Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

I've been here for a bit now but learning a lot from everyone here. For those that might have missed my situation- I'm getting married at the end of May and will likely look for a house in a year or so. My credit history isn't extensive. I had an AU card from Nov 2009 and first real card from May 2011. "Luckily" I have 11 education fed loans that are upping my AAoA to roughly 6.9yrs (so 6yrs 11mo let's say). My TU/EXP scores are around the 765-770 area.

I wanted to get my credit in order as well as get a card with no FTF for our upcoming travels. So this month I applied and was approved for Cap1 QS (10k limit & no FTF) and Citi DC ($3k limit & 2% CB)

I did some quick math and those two new cards should drop my AAoA to pretty much 6 yrs even... so I'm losing a year here...

I was looking at the Marvel card for 3% back on dining and entertainment (don't care for Marvel itself but the benefits seem nice)

Also I was looking at Blispay because of simpler 2% back and hopefully a higher limit than the $3k joke of a limit that Citi gave me

My rough calculations project me dropping to 5yrs 7mo if I add one card and and 5yrs 4mo if I add both Marvel and Blispay

At that point I'll have 4 HPs and 4 new accounts... How will that look for a mortgage application a year from now? What is it gonna do to my FICO score? I'm mildly worried because I'm in that borderline category where I don't want to drop below 740... I know it'll recover in time but how many points am I expected to lose on this? Will it make a difference? Should I sit tight and wait a year or do a spree now and just garden like forever after that? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

From a mortgage qualification standpoint you'll be fine. Even after the apps your file will still be strong, and in 12 months you'll be fully recovered from any minor ding in score.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
From a mortgage qualification standpoint you'll be fine. Even after the apps your file will still be strong, and in 12 months you'll be fully recovered from any minor ding in score.

thanks! So I guess I should specify... I feel like we'll be able to get a mortgage no problem, but I'm worried about the rate... will we still be able to get the top rates?

deltatee · ‎04-14-2016

I applied for two cards and a car loan in the six months before my mortgage. I was fine. You want your middle score to be as high as possible for interest. If you apply for more cards I would do it sooner rather than later. As you get closer to applying for the mortgage you want your credit to be perfect.

Normally, with your scores, low inquiries, and student loans padding your AAOA, I wouldn't see a ton of downside to getting Blispay. Worst that happens is you lose a HP (when you don't have very many) and take a month hit on your AAOA in the event they close shop. If they don't, you have an awesome card.

But with the mortgage coming up, I'd be scared to get the Blispay because there is a lot of uncertainty with them. If they closed up shop in a year when your loan is in underwriting, it could look like you're messing with your credit and it could hurt your utilization, your score, and possibly your interest rate. That would definitely not be worth the headache.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

Inquiries are supposed to stop affecting your credit score after a year, and new accounts usually decrease your score short-term while increasing it if you show responsible use long-term. Since you just got 2 new cards, I would personally suggest waiting to get any more until after your mortgage goes through.

I'd also look at themanwhocan's charts for cashback cards to figure out which ones would be best for you in the long run. For instance, Blispay is the same as your Double Cash in rewards rate, and it's much newer and less established, so I would suggest avoiding that in favor of something that gives greater than 2% rewards on categories in which you spend more.

deltatee · ‎04-14-2016

OP, you'd likely still get the best interest rate if you got a new card now because the HP stops affecting your score after 12 months and it would actually pad your utilization. You'd just want to decrease your utilization in time for it to report when they do your application.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

@deltatee wrote:
OP, you'd likely still get the best interest rate if you got a new card now because the HP stops affecting your score after 12 months and it would actually pad your utilization. You'd just want to decrease your utilization in time for it to report when they do your application.

I always carry a zero or next to zero balance... I'm very fortunate to be in a position to not have util issues so purely from a util standpoint, I won't get much benefit out of more limits... really just looking to establish better long term history and and farm some rewards...

deltatee · ‎04-14-2016

Then I don't see much downside to apping, just do it soon so your scores rebound!

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

ok, here's a hypothetical twist then... we live in Atlanta so the market is insane here.. houses come off the market in matter of minutes... so let's imagine future wife falls in love with a house in September/October? Am I screwed?

PS She has better credit history than me, probably in the 810-820 range... most of it comes from her parents' cards that I unfortunately can't be added to... I could add 2 of her cards to massively up my limits but it'll likely decrease my AAoA since those are from 2012... so that likely does nothing for me...

deltatee · ‎04-14-2016

Can't answer it for certain, but I doubt it.

I'm in Denver and the market is the same way. You literally have a weekend to place a bid well over asking, pay the differencenter between offer and appraisal value, and waive inspection, just to compete with at least 20 other offers on the house.

Anyway, I applied for my Sallie Mae last February and expected to wait another year before buying. But between my taxes and the market I had to jump in the market a lot sooner than expected and got pre qualified one month later. I was fine because my card reported and was on my credit report by the time I applied, and my score was good enough that the card didn't knock my score out of the highest interest rate range.

However, it would've been a headache going through underwriting if the card ended up reporting after my pre-qual.

So I guess what I am recommending is to make sure it reports before the pre-qual and dont go over board.