I've lurked for quite some time and recently decided to join the forum in order to gear up for my first home purchase. I've just taken the steps of pulling my credit reports, and reviewing scores and information. One score is suffering from my authorized user status on a relative's account that has had several payment hiccups in the past year.
Regarding credit cards in my own name, I have one little card that I obtained about 7 years ago with a very CL that I primarily use for purchasing gas. I haven't applied for or used any other credit card since about 2006. Likewise, my credit scores have remained pretty stagnant and I would like to improve them. I have a high student debt load and 3 late (30 days) payments over the course of my 5 year car loan which has been paid off for about 3 years.
After lurking on this forum all morning, I decided to take a stab a securing a few cards. I did some research on the board but am not sure where to go at this juncture. I applied for a Capital One Platinum card this afternoon and was approved on-line for a $2000 limit. My questions:
-Should I ask to increase the limit before activating? (Is that par for the course?)
-Should I immediately apply for another card or wait awhile?
-If I should apply for another, which one? (I've seen that Walmart is popular but I never shopped there (too far). Is there a special benefit to store cards? I'm also considering the Chase Freedom. Am I more likely to be denied due to the very recent credit inquiry from earlier today?)
Thanks in advance for any help with the above questions.
Thanks for your response, john398. I went ahead and jumped the gun on responses and applied for the Chase Freedom card. They approved me for $4500. Do you know if it's par for the course to try to get them to increase the CL?
Regarding the home purchase, it's about 9 months out, so there's time to recover. I switched employers and want to wait until at least my 1 yr anniversary. I'm planning to purchase my childhood home from a relative and do a complete renovation (hopefully after securing a FHA 203(k) loan).
@takeshi74 wrote:It's not normal if that's what you're asking. You can try for a CLI but expect to get dinged with another HP any time you initiate a request. Use the card responsibly and try for a CLI in 6 months. If they were willing to extend you a larger line of credit they would have done so.
@Home2014 wrote:Is there a special benefit to store cards?
Depends on the card. They're not all identical. It's fairly pointless to apply for a store card for a store that you'll never shop at.
Thanks. I went with the Citi AAdvantage (American Airline rewards), Chase Freedom, and Capital One. I probably won't push for a limit increase with the Citi and Capital One cards, but I will try with the Chase Freedom card. There was some language in the approval note indicating that I should call them to discuss matters if their offer terms weren't satisfactory. I'll check out what that yeilds.
Good point on the store cards. I did an assessment this afternoon and realized that I don't shop anywhere often enough to reap a substantial benefit.
