Newbie Qn re start times and bid amounts on live auction.

It's starting to seem as if SS are damned no matter what they do.

They incorporate lessons learned and refine the SM or pre-funding? They're fiddling and tweaking, and it's unpredictable...

I agree with everytning you said; I'm just thinking out loud !

I'm quite an advocate of keeping things as they are.  With the current system working for SS; I do believe that the most important thing is the loans; that they are safe and DD has been completed by SS. Everything else is a distance second .

What is the danger of buying parts in loabs which have gone past there original sale date, ie having - days remaining?
 

You should read the the most recent update and the valuation document, but the risk will depend on the loan, and you have to consider it from at least two perspectives...

1) Lendy don't want to foreclose, because that's bad for everyone, so unlike some banks, I imagine they work with the borrower. So far, they seem to have a good track record, but there are rather more loans overdue than I'm entirely comfortable with. (Some are inevitable - that's the nature of the business.)

2) Check out the LTV ratio and read the valuation document. So far, I've only come across two loans that I would avoid (including one in the pipeline) but I haven't read them all by any means, and I typically skim the documents looking for an overall feel - unless my initial reaction is negative, at which point I look more closely.

If you're satisfied that the valuation is fair, then an LTV of no more than 50% should mean your capital is safe. In most instances, 70% should also be safe, especially if the loan size is relatively small, since Lendy maintain a contingency fund (as do most P2P lenders).

On the other hand, if Lendy do foreclose, that will presumably require trading to cease - which means you won't have access to your capital until the asset is sold, or the loan is refinanced... Depending on your situation, that may be a major factor in your reasoning.

You are right that the interest is paid upfront.  So in theory, the loans that are within their term is relatively safe. However there are still risks; for example, the borrower could go bankrupt, or pass away.   Furthermore, the security could suddenly loose its value; for example, a property could burn down.  In all these cases, even though the upfront interest still being held by SS, the loan is going to be far less attractive on the SM.

However, that being the case, my strategy is much the same as yours, but my safety net for getting rid of loans is 100 days and as I'm now slowly diversifying I have a set of rules for keeping & ridding loans;

1st. Date Remaining (selling my investments in loans with less than 100 days remaining)
2nd. My Personal Opinion of the loan from my own DD
3rd. LTV Is Less Than 50%

I certainly do take SS LTV with a pinch of salt!  If truth be told I ignore SS headline LTV altogether, and come to my own conclusions to what I would consider is a true LTV.

I also agree with you whole heartily with the second part of your post; invest in a loan with the assumption that the SM will become "far less liquid" tomorrow morning.

Similar to cooling dude I look to sell off at 100 days to go and to date have always been able to achieve between 70 & 100. I also try for the lower LTVs however that can sometimes compromise diversity so I do have some of the higher LTVs in my spread.
Additionally, I try to ensure that no single investment in any one loan exceeds my expected yearly interest after tax. My thinking is that if a loan goes south I at least won't loose capital. My longer term strategy is to diversify further so that 2 could fail without loss of capital. To date I haven't fully achieved that objective but am pretty close. The ability to achieve and maintain that is obviously dependent on a steady stream of new loans and the liquidity of the SM being maintained. 
My approach may not be the best but I think it is important to have a set of personal guidelines rather than just buying willy nilly.