apply for an apt or cc first?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking to move out by mid june and need to get a new credit card as well to handle the new expenses i'll be hit with (furniture and utilities). My current score is 701, so what would you guys advise i do first? Apply for the apt and have my credit run or get the credit card first, then apply for the apt later? By later I mean a week....thank you for any and all help in advance!

[smallfry]

Don't really think it matters. Take care of the apartment.

[unknown_entity]

I would get the cards first.  I don't think anyone renting an apartment looks at inquiries.  Their primary concern will be, if you are paying on time and do you have established accounts.  IMO.

[Anonymous]

Just guessing, but...

I suppose I would do the credit card first, since that's probably more sensitive to your credit score. The apartment might have more to do with your report than score: whether you have been late recently, late ever, ever had charge-offs, ever had collections from a previous apartment, etc. Also, I have always imagined that landlords aren't as strict with credit scores as CC companies. Please remember that's all just a guess.

I was recently in this same situation. I decided to get an Amex blue, which will help with expenses until my new job starts in July. Amex takes ~3 statements to report to credit agencies, so my average age of accounts won't ding my reports until after I'm in my new apartment. There still was an inquiry, of course, but I only had one inquiry prior so it wasn't a big deal. This was how we decided to approach the situation.

[Anonymous]

Sounds good, I think I'll go for the cc first.  Thank you again everyone for taking the time to share your opinons with me.

[Anonymous]

Hi madridsta59,

I'd go for the credit card first. Anything you can do to boost your scores

and improve your credit should take priority. You can always find a place

to live.

Also, I'm not sure in which part of the US you reside but most apartment

complexes pull Scorex, which is a special Experian score. Consumers

can't pull a Scorex score the way we can pull our normal FICO scores.

As I understand it, the folks at the apartment complex plug in your personal

information and they get either an approval or denial. They never see a score

of any kind.

So like I said, boost your scores first. Then worry about getting a new place.

Good luck to you!!!!

CanDo

"The right attitude is everything"