@Anonymous wrote:First off Congrats on becoming a homeowner!
That is the best investment you can make for yourself and the future of your living situation.
Now regarding your credit dilemma and needing at least $5k for wedding expenses.
I am going to try to be as thorough as possible with my advice and suggestions.
1) See if you can be added as an auth user on a family member's Amex that has a high limit with low utilization and is 5+ years old
I would LOOOVE to do this if I could. My mom is very strict with her credit and CC's and wouldn't do this in a million years even if I never had a card lol. She's the only one in my family that I could think of with decent credit that this would work with, and that option is out. I've thought about this a million times
2) Don't apply for additional credit till your utilization has updated across all 3 bureaus and Amex is reporting
That's what I'm anxiously waiting on before applying. The payment posted to my account on the 21st and I think they reported the same day, but didn't update the lower balance, so now I'm just waiting on the SW alert or March 22nd...whichever comes first
3) If anyone in your family or fiance's family is or has been in the military you will be able to qualify for Navy Federal and also as a full member with USAA
No one on my side was in the military unfortunately...my dad has been a cop his whole life and I don't know either set of grandfathers on either side of my family (I know, weird, right?). My fiancee's father wasn't either and his grandfather was a farmer his whole life.
4) If Navy Federal is not possible and you want to be a part of a great credit union then I recommend PenFed (can join by donating or volunteering with American Red Cross or have in the past) They can possibly approve you for a $5k card and they have a BT offer
I've heard a lot about PenFed but don't know much about them. I may have to look them up and find out more info. on what all the rave is about with them!
5) If you want to try Citi then I recommend applying for the Diamond Preferred or Platinum Visa. If denied can recon with phone, if still no luck then I can provide Citi's President Address to recon and chances are good.
I'm going to try the other CU I'm a member of...apparently the main CU I bank with doesn't really want me as a customer so I'll do them a favor and go elsewhere since the other CU seems more willing to work with me and actually acts like they care about my situation.
6) If Discover was to pull TU then I say you have a good chance of being approved with a 700+ score and low utilization
Yep, I'm checking out all of the CC's that pull TU and even EX. Hard to know what my true EX score is, but it's always higher than EQ.
7) I don't know if you have ever had insurance through State Farm but they offer a CC with 0% APR for 12 months. Here is a link to the credit card (they pull EQ & TU)
I currently have insurance with them and only recently learned they offer a CC. That may be another option for me if the CU doesn't work out as I hope.
8) I also recommend to become a member of Alliant Credit Union and apply for their CC (I believe chances are good of being approved for $5k or more)
Why do you recommend Alliant CU? Just curious...do they tend to be a little more compassionate than other CU's? Tend to give larger loans to people with scores similar to mine?
If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask and you are welcome to pm me if you prefer to ask something privately
Thank you very much for your suggestions! Sounds like we're on the same page for the most part! I spoke to the other credit union I'm a member of this morning and they seemed much more willing to work with me. They also didn't push me off the phone like the lady at the CU I primarily bank with did. That's strike 3 with this CU, I'm seriously considering changing primary banks, hopefully to this other CU I'm a member of that I'm hoping will approve me!
If it doesn't work out with this CU, then it's back to the drawing board. I'll start apping for cards that don't pull EQ, although I'm hoping that score will come up a bit after the lower util's are reported.
Thanks again!
@RW771 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:First off Congrats on becoming a homeowner!
Now regarding your credit dilemma and needing at least $5k for wedding expenses.
I am going to try to be as thorough as possible with my advice and suggestions.
1) See if you can be added as an auth user on a family member's Amex that has a high limit with low utilization and is 5+ years old
I would LOOOVE to do this if I could. My mom is very strict with her credit and CC's and wouldn't do this in a million years even if I never had a card lol. She's the only one in my family that I could think of with decent credit that this would work with, and that option is out. I've thought about this a million times
2) Don't apply for additional credit till your utilization has updated across all 3 bureaus and Amex is reporting
That's what I'm anxiously waiting on before applying. The payment posted to my account on the 21st and I think they reported the same day, but didn't update the lower balance, so now I'm just waiting on the SW alert or March 22nd...whichever comes first
3) If anyone in your family or fiance's family is or has been in the military you will be able to qualify for Navy Federal and also as a full member with USAA
No one on my side was in the military unfortunately...my dad has been a cop his whole life and I don't know either set of grandfathers on either side of my family (I know, weird, right?). My fiancee's father wasn't either and his grandfather was a farmer his whole life.
4) If Navy Federal is not possible and you want to be a part of a great credit union then I recommend PenFed (can join by donating or volunteering with American Red Cross or have in the past) They can possibly approve you for a $5k card and they have a BT offer
I've heard a lot about PenFed but don't know much about them. I may have to look them up and find out more info. on what all the rave is about with them!
5) If you want to try Citi then I recommend applying for the Diamond Preferred or Platinum Visa. If denied can recon with phone, if still no luck then I can provide Citi's President Address to recon and chances are good.
I'm going to try the other CU I'm a member of...apparently the main CU I bank with doesn't really want me as a customer so I'll do them a favor and go elsewhere since the other CU seems more willing to work with me and actually acts like they care about my situation.
6) If Discover was to pull TU then I say you have a good chance of being approved with a 700+ score and low utilization
Yep, I'm checking out all of the CC's that pull TU and even EX. Hard to know what my true EX score is, but it's always higher than EQ.
7) I don't know if you have ever had insurance through State Farm but they offer a CC with 0% APR for 12 months. Here is a link to the credit card (they pull EQ & TU)
I currently have insurance with them and only recently learned they offer a CC. That may be another option for me if the CU doesn't work out as I hope.
8) I also recommend to become a member of Alliant Credit Union and apply for their CC (I believe chances are good of being approved for $5k or more)
Why do you recommend Alliant CU? Just curious...do they tend to be a little more compassionate than other CU's? Tend to give larger loans to people with scores similar to mine?
If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask and you are welcome to pm me if you prefer to ask something privately
Thank you very much for your suggestions! Sounds like we're on the same page for the most part! I spoke to the other credit union I'm a member of this morning and they seemed much more willing to work with me. They also didn't push me off the phone like the lady at the CU I primarily bank with did. That's strike 3 with this CU, I'm seriously considering changing primary banks, hopefully to this other CU I'm a member of that I'm hoping will approve me!
If it doesn't work out with this CU, then it's back to the drawing board. I'll start apping for cards that don't pull EQ, although I'm hoping that score will come up a bit after the lower util's are reported.
Thanks again!
1) I'm sorry to hear your Mom won't help you. You can always branch out and see if a close friend has an Amex. You can also have your fiance check with his family and close friends.
2) Which creditor posted a payment on the 21st?
3) You can still join USAA as a limited member and apply for a VISA or MC to help with utilization if you get 0% BT offer cards from other creditors.
4) I joined PenFed last year and was approved for Promise Card with a decent limit considering a baddie and about 40% utilization at the time. They are known to be conservative but still give people a chance with not so perfect credit. I bet in less than a year they will increase the limit without me asking.
5) Citi can be forgiving for past behavior and I am speaking from experience but YMMV
6) You mention EX...by any chance do you live in the state of PA?
7) I haven't applied for their card yet but there are mixed reviews about the card from the threads I read here.
8) Alliant seems to be more forgiving with people's credit and usually will be competitive in the limits they start you off with.
I want to add...it's good to diversify and be a member of at least a few credit unions. If one doesn't offer what you want you have the others to go to.
One creditor that I haven't mentioned yet that pulls TU is Barclays and I recommend you apply for the Barclay Rewards Card 