Questions about rebuilding with end goal of mortgage in 1.5 -2 years

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I have been reading the forum diligently for the last few months, but I’m in a conundrum as to what to do next in my rebuilding process and was hoping for advice. Here’s a snapshot of my current situation.

In 2008- 2009 I had a sudden lay off and a long term relationship end. I was left holding what seemed like insurmountable debt.  I paid the collections (didn’t know about PFD) but was still left with a credit report that had a bunch of lates, a collections account and a paid judgement.  All accounts closed on me with the exception of a JCP that I had forgotten about, but American Express sent me a preapproval for the Optima Card with a 700 CL. I took it gratefully, and went off to lick my wounds

After years of struggling in a few low paying jobs I’ve made it back to my former status salary wise and I’m looking to get myself into a small home in the next 1.5 to 2 years.

What’s on my credit report?

JCP( 2008) – 4800 CL again thanks to his forum, hit the luv button and got a huge CLI

Amex Optima ( 2009) – 2100 CL (thanks to the 3x Amex thread I got my first CLI in years on this card)

Credit Union Visa(3/ 2013)- 2500 – this card hasn’t budged in two years, but is my lowest interest rate.

Care Credit (10/2014) -1500 CL wish I had known about the recon when I apped for this card. It's too low to be useful to me.

Discover(4/2015)- 6000 CL

AAoA is 7.9 years. Credit history is 18 + Years. Utilization is 9%

1 paid CO on Experian due to fall off August 2015.

1 paid judgement on all 3 CRAs due to fall off in April of 2016

1 inquiry on TU and 1 Inquiry on Equifax. None on Experian.

No lates.

CK Fakos 750, Discover TU Fico 712, Experian 665

My question is…what next?  I would love to app for the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card and the Chase Freedom in October, but it occurs to me that I have no loan info on my report as my old car loans and home loans were from nearly 16 years ago. I want to avoid a car payment until I buy a house, however, does it make more since to get a loan from my CU to flesh out my report or should I go ahead and app for those two credit cards after that Collection falls off and my Discover ages a bit?  

Thanks in advance for any insites.

[Anonymous]

You seem to be on the right track at this point and your lates should fall off soon if incurred between 2008-2009.

I am no expert but have researched a lot of topics on this site.

Talk to your bank about obtaining a small personal loan to help with your installment trade. If they want security, use a car or television. Get a small amount and make payments to help reflect a proper mix on your CBR's.

Someone else may be able to validate if this will help.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dagsky. Any ideas on how long I should take to pay the loan back for best score?  I'm wondering if I should I have it paid off before I look for a mortgage.

Also, what do you consider to be small? I was thinking of taking a year to pay back 1000 to 1500.

I have some concerns about score dropping when the loan was paid off as well. 

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks Dagsky. Any ideas on how long I should take to pay the loan back for best score?  I'm wondering if I should I have it paid off before I look for a mortgage.

Also, what do you consider to be small? I was thinking of taking a year to pay back 1000 to 1500.

I have some concerns about score dropping when the loan was paid off as well. 

Thanks again!

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Small as in no more than $500. Terms as long as you can get.  If your CU won't go more than 12 months, go somewhere else. SDFCU for example, will go 36 months on a $500 secured loan at 3.99%, monthly payments of $14 and change. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks NormanFH. I'll give my CU a call tomorrow. I honestly don't need a loan, so it makes it hard to pull the trigger. I'm thnking If I do decide to go that rout,  I'll imediatly pay 75 percent of it back and slow  pay the rest of it. 

[Anonymous]

Well, its a secured loan. You send them $500 to put in a savings account, they place $500 into a checking account for you to use. The usual strategy is to make two or three payments, (which in my case was $14 and change each), then set the account to autopay from the freed up savings account funds. Set it and forget it. The $500 placed in checking you can do whatever you want with.