Real Estate Innovation

The 5 Things You Need to Do to Get a Car Loan Fast

If you’re like most people, you don’t have a lot of time to futz around when getting a car loan. Luckily, there are quite a few things you can do to decrease the amount of time you’ll spend getting the loan you need.

Regardless of your credit score or credit history, here are some tips you can use to save time:

1) Make sure you’ve got all your paperwork together. You’ll need a recent paystub to prove your income, and a recent bill from your phone, electric or cable service to prove your residence. If there are any problems with your credit, such as collections or bankruptcies, get the paperwork for that too. Bring everything with you in an envelope when you go to see your lender. That way, you’ll only have to make the trip once.

2) Get your list of personal references together. When you apply for an auto loan, you’re usually required to give the name, address, and phone number of three or more friends or relatives that don’t live with you. If you get this information together ahead of time, you won’t have to scramble to figure it out while you’re completing your application.

3) Talk to your boss, office manager, or human resources department. When you apply for an auto loan, most lenders will call and verify your employment. Let the person in charge of employment verification know that you’re expecting an auto lender to call about you - that way they’ll be ready to provide what the bank needs quickly and accurately.

4) If you have a trade-in, find out your exact payoff. Many times, when people apply for an auto loan, they estimate their trade-in payoff. The trouble with estimating your payoff is that your new lender may use your estimate as an exact value. If your payoff is actually substantially higher than you estimated, your loan may need to be re-approved for a higher amount. If your payoff is lower than you estimated, your interest rate might be higher than it should be. Save everyone some time (and yourself some money) and find out your exact payoff before you apply for a new loan.

5) Make sure you’re as truthful and accurate as possible. When you complete your credit application, you may need to list former residences, former employers, etc. If you list all this information accurately, your application will be processed quickly. Also, if you lie about some aspect of your credit, there’s a good chance the auto lender will find out. At best, this will slow down your application considerably as the lender checks every aspect of your credit. At worst, your application will be turned down.