New credit lines and its affect on mortgage approval

[Anonymous]

I am planning to get a mortgage at some point in the next 9-12 months (or more as needed) As I start to look into my credit and work on building it up, I am wondering how long I should plan to wait when it comes to new credit lines and inquiries. I just got approved for a Chase Freedom card and that makes 4 new cards in the past 10 days. (up from 2) I also have an installment loan from March of 2015. I have between 5 and 10 inquiries depending on the bureau. I'll lose 3 this spring and another 1 or 2 this Fall.

While I know that there are many factors involved, how long is it suggested to wait after adding new credit lines? 6 months 9 months, 12 months? I know that mortgage lenders tend to value payment history above all else. (2 of my bureaus are clean and I am hoping to get the third taken care of)

Did I shoot myself in the foot by getting too many new lines at once? I was initially planning for the end of the year, but I will be patient if required. I plan to see a mortgage broker in the Fall to see where I stand by then. While I'd like to get something this year, I would wait as this is not something I want to rush. Since I chose to address my sup-par credit first, that takes priority.

[Anonymous]

My lender only went back 3-4 months on inquiries and although he couldn't believe how many new accounts I had, it was never an issue for me. It's about your whole picture, DTI, income payment history, scores etc.

I wouldn't worry about the new cards or delay your purchase because of them given what you said above. I would focus on making sure everything is in order moving forward and finding a lender or broker that can get your specific profile approved when you are ready.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input. I have a vacation coming up in April I need to fund and pay off. I am planning to make sure I have a decent deposit in the bank and low balances (ie $0) on most of the cards for at least 2 months before applying. I am not the best at saving (much better at budgeting if that makes sense) and I may be getting a gift fot the down payment. I had read that as long it has been in you account for a few months, they don't get suspicious as to where it came from. From what you mention, as loong as the previous 3-4 months are in decent shape, things should go OK.

[ezdriver]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am planning to get a mortgage at some point in the next 9-12 months (or more as needed) As I start to look into my credit and work on building it up, I am wondering how long I should plan to wait when it comes to new credit lines and inquiries. I just got approved for a Chase Freedom card and that makes 4 new cards in the past 10 days. (up from 2) I also have an installment loan from March of 2015. I have between 5 and 10 inquiries depending on the bureau. I'll lose 3 this spring and another 1 or 2 this Fall.

While I know that there are many factors involved, how long is it suggested to wait after adding new credit lines? 6 months 9 months, 12 months? I know that mortgage lenders tend to value payment history above all else. (2 of my bureaus are clean and I am hoping to get the third taken care of)

Did I shoot myself in the foot by getting too many new lines at once? I was initially planning for the end of the year, but I will be patient if required. I plan to see a mortgage broker in the Fall to see where I stand by then. While I'd like to get something this year, I would wait as this is not something I want to rush. Since I chose to address my sup-par credit first, that takes priority.

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You have a good collection of tradelines on which to build a robust credit profile for the future. Don't apply for any more credit. Just "garden" what you have and you will be in good shape 6 to 12 months from now with use/ontime payments. All the best to you.

[Anonymous]

I have seen people suggest to stop applying for new credit approx 6 months from when you plan to apply for a mortgage.

[KSK1912]

Op i am in the same situation as you are. One thing to make you feel a little better is, when trimerge credit report is pulled, it will eliminate same day inquiries. So if you have applied for 3 cards in the same day, the report will adjust it to one inq. I started rebuilding in may, last year, and i had to add accounts, and i kinda over did it thinking about the future, for a better, thicker file, and ended up adding about 25 new accounts all within the last 6 months or so. So by the time we apply for mortgage, youngest one will be around 6 months and the oldest almost 2 years. Are you getting a conventional loan or FHA? I am working with Benchmark, and my mortgage officer told me FHA is pretty relaxed when it comes to new accounts and inq's as long as you don't open 10 new accounts a week before your mortgage app Conventional loan will be a little bit more stricter, but given your time frame, you should be fine. Like the other posters said, dont apply for anymore TL, and just let what you have age till then. Do you know what your mortgage scores are right now?

[Imperfectfuture]

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@KSK1912 wrote:

Op i am in the same situation as you are. One thing to make you feel a little better is, when trimerge credit report is pulled, it will eliminate same day inquiries. So if you have applied for 3 cards in the same day, the report will adjust it to one inq. I started rebuilding in may, last year, and i had to add accounts, and i kinda over did it thinking about the future, for a better, thicker file, and ended up adding about 25 new accounts all within the last 6 months or so. So by the time we apply for mortgage, youngest one will be around 6 months and the oldest almost 2 years. Are you getting a conventional loan or FHA? I am working with Benchmark, and my mortgage officer told me FHA is pretty relaxed when it comes to new accounts and inq's as long as you don't open 10 new accounts a week before your mortgage app Conventional loan will be a little bit more stricter, but given your time frame, you should be fine. Like the other posters said, dont apply for anymore TL, and just let what you have age till then. Do you know what your mortgage scores are right now?

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Cool. 4 inquires done in same day.  Tend to get them all done at once.

[KSK1912]

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@Imperfectfuture wrote:

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@KSK1912 wrote:

Op i am in the same situation as you are. One thing to make you feel a little better is, when trimerge credit report is pulled, it will eliminate same day inquiries. So if you have applied for 3 cards in the same day, the report will adjust it to one inq. I started rebuilding in may, last year, and i had to add accounts, and i kinda over did it thinking about the future, for a better, thicker file, and ended up adding about 25 new accounts all within the last 6 months or so. So by the time we apply for mortgage, youngest one will be around 6 months and the oldest almost 2 years. Are you getting a conventional loan or FHA? I am working with Benchmark, and my mortgage officer told me FHA is pretty relaxed when it comes to new accounts and inq's as long as you don't open 10 new accounts a week before your mortgage app Conventional loan will be a little bit more stricter, but given your time frame, you should be fine. Like the other posters said, dont apply for anymore TL, and just let what you have age till then. Do you know what your mortgage scores are right now?

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Cool. 4 inquires done in same day.  Tend to get them all done at once.

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That's what i usually do too. If i will app for couple credit cards, i do it all on the same day specifically for this reason. See the below picture for how the inq's look on a mortgage app. It does not seperate them by credit bureau, it adds them up all together, then substracts the same day inq's. And as for the new accounts, see the same box with the inq's, it shows the number of new accounts from the last 6 months. Even though they can still individually see all the accounts with the opening dates, last 6 months is more important for them.

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