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When I started rebuilding in early 07, I had
2 first premiers
2 orchards
While I didn’t really want 4 of those stellar subprimes (fortunately they lowered the fees), I NEEDED them b/c I couldn’t get anything else and b/c I traveled A LOT and having just 1 orchard and 1 fp wasn’t enough to let me put a flight/hotel on.
Today I have these subprimes
1 first premier- 250 cl
1 orchard (consolidated 2 into 1- still stuck w/lowly 600 cl b/c orchard hates me)
I also have these ccs
BA 99/500 (still secured- should graduate in early 09)
Cap 1 (1.1k cl)
Hooters (500 cl)
Target red
I plan to close the first premier and orchard in early 09, the 2 yr anniv of each. However, is there really any tangible benefit (beyond 6 more mos. of + reporting on that tl) to keeping the fp (w/its glamorous $7/mo. fee) open? I already paid the orchard AF through early 09, so plan to keep that open.
Is there some kind of ‘magic’ fico wise to keeping ccs open for @ least 2 yrs or is it ok fico wise to close them @ 18 mos.? Is it better to 'spread out' closing ccs? and yes, i've read the 'close ccs the right way' thread.
I closed 1 fp @ 12 mos and actually saw my ficos rise a decent chunk. I calculated wrong- the remaining fp already has 20 mos. positive reporting history. I’m not really sure waiting another 4 mos.- which in the case of fp, WOULD cost me something ($28- not a ton, but also, not all that useful of a cc) is going to give me a huge fico boost, esp. when I closed 1 fp @ 12 mos. and ficos rose.
As for the current cls, yes, they are low right now. However, by early 09 (before I close orchard), BA will graduate/unsecure to @ least 1k (if they don’t beat my cap 1 1.1k cl), hooters should give me a CLI, and possibly cap 1 will give me another CLI. So while today’s cls aren’t all that impressive, I think I’d look a lot better in early 09 if lenders see ‘oh look, all ccs (but target red) have 4 digit CLs’.
As for future apps, I don’t plan on going app happy anytime soon. If anything, I plan on letting my ccs and reports ‘garden’ and keep on, keeping on w/low utilization and flawless history. By early 09, my ficos should be in the 700s and I think I’ll get my foot in the door w/’better’ lenders if I choose to app then. My ‘down the road cc goals’ are chase, usaa, and citi…but as I said, I’m not going app happy anytime soon.
@ this point, I’m thinking it’s prob better to close the last fp now w/20 mos. great history and then, 4 mos. from now, close the orchard. orchard will stay open b/c i already paid the AF. closing FP now would save me $28...again, not a huge $ amount, but really, i don't use that cc and its whopping $250 isn't overly crucial to my utilization %s. I’m not sure what the fico impact will be of closing 2 ccs @ the same time, so it makes sense to close them a bit apart.