Hey Urbex -
Kinda reminds me of myself and I'll spare you the "story"
First, if you can live without that $300 as you mentioned already, and if it was me, I would keep it for the reasons you stated. While you might have CL/CLI issues - well I shouldn't say "issues" but rather lower your expectations, as when the lenders see lower CL's they more/less match that so to speak. Your scores may very well be better than you believe and/or the lenders see that too but they will also be seeing AAOA with relatively lower limits.
What I did with mine over time (about 3 years maybe??) was I kept depositing to increase the CL up to the max. Just recently, now that my main "issue" has been resolved, the unsecured I applied for and was approved for was a bit over half that amount as my initial CL.
Is it possible to do a CLI via more deposits? Even over time, we will say a year, bumping to $1,000 or more even, will let the lenders see you can handle it. They don't know its secured and all it will do is help. Once you have had an unsecured for about the same amount of time, then I would consider canceling - however with me personally, it can stay forever as far as I am concerned as it doesn't negatively affect me nor do I need that deposit back any time soon . It's really up to you but the longer the better for reasons you stated as well.
As for the Shell card you mentioned, you're probably going to want to take a breather on the apps. Lenders are going to see you applying for all these and will have to factor in the number of apps, the possibilities of which ones were approved, DTI ratios, util, etc etc.
Remember, if it is not used but available, too much can and will hurt depending on the circumstances. The one thing a lender does NOT want to see (besides the obvious late/CO's and all) are multiple combined high CL's that could essentially be "racked up", and then being denied on the basis of "too much available credit".
It's a delicate balance my friend. On a positive note as well, I certainly commend your efforts thus far and the results you're obtaining as a result. I'm happy for you and in fact impressed you took the bull by the horns and have done (and continue as well) whatever it takes to rebuild. You'll get there sooner than you realize!!
If you care to discuss more in-depth on anything in particular, feel free to ask away. We are all here to help as much as we can. If I personally do not know, there are MANY that do!!!
Take care,
NMA
Kinda reminds me of myself and I'll spare you the "story"
First, if you can live without that $300 as you mentioned already, and if it was me, I would keep it for the reasons you stated. While you might have CL/CLI issues - well I shouldn't say "issues" but rather lower your expectations, as when the lenders see lower CL's they more/less match that so to speak. Your scores may very well be better than you believe and/or the lenders see that too but they will also be seeing AAOA with relatively lower limits.
What I did with mine over time (about 3 years maybe??) was I kept depositing to increase the CL up to the max. Just recently, now that my main "issue" has been resolved, the unsecured I applied for and was approved for was a bit over half that amount as my initial CL.
Is it possible to do a CLI via more deposits? Even over time, we will say a year, bumping to $1,000 or more even, will let the lenders see you can handle it. They don't know its secured and all it will do is help. Once you have had an unsecured for about the same amount of time, then I would consider canceling - however with me personally, it can stay forever as far as I am concerned as it doesn't negatively affect me nor do I need that deposit back any time soon
. It's really up to you but the longer the better for reasons you stated as well.As for the Shell card you mentioned, you're probably going to want to take a breather on the apps. Lenders are going to see you applying for all these and will have to factor in the number of apps, the possibilities of which ones were approved, DTI ratios, util, etc etc.
Remember, if it is not used but available, too much can and will hurt depending on the circumstances. The one thing a lender does NOT want to see (besides the obvious late/CO's and all) are multiple combined high CL's that could essentially be "racked up", and then being denied on the basis of "too much available credit".
It's a delicate balance my friend. On a positive note as well, I certainly commend your efforts thus far and the results you're obtaining as a result. I'm happy for you and in fact impressed you took the bull by the horns and have done (and continue as well) whatever it takes to rebuild. You'll get there sooner than you realize!!
If you care to discuss more in-depth on anything in particular, feel free to ask away. We are all here to help as much as we can. If I personally do not know, there are MANY that do!!!
Take care,
NMA
I had a USAA secured card with $1000 CL and a USAA Rewards card with $3000 CL. I called them to ask if I could just combine the limits to $4k on the Rewards card and possibly give my deposit back if possible. They said it was not possible to do this. So I told them to close the secured card and then, while still on the phone, asked for a CLI on the rewards card. They approved me for $4500. Go figure.
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777
Dave - did you open them at the same time or was the unsecured behind? I'm curious as I literally JUST got an unsecured (through cap one, $1,700) and I had that secured maxed at $3K.. I still have the secured, for AAoA reasons only, and am more/less in the same boat as the OP.
For the record, I'm also ok SSDI for the rest of my life (disability) so for me to go "high" would be wreckless/irresponsible of me. Hypothetically though, if I were to have the appropriate income, I'm kinda curious if the CL's would be progressive with income....
Just wondering given the OP and I are kinda identical to an extent & knowledge is power LOLOL.
Thanks,
NMA
For the record, I'm also ok SSDI for the rest of my life (disability) so for me to go "high" would be wreckless/irresponsible of me. Hypothetically though, if I were to have the appropriate income, I'm kinda curious if the CL's would be progressive with income....
Just wondering given the OP and I are kinda identical to an extent & knowledge is power LOLOL
.Thanks,
NMA
nma851 wrote:
Dave - did you open them at the same time or was the unsecured behind? I'm curious as I literally JUST got an unsecured (through cap one, $1,700) and I had that secured maxed at $3K.. I still have the secured, for AAoA reasons only, and am more/less in the same boat as the OP.
I started rebuilding with a USAA secured ($1000). I used that for about 4 months and then applied for USAA Rewards. Kept both for about 7 to 8 months, but ended up closing secured (as I mentioned in an earlier post) before the annual fee.
Closing your secured card won't have any effect on your AAoA.
Thanks for commenting so quickly . I have been under another misconception for some time. It was my understanding that, while some do not have to even report to begin with, once you close it, eventually it is going to fall off. I have seen this with several of my paid/closed accounts just vanish one day, all of which were quite old (10+ years if not 15 easily).
That being said, and since there no longer exists any "old" accounts, I believe the OP and myself both would then have "new" AAoA's in about 10-15 years if they happen to drop off, as evidenced by my old, paid/closed accts did in my case.
Dont take this the wrong way at all I mean no offense nor "challenge" here. Either I am misunderstanding a few things or I've misspoken in the sense that AAoA will not be affected UNLESS the acct should fall off the CR's causing a new "first account opening date" to occur. Of course, for purposes of this scenario, we'll just say there is just this one account (secured one) closure as being the oldest just to try & make it easier. My apologies again for bothering!!
. I have been under another misconception for some time. It was my understanding that, while some do not have to even report to begin with, once you close it, eventually it is going to fall off. I have seen this with several of my paid/closed accounts just vanish one day, all of which were quite old (10+ years if not 15 easily).That being said, and since there no longer exists any "old" accounts, I believe the OP and myself both would then have "new" AAoA's in about 10-15 years if they happen to drop off, as evidenced by my old, paid/closed accts did in my case.
Dont take this the wrong way at all I mean no offense nor "challenge" here
. Either I am misunderstanding a few things or I've misspoken in the sense that AAoA will not be affected UNLESS the acct should fall off the CR's causing a new "first account opening date" to occur. Of course, for purposes of this scenario, we'll just say there is just this one account (secured one) closure as being the oldest just to try & make it easier. My apologies again for bothering!!
I guess it is kinda moot though given by that time, we would have established all that unsecured history for aging..... It all works out in the end right??
Closed accounts stay on the report for 10 years. During this time, they still contribute to AAoA.
Most people have more than a few different aging accounts over a 10 year span of time that make the effect of a 10-year old account falling off pretty negligible.