Tips on Getting the Lowest Rate
Even if you don't need a student loan consolidation right now, the time may come in the future where you find yourself struggling to pay off your debts, including your student loans and are looking to get relief. Before you get into that kind of situation, or if you are in that situation now, there are a few things you should keep in mind to help you improve your chances of getting a low-interest student consolidation loan.
Pay Off Collections or Late Debts
In order to get student loans consolidated with another debt, your credit score is going to have to be in decent shape. One way to manage that is to pay off or manage any collections that may appear on your credit record, either recently or in years gone by. The fastest and easiest way to do this is by getting a copy of your credit report from the three credit reporting bureaus and checking it to see what negative items there may be on it that you are capable of handling quickly and easily.Let's Make a Deal
If you are currently struggling to make payments with your student loan debts, rather than digging a communications hole and crawling into it, refusing to answer any calls or letters from your lender, turn the table and call them. Explain the trouble you are having to them and there is a good chance they will be able to work with you to help you pay off your debt more easily, possibly by deferring payments for a few months or lowering your interest rate. The key reason for this is that a deal struck will usually keep the lender from negatively reporting on your credit, making it harder for you to get a low-interest consolidation loan in the future.- Shop Around
Don't settle for the first consolidation offer that you get. Lenders have different criteria for establishing loans and interest rates, and where one lender may offer you a loan at 6%, another may offer you the same consolidation loan at 5.75%, which could save you more than a thousand dollars over the life of the loan.