Does Moving Affect your Credit Score?

[JeffWeico]

Hi,

I have lived at my current address for about 7 years, and prior to that I was in a roommate situation for approximately 2 years. Recently, a friend referred me to an apartment in the same building in which he lives, and the offer is awesome! 

I am single, and live in a studio. The new apartment is a 1 bedroom and almost twice the size, including a dining room, which means I could entertain people which I cannot currently do. The neighborhood is also better. The clincher is that the rent is $100 less than what I am now paying. A nice bonus is that they will allow me to have DirecTV as opposed to Comcast (another $100 or so per month saved). 

My only concern is my credit score. My TU is at 759, EXP 709 and I am not sure of EQ. Does anyone know if the move will have a huge negative affect on my credit score? If so, do you know how long it will last?

I am not currently looking for new credit, but I know what it is like to want to take advantage of an opportunity only to find that my credit score has dropped to the point where it is not possible. So, I keep my payments on time and my balances relatively low (under 10% of my available credit).

My fear is that my score drops because I moved, then my creditors lower my credit limits and thus further reduce my score. 

I will most likely move either way, but I want to know what to expect. 

If anyione has any information, I would appreciate it. I tried searching for it, but just got tons of results where discussions were moved from one forum to another. 

Thanks,

Jeff

[haulingthescoreup]

This is speculation on my part, but the only hit to your scores that I can see coming is from an inq. For scores in the mid-700's, this might run as high as 6-10 points; for scores in the lower 700's, I would expect more like 3-6 points. Some people don't get any ding for an inq, depending upon whether they've already got any on that particular CRA within a year.

With an apartment application, the inq would be your only resulting item to hit your report(s). You're not going to have a new account pop up as well.

That sounds like a great apartment deal! I'd be all over that thing.


eta: if you want to counter-balance anticipated inq damage, you could pay off several of your lower-balance cards so that you have fewer cards reporting balances. Just make sure that at least one reports. See my damage report in my siggy...

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-22-2009 03:24 AM