Personal-loan marketing tends to obsess over a single number: the headline APR. “As low as 6.99%” or “from 8.99% APR” or some variation. But the lowest advertised rate is almost never the rate most borrowers actually get — and chasing it can lead to picking the wrong loan for your situation.

Here are the five things I actually look at when reviewing whether a loan is a good fit for a borrower.

1. The full APR range, not just the headline

Every responsible lender discloses a range. Ours is 8.99% to 35.99%. SoFi’s is roughly 8.99% to 29.99%. Best Egg’s is 7-36%. The headline you see in ads is the floor of the range — the rate for the best-credit borrowers with the shortest terms. The honest question to ask: where in this range will I land? A specialist conversation answers that before you commit.

2. Origination fees, not just APR

An origination fee gets deducted from your loan proceeds. You owe interest on the full loan amount, not on the smaller amount you actually received. A 9.99% APR loan with a 6% origination fee can be more expensive than an 11.99% APR loan with no fee. Look for total cost over the life of the loan, not just the interest rate. (See our glossary entry on origination fees for the math.)

3. The term that matches your budget, not the longest term you can get

Longer terms mean lower monthly payments — but more total interest paid. A $15,000 loan at 14.99% over 84 months has a comfortable monthly payment but you’ll pay close to $10,000 in interest by the end. The same loan over 36 months costs less than half that in interest, but the monthly payment is higher. The right answer depends on your cash flow and your other priorities, not on what the calculator defaults to.

4. Whether the rate is fixed

For personal loans, fixed rates are almost always better than variable. Your monthly payment never changes. Your total cost is predictable. Most personal loans on the market today are fixed (ours are), but always confirm before signing.

5. Whether there’s a prepayment penalty

If your circumstances improve and you want to pay the loan off early — to save interest — a prepayment penalty can eat the savings. The best personal loans have no prepayment penalty (ours don’t). Check this before signing; it’s a one-line check in the disclosure.

What to do if a lender won’t answer these questions plainly

Walk away. Any lender who can’t tell you, in plain English, your full APR range, your exact origination fee in dollars, your total cost of borrowing over the term, whether the rate is fixed, and whether there’s a prepayment penalty — is not a lender you should be borrowing from.

— Haiyan Hu, Chief Credit Officer