wrote:
Hey guys, just wanted to update you. In the past 5 months I've been working hard to improve my credit. I got the collection deleted off my report and dropped my utilization to about 10%. I just checked my TransUnion FICO and it's 632 (which is not amazing, but my scores were in the mid-high 500s a few months ago). I still don't have a personal CC (just the corporate one) and am finally ready to get one! I did the AmEx pre-approval and saw I was shockingly pre-approved for the Gold. No idea if this is a good card or not, but just wondering if pre-approval normally means you'll 100% get approved?
Also, any recs for other cards I should consider given my score?
Also x2... what interest rate could I expect for an auto loan? I heard dealers have a special FICO score they pull, the one thing I have going for me is a previous auto loan with Chase with a perfect payment history. I wouldn't want to borrow more than 10k (would put the rest as a down payment). Thanks forum friends!
I'd sign up for MyFICO and start getting monthly scores. Auto scores are part of this, so you'll have that info. It's somewhat expensive, but you make good money, so just comsider it the cost of knowledge. Knowledge is power. It's been invaluable to me, just to analyze and learn from. Plus, I don't much care for playing games with signing up and cancelling with CCT and others. I was in a similar boat as you recently with collections to delete, traveling for work, and $100k income. We have it pretty easy, by comparison. But that just means we can accelerate the process a little bit.
I'd grab the PRG, if for nothing else just to use for work travel. That way you're using someone else's money to build credit history and rewards points. You could also use it for personal purchases, of course. Just remember, it's a charge card, which means it must be paid in FULL every month. After a few months, Amex will probably have other prequals for you. Then you can get a revolving card once your scores are a little higher. You could probably get one now, but it will have a higher SL if you wait until you have higher scores. Definitely explore the Chase offerings though, before you start getting a bunch of cards, as they have a rule about how many new accounts you can have and still get approved for their cards.(Look up "Chase 5/24").
On a positive note, you're in a great position. You can avoid a big chunk of the rebuilding process(i.e. sub-prime cards, like Credit-One, etc.). Good luck! Things will start going very well for you, very quickly.
**P.S. I'd HIGHLY recommend setting up checking accounts with Penfed, in preparation for your auto loan. They have great credit cards as well, but save those until you have all the Chase cards you want. Penfed has some of the best auto rates around. NFCU is also another good one, but you need to have an immediate family member(or grandparent) that served in the military. Their auto loans are great, but not as good as Penfed. They are very generous with card limits though.
