Hello! Glad to finally meet all of you! NEED ADVICE

[Anonymous]

So I usually pay in full or leave a very small balance. My current utilization is at 19% which is very high for me. It just so happened that a statement cut at the wrong time. Blah. Main reason I am seeking additional credit is due to the baby being on the way in 6 months. That is why I feel I need one more seed to grow before I garden. 6 months is that magic number for Capital One!

I did check the prequalify site for capital one, and no results in regards to an offer. However I have seen people with my score range get approvals for QS visas and Ventures with no prequalification...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I usually pay in full or leave a very small balance. My current utilization is at 19% which is very high for me. It just so happened that a statement cut at the wrong time. Blah. Main reason I am seeking additional credit is due to the baby being on the way in 6 months. That is why I feel I need one more seed to grow before I garden. 6 months is that magic number for Capital One!

I did check the prequalify site for capital one, and no results in regards to an offer. However I have seen people with my score range get approvals for QS visas and Ventures with no prequalification...

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Just be careful. Cap One seems to have tightened up a bit in the past few weeks. It would suck to get a Triple Pull(TM) for no card. 

[Anonymous]

Exactly, this is why I am hesitant. My internal score with Capital One is probably dynamite so I imagine that can help. However when you say they have tightened up is that because you are seeing less approvals on the forums? Could it have something to do with the Xmas season?

[TrialByFire]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Exactly, this is why I am hesitant. My internal score with Capital One is probably dynamite so I imagine that can help. However when you say they have tightened up is that because you are seeing less approvals on the forums? Could it have something to do with the Xmas season?

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Hello OP a big welcome to you and even BIGGER congrats on your upcoming arrival. As others have said you've done an excellent job rebuilding.

As a data point, I was turned down for the Venture a month or so ago with scores in the 670-680 range and some 4-5yo paid baddies. I've had the plat mc and QS1 for about a year and have treated them well. Could be them tightening up or could be something in my profile they didn't like to be willing to extend a minimum 5k line.

Not sure I'd use a HP on Barclays either being that the acct is only 3mo old and you have several recent accts. If you were successful I don't think it'd be very worthwhile.

Combining your cap 1 accts then apping for another QS1 could be a viable option, but then I'd wonder if the SL would be worthwhile or useful to you. What kind of SL are you looking to get? Also a personal loan from a CU might be one thing to consider. If there's a local one you could walk in with a copy of your reports and talk to a loan officer. They'll still want to pull a report on you, but IME they're much more upfront about their lending policies than traditional banks. Granted the interest rate won't be as good as a 0% intro offer on a new card, however you'll have set payments and a set timeframe to pay it off.

My ultimate suggestion is if you have a couple months before the baby gets here and can hold off on your purchases, you stand a better chance for a good approval.

[Anonymous]

Exactly the analysis I was looking for, thank you! 

My gut feeling is I will not be approved for the Venture or QS signature. Based on my recent reposession, although I do have a fair FICO. I am looking for a SL of 4k or more. It would be nice to have a $5.3k QS1 by combining and another card at a similar limit. I feel sort of stuck. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone, after months of stalking these forums I finally purchased and joined. You all have been a wealth of information, and hopefully in time I can contribute as well. First, let me tell you a bit about my rebuilding journey. 

I am 24, and I started my credit problems at 18. I took out a car loan, that due to underemployment and unemployment, became delinquent. Lots of baddies, 30 and 60 day lates. I eventually ended up closing that loan, and purchasing a new vehicle in 2012. That loan also become delinquent as a result of underemployment and unemployment.  Soon after in December 2014, it was repossessed. I redeemed the repo, and now since then, have maintained clean payments since January 2015. This is when I woke up, and realized I needed to fix my credit, as my Credit Karma score reported me at a 460. 

In April 2015 I opened my first unsecured Capital One Mastercard Platinum at a $300 sl. Realizing that this boosted my score significantly, I opened up a QuicksilverOne at $500 sl. These were both in steps. I watched my score jump. After getting my first LUV's from Cap One, I watched the accounts grow.

Then after in September opened my Barclays at $350. Then a Sony Card at $750 sl, (on steps). As of November I opened up my Macy's at $600 sl on a soft pull and my Best Buy at $500 sl on a hard pull. Since then my scores are now where they are below. It's been a long 11 months, and I am still continuing to build. I currently have 6, and 9 HP's per agency.

I need more credit in order to finance my purchases for a new baby on the way, and for financial security. I make $50,000 a year now and finally am beginning to live comfortably. 

My question is where should I begin? How should I proceed? I was contemplating going in the garden, but I feel like one more card, perhaps a Venture, or a Cap One combination of my two MC's and another Subprime capital one thereafter and a HP Barclay CLI would complete my first round of rebuilding. What do you guys think? And again, thank you for all the advice I have read all these months. 

FICO 08

EXPERIAN - 639
EQUIFAX - 622
TRANSUNION - 649

CREDIT CARDS
QuicksilverOne - $2000
VentureOne - $3300
Sony Card - $750
Best Buy Visa Gold - $500
Macy's - $600
Barclay Rewards Mastercard - $350

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Nice going on your solid rebuilding.

My advice is not to apply for anything now.

Let your present portfolio of cards age. They will all grow.

You can't finance your purchases for the baby with high interest credit cards. You'll wind up getting in deep again. Just bite the bullet on buying stuff. Trust me. I know.

[Anonymous]

Solid rebuilding job; however, I'm a little concerned by your statement that you needed credit to finance purchases for your new child. That at least implies that you're going to be buying things that you can't really afford. Don't get me worng, babies are expensive, but you can get a lot of stuff secondhand from family members. It's also good to keep in mind that most of the stuff you purchase is going to be worthless after a year, because your kid will have outgrown it. 

However, if you're planning on continuing to pay in full, then it isn't an issue, and I commend you on your progress. If you're looking for one more card, I might consider a ToysRUs card. If I recall correctly, you'll get a 10% discount through the end of the year and decent discounts aside from that.

Additionally, gardening is definitely a good call. You might also head over to the Rebuilding Your Credit forum and see about goodwill letters and other methods of dealing with your delinquincies. 

[msbia]

OP you seem pretty determined to take the HP on the chance of a higher limit card and no one can stop you, only advise. IMO it would be best to combine the two C1 cards for a $5,500 limit card and then garden while using that card and PIF. If you app for another Capital One it will be a triple pull and may end up being a denial. You should wait, fix your baddies and watch your scores rise. Financing stuff for the baby on credit cards is a bad...bad...idea. You should only charge what you can pay via debit, unless it's an emergency. I wish you much success and please continue to post with us. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you all, I think I'm gonna go in the garden! Let's see these accounts grow.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on rebuilding. Babies are expensive, but it's also mostly stuff you won't get much use for after a year or two. Garage sales are almost always packed with baby stuff because of this. That is not worth getting in the hole over. I think your in nesting mode trying to plan for the future financially which is awesome. If your living comfortably now, you should be fine.