them that the first $10,000 is going to pay off the credit card debt. The banks LOVE this. This keeps your credit rating high, makes more money for the bank, and reduces the banks risk all at the same time. Assuming you and your financial situation fits within their the risk assessment parameters, you should get the loan you need.

Good luck!