Restarting, what's realistic

EAJuggalo · ‎01-31-2016

Finally got everything bad off my credit reports. Only problem is now there isn't anything on the credit report except a 10 year old auto loan that was paid in full, on time. Where should I be starting this journey? I'm considering the Secured Discover and US Bank cards but would of course really like to get an unsecured if at all possible. According to CK my scores are 620-650 but I'm not sure about that. I refuse to use anything from Capital One, they're a large part of the issues I've been dealing with for many years. I'm not looking for pipe dreams and I know it will take a while. I'd really like to be able to qualify for a $6-7,000 by this time next year with a decent interest rate. Last one that approved me was going to charge me more in interest than the price of the vehicle.

EX700 TU 704 EQ 694 4/03/22
Cap1 QS-$4,500 Chase Freedom Flex- $800 Chase Freedom Unlimited- $1,000 Victoria's Secret- $1,200 Citi DC- $800 Amazon Store Card- $3,500 AMEX Hilton Honors-$1,000 Discover It-$1,000 Wal-Mart MC $290 Chase Sapphire Preferred-$5,000 NFCU Flagship $13,800 AMEX BCE-$1,000 AMEX Gold-$5,000 AMEX Delta Blue $1,000 Lowe's $5,000 Navy Platinum $17,000 AMEX BBP $2,000

AutoBot · ‎01-31-2016

My first thought is capital one, but I see that your against that, which I understand. Have you looked into pre-qualification sites for cards other than capital one? Do you belong to a credit union? You may want to signup for Credit Check Total to get some real FICO scores and then cancel in 7 days if you don't want to continue.

Anonymous · ‎01-31-2016

Try Capital One Quicksilver to start

bdhu2001 · ‎01-31-2016

Get your real FICO score. Since you state you have an old auto loan, I'm taking that to mean you have no current installment loans. If so, do a shared loan so that you can get a mix of credit. If you belong to a credit Union, apply for a card through them. Cap1 is the most forgiving so if you aren't willing to do Cap1 & you can't get one through your credit union, you may need to go the secured route.

Personally, I would hold my nose and apply for Cap1. If you get it, use it to build up your credit and once you get other cards sock drawer it. If you only use Cap 1 for bills that you normally use cash for and pay all new charges after it hits your card, you'll do fine. Just don't become a revolver on a Cap1 card.

Original Mortgage maturity Sept 2044; Refi maturity Dec 2030
Starting Score: EX 751 EQ 720 TU 737 on 4/9/14
Current Score: EX 849 EQ 835 TU 843
Goal Score: 850

Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

EAJuggalo · ‎02-01-2016

I held my nose and applied at Capital One. Got approved for a $500 unsecured. Tried to get my Fico8 score and it came up as not available, looking through the possible reasons I came up with no open accounts having been reported in the last six months. So next week when my card arrives the long journey begins. My goal is to get a decent car loan next year and have an American Express within the next two. Are those reasonable?

EX700 TU 704 EQ 694 4/03/22
Cap1 QS-$4,500 Chase Freedom Flex- $800 Chase Freedom Unlimited- $1,000 Victoria's Secret- $1,200 Citi DC- $800 Amazon Store Card- $3,500 AMEX Hilton Honors-$1,000 Discover It-$1,000 Wal-Mart MC $290 Chase Sapphire Preferred-$5,000 NFCU Flagship $13,800 AMEX BCE-$1,000 AMEX Gold-$5,000 AMEX Delta Blue $1,000 Lowe's $5,000 Navy Platinum $17,000 AMEX BBP $2,000

Anonymous · ‎02-01-2016

I'd say the auto loan next year is reasonable. Hubby had no score in September now he is at 662 EX. As soon as your card reports the first time you might have a score of some kind. Hubby has an old Aaron's account that is still reporting so he had a high 500 I Oct. I don't know anything about Amex

Anonymous · ‎02-01-2016

@EAJuggalo wrote:
I held my nose and applied at Capital One. Got approved for a $500 unsecured. Tried to get my Fico8 score and it came up as not available, looking through the possible reasons I came up with no open accounts having been reported in the last six months. So next week when my card arrives the long journey begins. My goal is to get a decent car loan next year and have an American Express within the next two. Are those reasonable?

