While there are debt consolidation loans out there, most loans used to consolidate debt are personal loans. Personal loan funds can be used for just about anything, including consolidating debt. They are often unsecured, meaning you don’t need collateral to qualify, and they have fixed interest rates and monthly payments. Well-qualified borrowers will likely get a low interest rate and better terms compared to those with poor credit.

Credit card debt may be best consolidated using a balance transfer credit card or personal loan. Another type of debt you can consolidate is high-interest personal loans. To consolidate debt, it must be unsecured, meaning it’s not backed by any collateral.

When you first apply for a loan, it will trigger a hard credit inquiry. This will decrease your score by a few points in a short period of time. However, if you continue to make your debt payments on time each month, your score will quickly rebound and even increase. Note that if you make late payments or miss payments altogether, your score can suffer significantly.

Once the debt consolidation loan lender approves of you and the closing process is done, funds can appear in your banking account as early as the same day you applied or up to seven days later.

With good credit and a low DTI ratio, you should be able to get a personal unsecured loan to consolidate debt. This way, you won’t need to put your home, car, or savings at risk to pay off your debt.

Applying for a debt consolidation loan can cause a temporary dip in your credit score, which could affect your approval odds and terms of your mortgage. However, if you apply for the consolidation loan way before buying a home, your credit score should have time to recover—and, if you’ve eliminated any of your debt, you might have an easier time getting approved for a favorable mortgage.

“They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” Yes, that’s a quote from Jurassic Park, but it applies here, too. Technically, yes you can have two consolidation loans or even consolidate a consolidation loan, though it might depend on the lender. But the real question is: Why would you want to, and is that really the best way to deal with your debt?

As you would for the first debt consolidation loan, now you need to figure out if you can also afford to make this new set of payments on time every month and you need to factor in fees such as origination, balance transfer, annual and closing. This could also put a temporary dent in your credit score as a second debt consolidation loan will require a hard inquiry. You may not even be eligible for a second loan and even just attempting a second loan could raise major red flags.

A debt consolidation loan can help to simplify your debt payoff plan and lower the interest rate you are paying, if you get a loan that is lower than the rates on your existing debts. However, you can only get a lower rate if you have a high credit score but if you have a good credit score (in the 690 to 720 range) you still have a chance of getting a lower interest rate than your current one.