Effect of app spree?

[LuckyBird]

hi!  I've been a lurker here for quite a while, and have learned so much from you guys.  Hoping y'all can give me some insight on a situation...worried I made a big mistake...

My husband and I have had some credit difficulties in the past due to a business failure a few years ago.  It took a while, and a lot of reading here & learning, to get our credit scores back into a good range, where they've been for a few years now.

I started with typical re-builder cards (Credit One...ugghhh) but over the last few years have added some decent cards, like Discover & Bank of America, and we've been able to re-finance our mortgage to 3.25% fixed, buy a car with 0% for 60 months, etc., so we've been doing okay in the credit arena in recent years.  My scores are in the near-700 range, like 697 (fako).  Don't know for sure what my real Fico is right now.  But...I'm guessing it must be pretty good, because...

A couple of weeks ago, I got a pop-up on Victoria's secret that I was pre-approved for $500, and decided to accept it.  Right after that, I got a pre-approval letter from First National Bank of Omaha for a co-branded AMEX, and decided to apply.  Got approved for $3,000.

After lurking here and reading about pre-qualified sites for some of the major cards (I didn't know that existed!!) I just decided to see if I'd have any offers on any of them...and I did...

So I applied for a few...and got approved for everything I applied for...USAA Cash Rewards Visa for $7,000...Citi Simplicity for $5,000...Chase Freedom for $4,000...

So that's 5 new accounts in about 2 weeks.  I've never done this before!  I'm sure in the long run they'll be good for my score...but I'm worried about short-term score effects.  What do you think it will do?

Thanks for any insights you can offer!

~Debbie

[Dw4250]

Short term most likely your score will drop. But it should recover fully within in 6 months or so...as long as you are not applying for anything major soon (ie house or car), it shouldn't matter.

Long term your credit will be stronger for it!

[MissMoni223]

CONGRATS on your very successful App Spree.  I agree, your score should recover after 6 months.

[LuckyBird]

Thanks for your answers!  That's what I'm hoping.

Another question...I still have a Credit One Visa open, with a low limit of $1750.  It has a zero balance.  I'm going to close that at some point now that I have these new ones, but not sure when is the best time to do that.  It's my oldest open account, about 5 years, but my Discover is just a few months younger, as is a Cap One mastercard.  Should I close it now, or give it a few months?  There is an annual fee, that's billed to the card in installments of around $8/month.

The Cap One mastercard has a ridiculous $800 limit...in fairness, I've never asked for an increase.  I'm thinking I may keep this one if I can get the limit up and/or accomplish a product change to a better card.  Is that possible with Cap One?

[iCoop]

OP like others have said, should recover within the next 6 months and definitely within the year.

I too have done a recent app spree and been approved for all cards except for one. In the last month I've added on about $30K in available revolving credit, assumed a mortgage, and refinanced an auto loan. I expect my scores to drop quite a bit when all of the new accounts hit and old loans show closed; but with 1 to 2 years of gardening, I should see my scores approaching the 800 limit when two negative reports turn positive along with all the recent credit inquiries falling off.

I would keep open your oldest card, but not if it has an annual fee and isn't being used. My oldest card is a Macy's card with a $300 limit which will never be used but I won't close it out as it helps with my AAoA.

[CelticLady]

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@debbie1124 wrote:

Thanks for your answers!  That's what I'm hoping.

Another question...I still have a Credit One Visa open, with a low limit of $1750.  It has a zero balance.  I'm going to close that at some point now that I have these new ones, but not sure when is the best time to do that.  It's my oldest open account, about 5 years, but my Discover is just a few months younger, as is a Cap One mastercard.  Should I close it now, or give it a few months?  There is an annual fee, that's billed to the card in installments of around $8/month.

The Cap One mastercard has a ridiculous $800 limit...in fairness, I've never asked for an increase.  I'm thinking I may keep this one if I can get the limit up and/or accomplish a product change to a better card.  Is that possible with Cap One?

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You can close the Credit One whenever you are comfortable doing so. It will stay as a positive tradeline on your reports for upto 10 years. So, it won't hurt your AAoA until it drops off in 10 years and you have these new cards you got that will be 10 years by then. So, now or in a few months won't really make much a difference.

As for Capital One, yes, product changes are possible every 6 months as are CLI's. Log into your account and you can request a soft pull CLI. Then, use their chat and ask "if there are any offers to change your card to a Quicksilver/Venture"  If you have a plain old no rewards platinum then you can ask for a Quicksilver or a Venture. Look over both and see which is better for what rewards you would like and ask for that one. I just did this recently after doing it 6 months ago and got PC's both times. Good luck!

[LuckyBird]

thanks, CelticLady! 

I did initiate a chat with Cap One, and they upgraded that card to QuickSilver for me.  I'll prob close down that Credit One card when the new ones arrive.