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Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

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acevesf
New Contributor

Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Hello all,

Being the impatient person I am I wanted to ask your opinion to help me make a decision. My wife and I are waiting for some CC balances to report to my credit reports before we have our LO pull our credit so we can get the preapproval letter. My question is should we really wait?

 

Here’s the scenario:

My Fico scores are TU 635 and EQ 645 DW’s are 626 and 602 respectively. Our lender does go down to 600 fico midscore for FHA, unfortunately at a 1% hit, I’m pretty positive her Experian score is gonna be the lowest of the 3 so the 602 is where we’ll be sitting.

Anyways about the credit cards. There’s a best buy card reporting a $250 balance on a $800 limit. I paid it down to 0 about a month ago and requested a mid cycle update from HSBC Best Buy but they said it only happens on my Statement Date (December 6th).

 

There’s also a Macys card reporting a $36 balance on a $170 limit. That’s also been paid down to $0 but not sure when it’ll report to the credit bureaus.

 

Last card is a credit card with a $42 balance on a $450 limit. That has been paid down to $1 but has not reported either.

The balances currently reporting aren’t too bad are they? Will waiting really help since these will only affect my ficos and not hers?

 

DW does not have any CC’s only a car loan she paid off with no lates of about $4k and our current car loan of about 13K with no lates that we have been paying for over two years. She Does have 3 medical collections totaling $470 dollars.

 

Is there anything I can do to try and get her Ficos up to 620? Will paying those help?

Sorry this is so long, if you need me to provide anything else, I’ll be glad to! Thanks for your time and help this board is awesome
Message 1 of 23
22 REPLIES 22
demo18c
Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

You can try to add her an Au to your cards. Throw a little mixture in there..It may help

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Message 2 of 23
acevesf
New Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Will adding her as an AU count as an inquiry as well though? I don't want to do anything that will have a negative impact on her score as you can see we are right on the border of that mid 600 at this point!
Message 3 of 23
Regular Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances


@acevesf wrote:
Will adding her as an AU count as an inquiry as well though? I don't want to do anything that will have a negative impact on her score as you can see we are right on the border of that mid 600 at this point!

 

No it won't. But I would choose wisely the account you want to add her as a AU on. Make sure its a account that has the longest history, no late payments and a low utilization (between 1-9%). Also you may want to check with the credit card company before adding her to make sure they report AU to all 3 credit bureaus. I know for a fact that Cap One does. Hope that helps!
Message 4 of 23
acevesf
New Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

So of my 3 cards the oldest is the Best Buy. opened 1/1/2008 the Limit is 800 and high balance was 799 now the balance sits at 253 at least on the CR. I have paid it down to $0. Would this be the best to add?

 

Macys opened 8/1/2008 high balance of $252 Limit of 170.00 I thought I had a $300 limit so that really threw me off when i saw that limit, so not sure if its a good idea to use this card. Balance showing on the report is $43 but has also been paid down to $0

 

Last CC is a Visa with limit of $450 high balance of $465 which was for like one day before I paid it well below the limit.. Current balance showing is $36 but I have paid this down to $1.

 

So what does everyone think? should I wait for the new balances to report and what card would be best to add her to?

Message 5 of 23
Regular Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances


@acevesf wrote:

So of my 3 cards the oldest is the Best Buy. opened 1/1/2008 the Limit is 800 and high balance was 799 now the balance sits at 253 at least on the CR. I have paid it down to $0. Would this be the best to add?

 

Macys opened 8/1/2008 high balance of $252 Limit of 170.00 I thought I had a $300 limit so that really threw me off when i saw that limit, so not sure if its a good idea to use this card. Balance showing on the report is $43 but has also been paid down to $0

 

Last CC is a Visa with limit of $450 high balance of $465 which was for like one day before I paid it well below the limit.. Current balance showing is $36 but I have paid this down to $1.

 

So what does everyone think? should I wait for the new balances to report and what card would be best to add her to?


 

I would post this on the Credit Cards forum to see what they think. Some people on that forum may know if these cards report AU and if they are reported to all 3 credit bureaus. To me it seems like the Best Buy card would be the best bet but I'm not for sure.
Message 6 of 23
honeybunnygal
Regular Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances


@acevesf wrote:

Anyways about the credit cards. There’s a best buy card reporting a $250 balance on a $800 limit. I paid it down to 0 about a month ago and requested a mid cycle update from HSBC Best Buy but they said it only happens on my Statement Date (December 6th).

 


 

Hmmm...HSBC/Orchard cards usually post the balance as of the last business day of the month, not the statement balance (unless, of course, your statement hits at the end of the month). I also have an HSBC BestBuy MC & this is what I have seen. Also, I've seen my report update before my statement date. Example: I've seen my reports update on the 9th, but my statement date isn't until the 13th (yes, I pull my credit report frequently thanks to CCT). I'm still rebuilding & like to keep an eye on things.

 

Post about when CCs update on reports:

 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&message.id=35340&query.id=26734...

 

As a previous poster mentioned, I'd check on the Credit Cards forum for more insight on balances & if AU accounts post from a particular institution. Just be sure that if you add your DW as an AU that you add her to a clean account, no derogs, no lates.

 

Hope this helps!  Smiley Happy

 

Hard work & patience can go a long way!
8/2009 (myFICO): TU - 599, EQ - 656
7/23/2010 (LO pull): TU - 738, EQ - 801, EX - 785
4/12/2012 (myFICO): TU -778, EQ - 791
Message 7 of 23
acevesf
New Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Cass and Honey thank you so much. I will post in the Credit Card forum. Hopefully my best buy card also updates last day of the month, but I do not have the best buy mastercard just their store card, not sure if that post different!

 

So what do you guys think should we wait to have our LO pull credit? would the balances currently showing on my report have a negative effect?

Message 8 of 23
honeybunnygal
Regular Contributor

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Is there a Mod in the house? I think this post should be moved.

 

I normally hang around the Rebuilding forum, but poke my head in here since I'm looking to buy a home next year. It sounds like there may be a bit of tweaking/cleanup to be done to your scores, so I would suggest having the LO hold off on pulling your scores (if you can afford to wait).

 

From what I've seen, FICO likes to see utilization at between 1-9% & less than half your revolving TLs reporting a balance. Of course, the gurus on the Rebuilding would have better insight than I.  Smiley Happy

 

Good luck! 

Hard work & patience can go a long way!
8/2009 (myFICO): TU - 599, EQ - 656
7/23/2010 (LO pull): TU - 738, EQ - 801, EX - 785
4/12/2012 (myFICO): TU -778, EQ - 791
Message 9 of 23
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances


honeybunnygal wrote:

Is there a Mod in the house? I think this post should be moved.

 

I normally hang around the Rebuilding forum, but poke my head in here since I'm looking to buy a home next year. It sounds like there may be a bit of tweaking/cleanup to be done to your scores, so I would suggest having the LO hold off on pulling your scores (if you can afford to wait).

 

From what I've seen, FICO likes to see utilization at between 1-9% & less than half your revolving TLs reporting a balance. Of course, the gurus on the Rebuilding would have better insight than I.  Smiley Happy

 

Good luck! 


Sounds like a good idea.  Moving it now! Smiley Happy

Message 10 of 23
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