Rebuilding credit, have prime cards, what now?

[ymmv]

Thanks to this board I'm currently sitting on

AMEX Blue , 6k CL from 2K starting limit, did 3x CLI after 61 days

Discover More, 4k CL, being converted to Discover IT

BOA 123, 1K CL, had prior BOA cc's that went into collections, this card approved on 3rd recon attempt

Cap One - 500 CL, opened last August, initially 300 CL

Express Store Card - 950 CL

At this point I'm not sure what to do other than garden. I have no need for any more cards. It's easy enough to PIF every month. Mentally juggling which card I want to charge with becomes tedious at some points.

1. What's my outlook from here? Do I just grow with these cards and building higher CL's over time?
 Maybe I'll finance a car in a year or two. Somewhere down the line (very far future) I'd like to buy a house. What's the best thing I can do to set myself up for that?

2. Should my goal be to qualify for super selective cards like Penfed?

[tinuviel]

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@ymmv wrote:

Thanks to this board I'm currently sitting on

AMEX Blue , 6k CL from 2K starting limit, did 3x CLI after 61 days

Discover More, 4k CL, being converted to Discover IT

BOA 123, 1K CL, had prior BOA cc's that went into collections, this card approved on 3rd recon attempt

Cap One - 500 CL, opened last August, initially 300 CL

Express Store Card - 950 CL

At this point I'm not sure what to do other than garden. I have no need for any more cards. It's easy enough to PIF every month. Mentally juggling which card I want to charge with becomes tedious at some points.

1. What's my outlook from here? Do I just grow with these cards and building higher CL's over time?
 Maybe I'll finance a car in a year or two. Somewhere down the line (very far future) I'd like to buy a house. What's the best thing I can do to set myself up for that?

2. Should my goal be to qualify for super selective cards like Penfed?

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I think that the highlighted statement helps to answer this for you. If you have no need for any more cards, then you don't need to apply for any more. You have a nice collection of cards right now, and if you feel that they're suiting your needs sufficiently, then that's wonderful! So, since you're looking to possibly finance a car and get a mortgage down the line, the best thing that you could do to help meet your goals is to allow these cards to age and develop a spotless history with them. In a year or two, the inqs will no longer affect your score and the positive history will also help to boost it further; this should help you to get a good rate on an auto loan.

Eventually you may decide that other cards offer benefits that your current set of cards don't. After all, life isn't static and people's needs tend to change over time. Once again, gardening what you have now will help you develop the history necessary to get approved for more selective cards.

The bottom line seems to be that, which ever goal you are going for -- car, mortgage, superprime cards -- the best thing that you can do at this point in time is to sit back and enjoy spending some time in the garden.

[jamesdwi]

you might want to app for chase freedom or something from citi, and close the capone after you have recived its replacement, A 500 CL doesn't do much for you and may hold you back for better credit limits and it can be your one main goto card no more guessing games.  If you PIF each month you can get a AMEX charge card that will be back dated, for best benefit app in january,

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Wow! I've never had to do a third Recon, maybe I should just keep trying next time I app for a BofA card! 

If I were you, I'd just grow those limits and as the OP said, maybe try to get a Chase Freedom; they might match your Amex CL. It's so important to keep util. low, even if you PIF. I think it's even reasonable to say that revolving a small balance from time to time will help you credit history/score too. Credit is a good thing, the more you can handle, the better lenders will view you as a credit risk. I also wouldn't app for any new credit six months to a year before you app for a mortgage! 

:-)

[iMacDrew]

Personally id cancel crap one and the Express store card and let the Primes grow. Maybe even get a charge card to add to the mix.