Should I continue Applying or Hold Off

[dizzyskyline]

Recently approved for Penfed visa 5k  sl,  Nasa  Visa 8k  sl   and  Costco Visa  6500 sl -  I already have a cap 1 QS  cl 7500  and Discover  9800 cl -  I want to apply for a mortgage in Oct/Nov and trying to beef up my mortgage fico which stands at 686  even though my fico 8  is 707. 

Should I apply for more cards to increase my available credit or just hold tight til I'm ready to apply for a mortgage and hope the mortgage fico increases?

[driftless]

5 cards? Don't app again until after you close!

[Anonymous]

I think you did well and should wait until after closing before getting any more cards.  The HP for the penfed card is good for 90 days, so you might request a CLI at 85 days or so.

[ddemari]

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@dizzyskyline wrote:

Recently approved for Penfed visa 5k  sl,  Nasa  Visa 8k  sl   and  Costco Visa  6500 sl -  I already have a cap 1 QS  cl 7500  and Discover  9800 cl -  I want to apply for a mortgage in Oct/Nov and trying to beef up my mortgage fico which stands at 686  even though my fico 8  is 707. 

Should I apply for more cards to increase my available credit or just hold tight til I'm ready to apply for a mortgage and hope the mortgage fico increases?

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you should post this over in the mortgage loans section. Most people that are going for a mortgage loan and want to get the best deal, are not supposed to seek credit before applying. most lenders dont want to see you adding possible debt to you scenario. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@dizzyskyline wrote:

Recently approved for Penfed visa 5k  sl,  Nasa  Visa 8k  sl   and  Costco Visa  6500 sl -  I already have a cap 1 QS  cl 7500  and Discover  9800 cl -  I want to apply for a mortgage in Oct/Nov and trying to beef up my mortgage fico which stands at 686  even though my fico 8  is 707. 

Should I apply for more cards to increase my available credit or just hold tight til I'm ready to apply for a mortgage and hope the mortgage fico increases?

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There isn't the slightest doubt that you should stop applying.

Every new account and every hard inquiry is taking you further away from your goal.

[Anonymous]

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@dizzyskyline wrote:

Recently approved for Penfed visa 5k  sl,  Nasa  Visa 8k  sl   and  Costco Visa  6500 sl -  I already have a cap 1 QS  cl 7500  and Discover  9800 cl -  I want to apply for a mortgage in Oct/Nov and trying to beef up my mortgage fico which stands at 686  even though my fico 8  is 707. 

Should I apply for more cards to increase my available credit or just hold tight til I'm ready to apply for a mortgage and hope the mortgage fico increases?

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If you have to ask you already know the answer. Otherwise you are just looking for encouragement to do what you know you should not be doing Lots of things in life follow this rule.

[CatOfSpades]

Just FYI - mortgage people don't like a lot of available credit - it scares them. If you have 20k available credit, that means you have the potential to run up 20k in debt, which could make it harder for you to pay your mortgage. They like to see no debt, responsible usage, no inquiries. You want to look as in control as possible. Applying for a bunch of cards is not the picture of self-control. Just saying. This might be why your mortgage fico is lower. Mortgage companies don't look at things the same way as everyone else. Good luck with your mortgage loan! 

[Anonymous]

Applying for more cards isn't going to help you, it will only hurt you. So yes, stop.

[takeshi74]

With that timeframe you probably need to stop.  General advice is no new credit 6 months to 1 year out from a mortgage and you're less than 6 months away.  You already have 3 new accounts.

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@dizzyskyline wrote:

trying to beef up my mortgage fico which stands at 686  even though my fico 8  is 707. 

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Of course -- they're different scoring models.  You cannot use a score generated by one model to determine a score generated by another model.  You don't have just one mortgage FICO or just one FICO 8.  For most models you have a score with each of the 3 major CRA's so make sure you're paying attention to the reports with all 3 and working on addressing issues versus relying on new accounts to improve your credit.  Your mortgage lender will consider mortgage scores from all 3 and use the mid score.

Also, don't overlook the Mortgage subforum, its stickies and discussions.

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@CatOfSpades wrote:

Just FYI - mortgage people don't like a lot of available credit - it scares them.  

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It's not quite so simple and direct and depends on one's credit profile as well.  This is only anecdotal but we had no problems getting best terms with Chase Mortgage in Q3 last year and I have over 200K in card limits.  But yeah, the OP needs to stop applying and to focus on reports and cleanup which should have been started long ago.

[RonM21]

I'd stop until.after that time. Grow what you have. Give your score a chance to rebound and begin moving upwards going in to the mortgage.