Originally Posted by
40yrOldRookie
I was there today, and two other small schools in the same airport. I liked it, a very nice guy gave us a tour of the facilities, and it feels like a solid operation. One thing that is really important for me is that the financing can go through Sallie Mae, whereas the other two can't because of their size. At the same time, in the others, they said that the teaching would be highly personalized, which is something that Wayman may not be able to offer at least not to the same degree. I'm in a bit of a quandary there. I don't want to go through a mortgage or anything that would potentially put my assets at risk but I would really like that personalized instruction.
Looks like we are in about the same boat as I am 43 and started training at a 61 in March. Sallie Mae is currently 6-16 percent and apparently the Airline programs stray higher. I was hesitant about taking money out of my house also but a local credit union gave me a HELOC with 4.99% intro rate for 18 months and 7.8% fixed after that. I went that way due to the lower rates and that a HELOC is kinda like a credit card in that you only pay interest on what you have spent out of the loan. Also I pay the flight school with Cashiers Checks from the loan so they give a 10% bonus to my account when done this way, i.e. I give them a 3k check and they credit my account with 3300 dollars.
You will be worried about losing your house if something goes sideways. Well some insurance companies have training bonds, they will cover the cost of training if something unforeseen happens (like loss of medical) and you can't continue, these are common in the UK but not US. I am currently emailing an underwriter about getting one here in the States. It looks like they will cover any costs for training beyond my PPL, and I am asking to cover about 50k extra if I loose my medical as a CFI as well for loss of income while I get back to my old career. They seem open to it I can give you an idea of rates in a week or two.