Hello and welcome.
This is the approvals forum, so you're in the wrong section for this post lol.
But a mod will come along and move this post shortly.
Second, you're off to a good start, and I would definitely seek some CLIs, but only SP (soft pull, meaning the pull won't show up on your report and hurt your score) CLIs, which I know capital one does, but you'd have to check with your CU and CreditOne.
As far as gardening, it simply means taking time off from applying for any new credit cards and letting your current ones grow in both age and limit. Most of the MyFICO members are outliers in that they apply for multiple credit products a year, and as a result rack up quite a bit of inquiries in their reports, whereas the general public applies for maybe one or two cards every few years. So MyFICOers are sometimes seen as "aggressive credit seekers," although the vast majority PIF and don't carry balances. They simply chase bonuses and maximize rewards (which by the way is also why they accumulate so many cards). They get cards that fit their spending and give them the most cash back or points for traveling simply for using their cards instead of debit or cash.
This is the approvals forum, so you're in the wrong section for this post lol.
But a mod will come along and move this post shortly.Second, you're off to a good start, and I would definitely seek some CLIs, but only SP (soft pull, meaning the pull won't show up on your report and hurt your score) CLIs, which I know capital one does, but you'd have to check with your CU and CreditOne.
As far as gardening, it simply means taking time off from applying for any new credit cards and letting your current ones grow in both age and limit. Most of the MyFICO members are outliers in that they apply for multiple credit products a year, and as a result rack up quite a bit of inquiries in their reports, whereas the general public applies for maybe one or two cards every few years. So MyFICOers are sometimes seen as "aggressive credit seekers," although the vast majority PIF and don't carry balances. They simply chase bonuses and maximize rewards (which by the way is also why they accumulate so many cards). They get cards that fit their spending and give them the most cash back or points for traveling simply for using their cards instead of debit or cash.
Omar gave an excellent explanation of gardening. There is a new Gardening thread in the Credit Card forum each and every month. Great group of members there. Join in anytime!
@Anonymous wrote:Hi all- I'm pretty new to this forum, and am going to take place to actively build my credit in the near future. So i'm just lurking and reading....
I keep seeing references to "gardening,' and wonder if someone could give me an explanation and best practices? I know it has to do with growing credit card limits/new cards selectively. Please explain?
My FICO 8 scores are all in the mid-600's right now, and I'd like to shoot those up to mid 700's. I have three cards in my wallet:
Capital One Quicksilver- $1000 limit. $20 balance, paid on time for three years straight. I've never asked for an increase nor have they offered without prompting.
My local credit union card- $500 limit. $9 blance, paid steadily for five years. No incresase in limit sought, none offered.
Credit one card- $300 limit. $9 balance. This one is only 6 months old and I just added it for extra utilization. Despite everyone's dislike of Credit one, I don't find it bad.
Should I be seeking to increase the limits on all of these? New cards? Any advice is helpful.....Thanks!
Congratulations! You were gardening for two years, then gardening for another two years, and lately gardening for 6 months. Many here would like to have that sort of discipline
A clarifying question, however, if you are paying all on time, are there any negatives lurking in your file? Mid-600 implies something out there, either an old late or something? The reason for asking is, the timing of that old late or lates items dropping from your reports will be the main determinant of when your score pops to over 700.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi all- I'm pretty new to this forum, and am going to take place to actively build my credit in the near future. So i'm just lurking and reading....
I keep seeing references to "gardening,' and wonder if someone could give me an explanation and best practices? I know it has to do with growing credit card limits/new cards selectively. Please explain?
My FICO 8 scores are all in the mid-600's right now, and I'd like to shoot those up to mid 700's. I have three cards in my wallet:
Capital One Quicksilver- $1000 limit. $20 balance, paid on time for three years straight. I've never asked for an increase nor have they offered without prompting.
My local credit union card- $500 limit. $9 blance, paid steadily for five years. No incresase in limit sought, none offered.
Credit one card- $300 limit. $9 balance. This one is only 6 months old and I just added it for extra utilization. Despite everyone's dislike of Credit one, I don't find it bad.
Should I be seeking to increase the limits on all of these? New cards? Any advice is helpful.....Thanks!
Some of the factors that cut against a good credit score are (a) recent inquiries (should be low) (b) average age of accounts (should be high), and (c) age of oldest account (should be high).
If you apply for no new credit, you're growing all 3.
That's gardening.
Applying for a credit limit increase is no problem if it's a "soft pull" request, but if you generate a "hard pull" inquiry -- you're not gardening, because you're adding a recent inquiry. Capital One requests are "soft pull"; I don't know about your credit union or Credit One.
