Balance Transfer

[Anonymous]

Hello All!

I'm considering trying for a Chase Slate for BT. My stats:
Credit score 720-no delinquencies at all
Income 103K
Rental income 36K
Credit Union personal loan 22K (for medical)
Credit Union Visa $3700 CL $5500
Cap 1 $0 balance CL $400
Cap 1 $0 balance CL $1200
B of A Cash Rewards $0 balance CL $2000
PayPal Smart Connect $0 balance CL $2000
Pottery Barn $1800 balance CL $4000
Target $400 balance CL $500
I also have a Chase mortgage (joint loan for primary residence) and a PennyMac mortgage (joint loan for rental property).

I'd like to put the credit union Visa, pottery barn and Target balances on 1 card with zero interest so I can pay it off faster. My questions are:

1. I'm in No Cal. Which bureau would Chase pull from?
2. What are my chances of getting a CL high enough to combine balances?
3. Does having a Chase mortgage increase my chances?
4. How is income verified? To make things simpler, my fiancée and I divided up certain items for tax purposes. He claimed all the rental income on his tax return, so if I have to fill out a 4506T, I won't be able to use it. I don't want to apply jointly for this card.
5. Would I be better off trying to get an increase in my credit union visa and transfer balances there? Not interest free, but no transfer fees and lower interest rate (5-8%). I'm currently paying 12% but my credit score has increased since I got the card 2 years ago.
6. Or should I try for both and see which one comes through? How quickly does an inquiry show up on a credit report anyway?

Thanks for any guidance!

[jsucool76]

pay off target and pottery barn first as they probably have the highest interest rate, then talk to your CU about maybe lowering your interest rate. might be more beneficial than applying for a BT card.

[baller4life]

Don't count on Chase to give you a high enough limit to do a bt. They are notorious for giving low limits on Slate for some reason.

[-Cain-]

OP, Chase pulled TU for me in SoCal.

[bk510]

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@-Cain- wrote:

OP, Chase pulled TU for me in SoCal.

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I'm in Socal as well and Chase, Citi and Amex pull EX....Discover EQ....Barclay TU.

Hope that helps.

[takeshi74]

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@baller4life wrote:
Don't count on Chase to give you a high enough limit to do a bt. They are notorious for giving low limits on Slate for some reason.

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Always consider the source.  People applying for BT cards tend to have high utilization.  High utilization will restrict the limit that one qualifies for as well as APR.

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@Anonymous wrote:
What are my chances of getting a CL high enough to combine balances?

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We can't tell you that.  However, you need to keep utilization on the card you intend to use for BT'ing.  If you need $X to cover the balances then you'll need quite a bit more than $X to keep its utilization in check.  That is, unless you intend to pay off $X within a few months.

Keep in mind that the general advice is do not exceed 30%.  You could probably push it to 50% for a short period of time.  Short term high utilization generally isn't an issue but prologned high utilization can lead to adverse action.

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@Anonymous wrote:
How quickly does an inquiry show up on a credit report anyway?

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Immediately.

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm in No Cal. Which bureau would Chase pull from?

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Google the Credit Pulls Database but keep in mind that multiple pulls are always a possiblity.

[Anonymous]

Also, don't know how many CCs you've aquired in the last two years, but Chase has a policy for their own cards (Slate, Freedom, CSP) that you can't have 5 or more new cards in the past two years. Some people have been successful in spite of it and I've been off the board about a week so it could have changed in that time. But look into that before counting on that. 

My experience has personally been that Slate was not a limit that would accomodate the BT I wanted. You might look into other cards that are more useful long term. If Chase is a possibility, maybe a Freedom instead? Not sure how long their 0% is for vs. Slate. I don't recall if you have a Discover, that'd be another good choice.