First CC in years...which one to go for?

[Anonymous]

Thanks to the great advice on this board, I have managed to haul my scores up from the mid five hundreds to the 700's in the past couple of years!  It has been a long journey and I had to let a lot of my baddies age and fall off that happened during a bad divorce.  I had gotten into a lot of trouble with CC and was so mad that I figured the best way to build my credit was just not to have a CC at ALL.  Ok so now I am ready to get one again.  I was thinking of trying to get just one with a high limit so I would only have one inquiry on my reports and get the benefit of having a card.  Is there a best one to try for?  Would it be even better to get maybe a CC and open a store account too?  I am nervous about getting back into the world of cards since I had such a bad experience before...but I would like to buy a home in the not too distant future, so would like to build up my credit worthiness as much as possible before I face the scary 'getting a mortgage' process! Thanks for any input...you guys are great and have helped me so much!

[fused]

Who do you have open credit cards with? What are their limits and balances? When exactly are you going house hunting?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding....I have no CCs at the moment.  TU680 (because of one collection scheduled to fall off in Sept 09), EQ 754 and EX (last time I checked a year ago, and it should only have gone up since then since I have had perfect payment on a car loan) 745.  I am saving now and would like to be able to start looking for a house in about a year. The only debt I have currently is a car loan (lease) with two more years left, balance around 8K.

[fused]

Your EQ score is very high without having an open CC. I suggest you look for a card with the bank or credit union you do business with, even if its a secured card. Or you can try getting a card from a credit union that you are not a member of. Also, adding a store card to the mix would give you another positive trade line and helps improve your credit mix. Keep in mind you shouldn't expect bit credit limits in the beginning, it takes time.

[miay2k4]

I agree with "Fused".  With scores in those ranges you are in a very good position to obtain just about any card u want.  I would recommend getting a card with a company that you use often.