Need opinion/ thoughts/ help with possible new credit

[Anonymous]

I have been repairing my credit since Nov 2015 and have made good progress

538(EQ), 519(TU), 550(EX) -> 640(EX), 665(TU), 635(EX)

I have 2-3 baddies that I am still working on getting removed, and hopefully can get those squared away.

I currently have the following credit lines

2 secured cards (Cap One - $3000; SDFCU - $500) - Utilization <5%

2 Unsecured Cards (Citi Double cash - $2000; Amazon Prime Store - $800) - Utilization <5%

1 personal loan ($1000 - $29/ month with 2.5 years to go) - got this so I can have an installment mix on my profile.

All of these are less than a year old (some even less than 6 months)

The questions are as follows.

1. I have offers from USAA and Cap One for unsecured cards....should I take advantage?  I am worried that additional new credit will trash my score, but at the same time I really would like to increase the amount of available credit therefore further limiting my utiliaztion.  I eventually want to get a couple unsecured cards, so that I can close out the secured cards and get money back from those.  Basically what is the trade off between (time and hard pulls vs. increased credit and lower utilization)

2. I have an obscene car lease (Uber buying program) that I got while my credit was in the toilet, I would like to transfer this to a tradition bank loan.  What are thoughts on this? 

Any help/ thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I'd prioritize refinancing your car.  If by "obscene" you mean that the interest rate is horrible, and is therefore increasing your payments accordingly, then I'd try to find a refi offer from a lender who uses TransUnion scores (since that is by far your highest score, assuming your auto enhanced FICO scores are close to your regular ones).

Next I'd accept the offers for unsecured credit and immediately pay off/close the secured cards - and use the refunded security deposits to pay off part of the car and/or more of your debt.  Once you get the car note sorted, you can also pay off the personal loan because your new car loan will be your installment line.

That should help free up some cash on a regular basis - by reducing your car payment, redeeming your secured cards funds, and eliminating your loan payment - and as long as you keep your utilization under control you should enjoy a rise in FICO score as you continue with a clean payment history.

Your age of account will take a hit, but that is not a major part of your score anyway.  And with such young accounts, you'll replace your 6 month AAoA with a new 6 month AAoA by Christmas, so you won't really be any worse off in that regard.