Your Thoughts: Credit Plan

[braznyc]

So I've added WAMU secured card (I bank with them) with a $500 limit and the BOA one with $300 limit. I have one card not secured via Citi (1K limit). The BOA card they called back to offer me was too good to be true . Basically I should have been offered the 99/500 and they were willing but with a new hard pull, I said no and just took them up on their secured card. No more inquiries for me.

Should this be all I need for the next year and half of paying on time to help build my score-up? I'd like to apply for a morgage at the end of 2010 that's my goal. I'll be out of grad school next year, and in my field full time.

My scores as of now FICO TU 613 EXP 596 EQ 599 (I'm currently battling JDB on this one, so score dropped from 610).

I guess I should expect a score drop with the added cc? Citi should report first, as I've had them for 2 weeks now, then boa, then wamu.

[Anonymous]

Baddies?

[braznyc]

I have 1 med collection that I paid a while ago it's from 2003, it said paid collection it's only on my EXP report. I have an old Amex account which was paid etc, and it's not listed as derog it actually gives me history it's only on my EXP report.

There is the JDB who just added the re-aged account as closed/paid 120 delq to my EQ report, which I'm disputing with EQ and him. I'm confident this too will go away, just time consuming.

Other than that the baddies are the paid state tax liens, which are on all 3 CR, in fact it's the only consistent accounts on all 3.

Equifax doesn't even see the JDB account as a negative, go figure, but my score did drop when he added it. It wasn't on there before, just on EXP.

My TU account lists a cc with US Bank that my father and I had (it lists as joint which is true), and it we never received it, it was stolen or lost, which is how it lists on my TU report. It gives me age, but why it stays is beyond me. I haven't disputed it, but it does list the high bal as the credit limit, but says "card report lost or stolen" so I'm assuming that's why TU holds on to the "good", this account is from 1998.

Since so much reached the 7 year mile, it fell off, which makes me have a "thin" file as well.

Message Edited by braznyc on 02-23-2008 07:07 PM

[Anonymous]

braznyc, you have 3 really really great cards to build a rock solid foundation on. Congrats to you!

Keep those spotless clean, and they will grow with you!

[braznyc]

Thanks @ Sylviatob. I have no desire to be late. I pay my student loans and they're in deferment status, trust me I've learned from the error of my ways. I just want to ensure that I have enough credit so when it's time to go for a morgage I'm not stuck in sub-prime water.

[Anonymous]

I think you made a mistake by not going for the better BOA card. Partially depends on how many inquiries you have. Hopefully people will chime in to either support or oppose my thinking on this. Then if it makes sense you can call BOA back and tell them you changed your mind. Remember the goal is not to maximize your score on a daily basis (unless you are a RE investor) but to maximize it when it counts most (2010).

[braznyc]

Both BOA cards are secured one was with a $500 limit and a $99 deposit, the other with a $300 limit, all my funds and I can always add money to make it an even $500. In fact I planned on adding money each week to the WAMU account, as that's how I'm paid and it's immediate since I bank with them. Boa was going to pull EXP, and that has 10 inquiries, and they claimed that was too many for them before. Both cards have an "insane" APR (to me) but it's what a subprimer deals with. I have no plans on carrying a balance on any of them, for the entire time I have them. Just to explain what I mean, I have all the amounts in my savings account for each cc I have including citi, so if I ever got to a point where I needed to carry a balance, I wouldn't because the money is in savings, if that makes sense. When I knew I'd have to get a secured, I saved double what I wanted as a limit.

Also I'll graduate sooner with BOA than with WAMU, which claims it's 15 months to graduate, or around that time. All I want is my scores to go up for the end result, the immediate effects are of no real concern as I don't want any more credit.

I can always ask my parents to co-sign a card with me, not just the whole AU thing, they've offered. My dad did tell me if I beat him at chess he'd make an AU on his Amex black/centurian card - again not interested. I loathe credit, once you live with out it, and learn to save and put things in investments, you see it for what it is -- something I was completely unaware of 7 years ago. When I had Amex it was the only card I liked, because I had a charge card, where I spent only what I could afford.

[ngerasimatos]

I am unaware that B of A offers a $500 secured card with $99 deposit. My nephew just opened a secured account with B of A and he had to pay the full $300 for a $300 credit line account. Do you have a link to this card?

[braznyc]

There is no link (that I know of), you have to apply and they offer it to you. You can always do a search in the forums here, plenty of topics on BOA 99/500.

Message Edited by braznyc on 02-23-2008 10:18 PM

[Anonymous]

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@ngerasimatos wrote:
I am unaware that B of A offers a $500 secured card with $99 deposit. My nephew just opened a secured account with B of A and he had to pay the full $300 for a $300 credit line account. Do you have a link to this card?

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ng, it is only offered to people if they apply for their Visa Platinum Plus, and are denied. It is a counter offer by them for that denial. Some people get them some don't. Probaly because what's in the cr, with scores just marginally below the threshold of minimum required scores for that Visa Plat. Plus card(imo).