Only have 1 card, apply for how many more?

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2016

I'm new to the forum, lots of great info on here. About a year ago my bank cancelled my only CC which I had had since a teenager for over 15 years. It had a $10k limit. I had a Capital One pre-approved offer sitting on my kitchen table so I applied for it and got it. It's my only card, $3500 CL and I'm trying to build my credit score back up so that in 2017 I can apply for a second mortgage and obtain the best possible rate. When my bank cancelled the card I had for 15 years, my age of credit history dropped significantly and is currently 2.6 years. I'm looking to build my score from the low 700's back to the upper 700's where I was about 3 years ago. My question is should I apply for just 1 card, or 2+ if my goal is to build my score over the next 12-18 months? I always PIF every month or keep a balance of a couple of dollars on the one card I have now, and I would plan to do the same on however many more cards I get. I currently only have 1 hard inquiry on my credit report from getting the one card I have 1 year ago. Any advice on my situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm new to the forum, lots of great info on here. About a year ago my bank cancelled my only CC which I had had since a teenager for over 15 years. It had a $10k limit. I had a Capital One pre-approved offer sitting on my kitchen table so I applied for it and got it. It's my only card, $3500 CL and I'm trying to build my credit score back up so that in 2017 I can apply for a second mortgage and obtain the best possible rate. When my bank cancelled the card I had for 15 years, my age of credit history dropped significantly and is currently 2.6 years. I'm looking to build my score from the low 700's back to the upper 700's where I was about 3 years ago. My question is should I apply for just 1 card, or 2+ if my goal is to build my score over the next 12-18 months? I always PIF every month or keep a balance of a couple of dollars on the one card I have now, and I would plan to do the same on however many more cards I get. I currently only have 1 hard inquiry on my credit report from getting the one card I have 1 year ago. Any advice on my situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I waould suggest gtting no more than two additional cards for now. That will allow you to hit the sweet spot for UTI, < 10% on one card only.

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2016

Any chance you could elaborate on this a bit more? When you say <10% utilization, you mean keep a zero balance on 2 of the cards (assuming I get 2 more) and <10% on one of them every month for reporting purposes or keep overall utilization between the 3 under 10%, but with just 1 balance?

If I'm looking to acquire 2 more cards, should I apply for two from the same place or should I split it up? Does it matter? Thank you for your help.

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Any chance you could elaborate on this a bit more? When you say <10% utilization, you mean keep a zero balance on 2 of the cards (assuming I get 2 more) and <10% on one of them every month for reporting purposes or keep overall utilization between the 3 under 10%, but with just 1 balance?

If I'm looking to acquire 2 more cards, should I apply for two from the same place or should I split it up? Does it matter? Thank you for your help.

Two cards show a zero balance each month - PIF before closing - the third card carries no more than 10% of its limit. That puts you in "maximum UTI Score" territory. You need not maintain this every single month, just use it to peak your scores whenever needed.

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2016

I know this is probably splitting hairs, but does it matter if the <10% is 1% or 9% in terms of your credit score? On the one card I have currently I always leave a few bucks as a blance every month so that I am only paying pennies of interest instead of dollars. If I had 3 cards I'd probably do the same, but would it be necessary to try and carry a 9% balance or so on one of the cards or would 1% be ok as well in terms of achieving maximum score points?

gdale6 · ‎04-12-2016

As far as letting 1 card report 9% or less of its CL you need to find the sweet spot for you its different for everyone so vary it to see what brings you the best in Fico score.

Anonymous · ‎04-13-2016

Do not pay interest, pay it as soon as the statement cuts. Meaning don't carry a balance.

Anonymous · ‎04-13-2016

I've heard differing opinions on this. Some say PIF every month, others say pay all but a dollar or two every month so that the company gets a few pennies of interest from you which gives them incentive to not ever close your account for some BS reason?

gdale6 · ‎04-13-2016

Dont pay interest just to hope it keeps the account open, if they are going to close it for cause the fact you pay interest isnt even going to be figured into the equation.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2016

The way I do it is I pay the balance, minus 10 percent, two or three days before my statement date.

When the statement arrives I pay the remaining 10 percent, LONG before the due date.

No interest paid, no chance of being late or missing a payment and I'm using the cards quite a bit to hopefully secure healthy CLIs