just approved for 15,000 line of credit

[Anonymous]

hello all,

I need some help making a decision i have worked on my credit to get it where it is, just approved for a credit card with my credit union, closing on a house in 90 days. I heard that increasing credit will bring up your score.  is this true should i accept the offer? if i dont and they pulled my credit that will drop my score.

any suggestions would be great.

perplexed in closing of house

[pipeguy]

I don't know how close you are to a final approval on your mortgage, but the general advice is do NOT open any new accounts or make any large purchases prior to closing. 90 days out you are probably not that close to dotting the I's or crossing the tees so I'd say if you don't have a lot of credit, go ahead and accept the $15k card which will help your utility, however I certainly would not run a balance on the card - in other words pay in full.  Bottom line is if the goal is a mortgage, be very careful in handling your "risk factors".  

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I dont plan on using it until after i sign the dotted line. The house in being built and they just laid the foundation so i am sure it wont be completed until the 2nd or 3rd week in February.
Thank you for your response

[Anonymous]

If you're approved, the account is already open whether you decide to accept (no such thing) or not, you can call and close the account but it will still report to the CRAs that you opened and closed an account so whatever possible damage to your mortgage app is already done. In other words, you might as well keep the card if it's a card you wanted to begin with. In the future, don't app for anything else for as long as you can before a mortgage application.

[Anonymous]

thank you for your response, the mortgage application has been done a while back and the house is being built and will not be completed for 4-6 months they just laid the foundation and if they build a house in 30 days i surely wouldnt move into it, because it was just thrown together. I just wanted to bring my credit score up just a little bit more so my interest rate wouldn't be so high i am close to 700 just short of 45 points. i guess i messed up my chances in getting this house dumb move on my part i guess.

we live and learn from our mistakes

thanks again for your response i love this i learn so much form this forum

[Anonymous]

No problem.

Adding new credit typically hurts your score in the short term because of the HP and the hit to average age of accounts and age of your youngest account when it hits your report, it can also negatively impact many lender's internal risk scores. The benefits of adding new credit typically don't come until much later when the said account has aged (with perfect payment history) and the effect of the HP phased out.

[Anonymous]

thanks again,

i guess i just messed up my chances of getting that loan, i knew it was too good to be true, thanks for your wealth of knowledge for i am new to the home owners game

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't go that far, just make sure you don't apply for any more new credit and don't let large balances report not just on this new account but also on all your other accounts. Good luck with your mortgage, I remember when I first got my own home, exciting times.

[Anonymous]

thanks again, no my accounts are all up to date no large balances on any of them I have been keeping the utilization around 8% , yes  I am totally excited this has always been on my bucket list of things to do.

have a blessed holiday season and thank you for all your tips i will keep you posted on the closing of the house

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

thanks again, no my accounts are all up to date no large balances on any of them I have been keeping the utilization around 8% , yes  I am totally excited this has always been on my bucket list of things to do.

have a blessed holiday season and thank you for all your tips i will keep you posted on the closing of the house

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You as well.