@zurichfaust wrote:
I came to the US in May 2012. I have been working since December 2012, pretty much as soon as my Green Card was received and I have obtained the following credit:
Capital One Secured (Jan 13) - $200
Discover IT card (March 13) - $750
Capital One Newcomers (July 2013) - $500
JC Penney (July 2013) - $100
Amazon (July 2013) - $1200
Walmart (July 2013) - $600
My wife and I want to be able to buy a new car shortly. Are we on the right track with credit? Is there anything else I should be doing to make sure that we can qualify for a car loan in the next 4-6 months? I was told that it is good to have different lines of credit and show that you're responsible with it. We always pay our balances in full each month and never carry anything over to the next month.
My wife doesn't have any credit as she's not working (stays at home with our daughter), but she is an authorized user on all of my cards.
Welcome to the forums. You're at the right place for advice. You're on the right track with credit. You have plenty of trade lines for now.
Your positives:
1. # of tradelines is good - you have 6 which is fine for now.
2. Utilization is good - You should be less than 10% if you're paying off in full.
Your negatives:
1. AAoA is short - You've only had credit for a few months. Your accounts need more age to show good history.
2. Too many recent inquiries - You have 6 inquires in the past year, anything more than 2 is considered high.
My suggestions to you:
1. Don't apply for anything else other than the car loan in 4-6 months.
2. If you can afford it, increase your deposit on your capital one card. This will increase your credit line on it and your total available credit.
3. You may want to add your wife as a joint owner instead of authorized user on your credit cards.
I think you should be fine getting a car loan. What I'm not so sure is what type of rate you will qualify for. If you do not get a rate you're happy with, remember you can refinance. Once your credit cards have enough age, close the cap one secured. Or at least that's my suggestions because I don't like annual fees. And its only purpose is to build credit history which you wont need when your accounts are older. Hope this helps.
