"Student loans often seem to be viewed as 'good debt'—not exactly good, but more neutral..."
Yeah, that's pretty much what our lender implied too. I remember being surprised because I always thought debt was debt, you know? But apparently not all debts are created equal in the eyes of lenders. Go figure.
Funny you mention consolidating smaller debts—I almost went down that road myself. My brother-in-law did something similar, thinking it'd streamline things and look better on paper. But just like your buddy, it ended up backfiring slightly because the lender saw one big payment instead of several manageable ones. Not a huge deal, but definitely didn't help him snag a better rate.
Honestly, refinancing feels like juggling sometimes... you're never quite sure which ball the lender's gonna focus on. Glad to hear it worked out for you though. Makes me feel a bit better about my own overthinking tendencies, haha.
Interesting points, but honestly I'm not convinced lenders always see consolidation negatively. When I refinanced, combining smaller debts actually simplified things and seemed to reassure the lender... maybe it depends more on overall debt ratios than just payment size? Who knows.
That's interesting, I've been wondering about this myself... do lenders prefer fewer payments even if the total debt stays the same, or is it more about how much you're borrowing overall? Curious if anyone's had experience either way.
"do lenders prefer fewer payments even if the total debt stays the same, or is it more about how much you're borrowing overall?"
From my experience, lenders generally look at your overall borrowing amount first, since that's directly tied to their risk. But payment frequency can matter too, especially if it affects your cash flow and credit profile. When I refinanced last year, my lender actually suggested fewer payments spread out longer, which surprised me... said it improved my debt-to-income ratio. Anyone else found lenders pushing specific payment schedules for similar reasons?
Yeah, lenders definitely focus on total debt first, but payment schedules aren't exactly trivial either. I've seen lenders nudge borrowers toward fewer payments because it makes the loan look "safer" on paper—lower monthly commitments, better cash flow, all that jazz. But honestly, sometimes it feels like they're just stretching things out to squeeze more interest from us over time... call me skeptical, but banks rarely do things purely for our benefit, right?
