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When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

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dtjones052209
Regular Contributor

When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Senario: My current credit situation stands like this.   I am new to this forum and have been heavily reading past and recent post in all of the different community topics. First off i would like to thank the community for inspiring me to take control of my credit profile. After pulling my report i am currently at Transunion 664 Experian 621 Exquifax is 580. I currently hold only 3 cc with Capital one and 2 are secure cards with $200 Limits and one unsecured that has a $500 limit. Now my question to the masses of wisdom and knowledge out there. Where do you start to gain the noterity of having a AMEX or DISC or whatever else that is out there that is very respected? I currently do have baddies  and constantly working to get them resolved, but my credit cards are 1.5 to 3 years old. I read about people going on app spree, but doesn't that kill your score if not approved? I am kinda nervous about applying for any card at the moment, but would love to meet you guys in the Garden someday. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

*Still a work in Progress*



Message 1 of 21
20 REPLIES 20
jake619
Frequent Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Knowing more about your profile would be helpful, such as what the baddies are and how old they are.  Are those FICO's or FAKO's?  Might not make much difference at this point but as they climb it will be beneficial to know what you're working with.

 

FWIW, I got back into AMEX after a few years without one at FICO 680.  I have some scars on my reports from 2008 & 2009, lates, settlements, stuff like that.  An app spree will hurt some but not all, really depends on how many INQ's you have at spree time.  There is a point where adding another INQ will have almost zero effect on scores.

 

Personally, I would wait it out and work on cleaning up anything that an be.

Message 2 of 21
dtjones052209
Regular Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Jake619-

 

Thanks for your reply and insight. Well the scores for TU and EQ are Fico Scores pulled here and the Experian was a lender pull. My baddies are back in 08/09 and 1 in 10' and they consist of charge-offs and collections.



Message 3 of 21
jake619
Frequent Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Did you pay off, settle or are you making payments on the CO's?  Maybe a PFD to get them off the report could work?

 

I know this doesn't answer your original "when can I start..." question but there are a lot of smart people on here so the more info you can share, the better advice you'll receive.

Message 4 of 21
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?


@dtjones052209 wrote:

Senario: My current credit situation stands like this.   I am new to this forum and have been heavily reading past and recent post in all of the different community topics. First off i would like to thank the community for inspiring me to take control of my credit profile. After pulling my report i am currently at Transunion 664 Experian 621 Exquifax is 580. I currently hold only 3 cc with Capital one and 2 are secure cards with $200 Limits and one unsecured that has a $500 limit. Now my question to the masses of wisdom and knowledge out there. Where do you start to gain the noterity of having a AMEX or DISC or whatever else that is out there that is very respected? I currently do have baddies  and constantly working to get them resolved, but my credit cards are 1.5 to 3 years old. I read about people going on app spree, but doesn't that kill your score if not approved? I am kinda nervous about applying for any card at the moment, but would love to meet you guys in the Garden someday. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

*Still a work in Progress*


Welcome to the forum!  Like the previous poster said we will need more information regarding credit profile to give you the best advice.  I agree that the first thing you should do is take care of any baddies if possible.  Knowing the age of the baddies would help.  Are they CA, CO, liens, repos, etc.  Once these items have been removed, dropped off or simply age it would be possible to achieve prime cards.  i would not apply until you deal with why your score is low.  Also, when the time is right, there are CC's to stay away from ie. First Premier and Credit One.

 

I have learned so much from the forum and I would strongly suggest you follow the advice given. 

 

Goodluck!

Message 5 of 21
dtjones052209
Regular Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Lexie and Jake-

 

Thanks for the advice. I am currently in the process of handling the ChargeOff's and Collections. I expect them to be paid and removed in 3 months because of the agreement we made and my letter received from the. The only thing left on my credit profile would be a repo from back in 06/2006 and student loans that are being paid as agreed from 2001.



Message 6 of 21
jake619
Frequent Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

That repo should be disappearing soon; 7 years, or is it 10?  I think 7.  If so by fall you'll be seeing scores come up.

Message 7 of 21
dtjones052209
Regular Contributor

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

Cool! That is great to know. Because i was just trying to figure out how to place that in this years budget.



Message 8 of 21
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?

The absolute most important thing when establishing positive history is to obtain 2-3 credit cards; it doesn't even matter what they are as long as they report to the bureaus.  You've already done that so you're actually in a pretty good place now from a building for the future perspective.

 

I would take a look at the reports you pulled and see what your balances are on those cards; you may be higher than what's stated for the score by some margin but it's worth at least checking and cleaning up if your utilization numbers are out of whack.

 

That said, I'd hold off and continue focusing on the getting the negative information resolved until you reach a FICO score of 640 or thereabouts.  That's about the entry point for Amex, Chase, and Discover.   You might want to try picking up a store card that's backed by GE and chase a limit with it (Walmart if you shop there is the best option in my opinion, but that's around a 600 score or so minimum I think... someone will hopefully clarify that), but that's not required.  If you have free cash flow, depositing additional funds on one of the Capital One secured cards is likely a better option actually, but those funds should likely go towards fixing negative information first as everything else is secondary at this point other than continuing to make your payments on time every time.

 

 

 




        
Message 9 of 21
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: When is a good time to start applying for credit cards?


@Revelate wrote:

The absolute most important thing when establishing positive history is to obtain 2-3 credit cards; it doesn't even matter what they are as long as they report to the bureaus.  You've already done that so you're actually in a pretty good place now from a building for the future perspective.

 

I would take a look at the reports you pulled and see what your balances are on those cards; you may be higher than what's stated for the score by some margin but it's worth at least checking and cleaning up if your utilization numbers are out of whack.

 

That said, I'd hold off and continue focusing on the getting the negative information resolved until you reach a FICO score of 640 or thereabouts.  That's about the entry point for Amex, Chase, and Discover.   You might want to try picking up a store card that's backed by GE and chase a limit with it (Walmart if you shop there is the best option in my opinion, but that's around a 600 score or so minimum I think... someone will hopefully clarify that), but that's not required.  If you have free cash flow, depositing additional funds on one of the Capital One secured cards is likely a better option actually, but those funds should likely go towards fixing negative information first as everything else is secondary at this point other than continuing to make your payments on time every time.

 

 

 


I think that the OP's TU score would get him pretty much any of the GE backed store cards. These would be a good choice, because as you mentioned they will grow, and quickly. They're a great way of building up positive history and limits.


Current Scores: EQ 775 (03/04/2014), EX 756 (03/01/2014), TU 760 (03/01/2014)
Ruby Spade Garden Club Member - Last App: 03/04/2013 - No apps until 2014
Cards: Cap1 Venture 6.4k, Cap1 Quicksilver MC 1.75k, BankAmericard 1-2-3 Visa Signature - UCF Alumni Association 5k, Discover 7k, Citi Diamond Preferred MC 10.35k, Wells Fargo Rewards Visa 7k, Chase Freedom 5k, Chase Ink 7.5k, Amex Green NPSL, Dillard's Amex 7.5k, JC Penney 7.5k, Kay Jeweler's 5.1k
Message 10 of 21
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