EAJuggalo,

FIrst welcom to the boards and to rebuilding your credit. Settle in for the long road.

Which Cap1 card did you get Platinum or QS1? Did you use the Pre Qual site or just cold app? Google Capital One Preapproval and you'll ge to the site. I ask because if you got 1 you should be able to get the other using the same credit pull and not have the impact of 2 HP's and get 2 accts at the same time. The QS1 comes with 1.5% Cash Rewards on all purchases too, SWEET! There's some other stuff you'll need to know depending on which card (cards) you have and we can discuss them once you finish with the process.

IF you have had old accts in the past 10yrs they will show up. Not sure why they aren't now but they will be part of your AAoA once things start reporting.

EAJuggalo · ‎02-01-2016

Platinum through the Pre-Qual. After reading your post I went back and applied for the QS1 which was approved with a $500 limit.

The only thing on my credit report is a car loan that originated in 2001 and was paid off in 2006 so it is showing AAoA of 14.6 years, but nothing has reported in the last six months. I expect a not horrible but not great score as soon as Capital One reports open accounts.

EX700 TU 704 EQ 694 4/03/22
Cap1 QS-$4,500 Chase Freedom Flex- $800 Chase Freedom Unlimited- $1,000 Victoria's Secret- $1,200 Citi DC- $800 Amazon Store Card- $3,500 AMEX Hilton Honors-$1,000 Discover It-$1,000 Wal-Mart MC $290 Chase Sapphire Preferred-$5,000 NFCU Flagship $13,800 AMEX BCE-$1,000 AMEX Gold-$5,000 AMEX Delta Blue $1,000 Lowe's $5,000 Navy Platinum $17,000 AMEX BBP $2,000

Anonymous · ‎02-01-2016

@EAJuggalo wrote:
Platinum through the Pre-Qual. After reading your post I went back and applied for the QS1 which was approved with a $500 limit.
The only thing on my credit report is a car loan that originated in 2001 and was paid off in 2006 so it is showing AAoA of 14.6 years, but nothing has reported in the last six months. I expect a not horrible but not great score as soon as Capital One reports open accounts.

Congrats on the approval. Capital One is a great starting place. I was able to get an Amex card (all but a low limit) within 6 months of my actual rebuilding. If I had to do it all over again, I would have waited until later to apply for it, but hindsight is 20/20. I have it now, so I wil just have to deal with the low limit until I can qualify for another Amex product. As someone else pointed out, a shared loan is a good idea for the installment loan needed for FICO scoring purposes. You need 3 bankcard for FICO scoring and 1 installment loan. Since I didn't qualify for any unsecured cards initially, I went the secured card route. That is something that could be available for you as the other lenders such as Credit One and First Premier should be approached with caution. Be wary of cards with exorbitant annual fees. If you can pay those, then why not just go the secured card route (the lenders will probably treat you better). I have a secured Discover card that I love and hopefully in 3 months it will unsecure. Good luck and glad that you have joined myfico. There are so many good people on this site that will offer you with valuable information. They have and continue to help me.

Anonymous · ‎02-02-2016

@EAJuggalo wrote:
I held my nose and applied at Capital One. Got approved for a $500 unsecured. Tried to get my Fico8 score and it came up as not available, looking through the possible reasons I came up with no open accounts having been reported in the last six months. So next week when my card arrives the long journey begins. My goal is to get a decent car loan next year and have an American Express within the next two. Are those reasonable?

Re: Cap One - they forgive debtors that have defaulted with them (obviously not the debt itself) and let them back in after one year, unlike some others that will blacklist you for life. Maybe they deserve the same? Just sayin....