Before choosing a personal loan, it’s a good idea to shop around and compare your options. Consider these tips when choosing your loan:

• Compare interest rates: Interest is the cost of borrowing money, so the lower your rate, the more affordable your loan will be. Comparing multiple loan offers can help you find one with the best rate.
• Watch out for fees: A low interest rate doesn’t necessarily make one loan more affordable than another if it comes with high fees. Keep an eye out for an origination fee, disbursement fee or any other expense that could add to your cost of borrowing.
• Review repayment terms: Check out the amount of time a lender gives you to pay back your loan. If you’re borrowing a large loan, you might prefer the option of a longer repayment term.
• Estimate your monthly payments: Use a personal loan calculator to estimate your monthly payments on each loan offer. Look for one that fits your budget and won’t be a burden each month.
• Find out how much you can borrow: Every lender sets its own minimum and maximum loan amounts, so search for one that offers the amount you need to cover your roofing project costs.
• Look for the option to prequalify: Some lenders let you check your rates online with no impact on your credit score. Having this option to prequalify can make it easier to shop for loan offers, so it may be worth prioritizing lenders that offer this service.
• Ask how long the loan takes to fund: Depending on your roofing needs, you might need your roof loan fast. As you compare lenders, find out how long it takes for each one to process your application and fund your loan.
• Check out the customer service channels: Find out how you can communicate with a lender, whether over the phone, email, live chat or all three. The amount of support a lender provides may sway your decision toward one lender over another.
• Read customer reviews: Finally, take some time to read customer reviews before selecting your roof loan. Consumer review sites like Trustpilot can show you whether other borrowers had a good experience with the lender.

Within each major category, we also considered several characteristics, including available loan amounts, repayment terms, APR ranges and applicable fees. We also looked at minimum credit score requirements, whether each lender accepts co-signers or joint applications and the geographic availability of the lender. Finally, we evaluated each provider’s customer support tools, borrower perks and features that simplify the borrowing process—like prequalification options and mobile apps.