Aircraft loan through AOPA/BoA?

rottydaddy

rottydaddy

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Getting ready to scratch this "gotta get a plane" itch, and I think I may have found a "diamond in the rough" that will be real easy for me to pay for and operate... if I can get a little loan before someone else snaps it up.

I will be looking around a bit, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows anything about securing financing through AOPA.

Or, of course, if anyone knows of a terrific lender for aircraft loans other than that, I'd love to hear about it.

I sort of fall into the "bad" side of the risk scale because I have no property, no major credit extended to me, and my credit score is a ways below the middle, mostly because of a brief history, but also because of some old bad debt.

On the upside, I have no debt at this time, no family, cheap rent, and steady employment ... I know I can swing a $15-20K loan over 5 years even at a painful interest rate, but I'm hoping to approach the "right" lender.

Which reminds me: I'm also trying to find out how one goes about checking one's odds of getting approved for such a loan without exposing oneself to another dent in the ol' credit score...? AOPA ignored my request for info (hm, maybe that answers my first question here), and the few pilot/owners I've asked said " I think so, but I don't know how you do that..."

Everywhere else I look for info, I see warnings about this... anybody know of a workaround?

I could sit down with a rep at my bank, but last time I did that, seeking a $10K car loan, they looked at me like I was an unpleasant bug. My credit score has improved somewhat since then, but it seems more sensible to work with a lender that specializes in aircraft financing.
 
rottydaddy said:
Getting ready to scratch this "gotta get a plane" itch, and I think I may have found a "diamond in the rough" that will be real easy for me to pay for and operate... if I can get a little loan before someone else snaps it up.

I will be looking around a bit, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows anything about securing financing through AOPA.

Or, of course, if anyone knows of a terrific lender for aircraft loans other than that, I'd love to hear about it.

I sort of fall into the "bad" side of the risk scale because I have no property, no major credit extended to me, and my credit score is a ways below the middle, mostly because of a brief history, but also because of some old bad debt.

On the upside, I have no debt at this time, no family, cheap rent, and steady employment ... I know I can swing a $15-20K loan over 5 years even at a painful interest rate, but I'm hoping to approach the "right" lender.

Which reminds me: I'm also trying to find out how one goes about checking one's odds of getting approved for such a loan without exposing oneself to another dent in the ol' credit score...? AOPA ignored my request for info (hm, maybe that answers my first question here), and the few pilot/owners I've asked said " I think so, but I don't know how you do that..."

Everywhere else I look for info, I see warnings about this... anybody know of a workaround?

I could sit down with a rep at my bank, but last time I did that, seeking a $10K car loan, they looked at me like I was an unpleasant bug. My credit score has improved somewhat since then, but it seems more sensible to work with a lender that specializes in aircraft financing.
Click to expand...

I went with the AOPA/BoA last year and was very pleased with the process. This group handled things professionally and were actually very helpful. AOPA really does nothing except refer you to BoA and get a discounted rate for your participation, or so they say. Don't look for the discount to be that much but BoA will pay your standard AOPA dues while the loan is outstanding.

Without the credit check you won't get an answer but that should not impact your credit score unless you have been opening new lines ar have a lot of different vendors check it while you are looking for a loan. The BoA people may be a little more forth coming on what they think after a discussion than AOPA can be.

Dealing with an aircraft specific group will make the process sensible. They know what needs to be filed, etc. Just don't call the same people for your next car loan.

Good Luck
 
I went through the EAA's plan last year, they pre-approved me and when I struck a deal for my plane, loan and transfer was done within 4 or 5 days. Very happy with them. The company was Airfleet Capital.
 
I got my loan through Sovereign Bank , Give them a call. my loan was for 32K and my payments are 283 a month. their phone number is 1-800-207-8767, thats the number i have and if it's wrong they can tell you the one you need.
Dave G:blueplane:
 
Sigh...
Well, BoA "declined" my online app...their inquiry hit the credit bureaus before I got my answer, natch. It's the only inquiry in the last year, as far as I can tell, so it should not make too big a dent in my score (which is on the line between "poor" and "fair" based on the cumulative data I got from the big three bureaus.
Wish I knew how to find out what damage if any that did... it's damn near impossible to get a simple answer on this. I actually had to call them to find out why I'd heard nothing in over a week- the rep told me it was SOP to send a letter within 10 business days... and if I wanted to discuss the matter further with an expert, I'd be better off calling back later in the week.
Something tells me they wouldn't have any good news for me anyway.

So my dream is deferred... which sucks, as I have found a good airplane with a motivated seller, in my local area.
Depressing to have come so close...:(

But I refuse to give up just yet. I can't believe a guy with no debt, a good steady job and no currently open credit accounts can't get a small loan from any legitimate lender... I've got some money and will be getting more every week; somebody must be interested in gambling on that in order to earn a little interest...no? :dunno:

Maybe not. :( I know how the system works...

