Living in the most beautiful city on earth has its price.  And when the chips are down, well, you cash in your chips.

A few reversals of fortune in our happy little home has left us with bad credit, no extra cash and a refrigerator on the blink.  We called a repairman, but he said the cost would be around $800 to fix.  A new one might cost $850.  We did the math and decided we had to find new.  Only cheaper.

This is where Craigslist is a gold mine.  I checked out demolition projects and saw the exact model we wanted anyway in San Mateo.  The demolition sale was in two days and I figured out a way to get there a day early.  I thought a cash offer of $500 would convince them to let me have it.

Next little challenge: find $500.  

Then my wife reminded me that at least our cars are paid for.  Brilliant woman, that wife.  I searched online and found we could get a loan through Car Title Loans in San Francisco. They offered me $5000 in a title loan but all I needed was the $500.  Actually, I took $800 because we need a new microwave too.  It’s all online, I filled out the online application, the money came by EFT to my checking account, and off to San Mateo I went with cash greenback bills in hand. We bickered and bartered and settled at $550.  This is a refrigerator that originally cost $2300.  

Laugh all you want, but auto title loans for capital improvements to your home – especially on a deal like this one – make complete and total sense. 

- Ned O.

I moved to the Bay Area to work in Information Technology.  It was my dream to live and work here, and I fully enjoyed every bit of it since I landed in San Mateo in 2002.

So when my company shipped my job to Bangalore, I wasn’t about to move with it.  At the same time, it’s hard to argue with their economics.  

Unfortunately, my personal economics suffered from this.  I worked consulting gigs, but that was spotty and it became necessary to consider retraining.  With bills to pay and a girlfriend with expensive tastes, did I have a choice?

Unemployment only covered a portion of my bills. And because my bills got ahead of my resources, I got bad credit.  And with bad credit, where would the money for retraining come from?  

Based on my own analysis, my need for fast cash translated into a car title loan.  Glad I bought that BMW when I did.  Once I got used to the idea, I filled out an online application with Car Title Loans in San Francisco. It was nothing like going to a car title loans store in Daly City or something. In one day I had my money and the next I registered for my class.

Given the credit crisis, this actually was a pretty clean and logical deal.  Auto title loans are really just another version of leveraged value.

- Marc N.