But I have noticed (after the fact, unfortunately... I did not completely understand what I was looking at initially) that there are some things worth disputing in my reports... there may be hope there of getting a leg up over the risk line.

Or perhaps a broker can help me... starting to think I should have gone that route in the first place.

Which of course begs the next question: anybody here have any experience with that?
 
I'd never do a loan with BoA. The only way you're going to get any personal attention from them is if you had $250k or more on deposit. The smaller banks are a much better bet... on service and personal attention.
 
You may be trying to finance to small an amount. When I bought out my partners I was going to pay my third in cash and re-fi the 2/3rds. The finance company, airloans.com / NAFCO, told me they wouldn't do less than 25k. I decided to invest my third and re-fi the entire thing. With the market where it's at today, I made a bad decision......
 
Cervelorod said:
You may be trying to finance to small an amount. When I bought out my partners I was going to pay my third in cash and re-fi the 2/3rds. The finance company, airloans.com / NAFCO, told me they wouldn't do less than 25k. I decided to invest my third and re-fi the entire thing. With the market where it's at today, I made a bad decision......
Click to expand...
Heck, now's the time to be putting money in.
 
Check local "open membership" credit unions, or a credit union where you have privileges to join (like at work.) Often they will finance an aircraft, even if they've never done one before. They will often take a chance on less than perfect credit, and rates are competitive (if not downright superior.)
 
KennyFlys said:
I'd never do a loan with BoA. The only way you're going to get any personal attention from them is if you had $250k or more on deposit. The smaller banks are a much better bet... on service and personal attention.
Click to expand...
My experience with BOA was different. I just used them to buy the Decathlon. I applied online and got an answer the same day. They handled the closing in escrow and the paperwork was quick and easy. There was one small glitch in the paperwork where they put American Champion as the manufacturer on the registration when it should have been Bellanca but they had sent a blank registration with the paperwork so I filled it out correctly. They charge a $495 fee but as someone has already mentioned they will pay my AOPA membership dues for the life of the loan.
 
rottydaddy said:
Which reminds me: I'm also trying to find out how one goes about checking one's odds of getting approved for such a loan without exposing oneself to another dent in the ol' credit score...? AOPA ignored my request for info (hm, maybe that answers my first question here), and the few pilot/owners I've asked said " I think so, but I don't know how you do that..."

Everywhere else I look for info, I see warnings about this... anybody know of a workaround?
Click to expand...

Applying for credit will "ding" you. Checking your OWN credit will NOT. There are a number of things to do here:

1) Sign up at www.myfico.com and get your ACTUAL score from Fair Isaacs. This is the only place you'll get your actualy FICO score. The score from anyplace else is often called a "FAKO" score, because it is not a real FICO. That being said, each bank often uses their own scoring system in addition to, or in lieu of, the FICO score. But, this is still a valuable number to know before you shop for a loan.

2) TrueCredit.com by TransUnion will let you monitor all three of the major bureaus, and give you pretty accurate "FAKO" scores for all three. It's not cheap ($14.95/month, but you can find it for less if you look around--Sams Club/Walmart had a deal a while back), but if you're trying to improve your score, it's a great site. Makes it super simple to dispute those outstanding incorrect items--automatically and electronically for two of the bureaus. If you PM me, I'll tell you how this site helped me improve my score by nearly 100 points in the span of a year. Also, TrueCredit.com has a great users forum with active participation by others who are using the site to improve their credit score.

3) If you're trying to improve your SCORE, or want to know what your SCORE is, I recommend the two items listed above. If you don't care about your score, just want to monitor your reports, you should be aware that the FTC mandates that you can get a free copy of each bureau's report each year. You have to use the site www.annualcreditreport.com... don't be fooled by imitation sites.

Here's how I recommend everyone use the FTC-mandated free reports... add a reminder to your calendar to get one report ever four months... TransUnion in January, Experian in May, and Equifax in September, for example. This will help you keep a close eye on your credit report without spending a dime.

You say you have no debt... do you have a credit card? If you want to build a credit history, get one with no annual fee if you can, and don't use it for anything other than gas, for example... Pay it off in full at the end of every month.

You can fix your credit and bring your score up... it's not hard. Don't give up on your dream yet. One of the neat things about challenging derogatory items on your credit report is that the bureau has to write to the original reporter to verify the item is valid. If there is no reply in a very short period of time (30 days?) the bureau MUST remove the item from your report. One vendor I contacted (who had listed something bad on me) said to just challenge it--they were too busy to reply to the challenges, they said, and it would just drop off my report. They were right!

Get to it, let us know when you get your plane.
 
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