topic Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please in Credit Cards

Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:12:42 GMT

I've been here for a bit now but learning a lot from everyone here. For those that might have missed my situation- I'm getting married at the end of May and will likely look for a house in a year or so. My credit history isn't extensive. I had an AU card from Nov 2009 and first real card from May 2011. "Luckily" I have 11 education fed loans that are upping my AAoA to roughly 6.9yrs (so 6yrs 11mo let's say). My TU/EXP scores are around the 765-770 area.

I wanted to get my credit in order as well as get a card with no FTF for our upcoming travels. So this month I applied and was approved for Cap1 QS (10k limit & no FTF) and Citi DC ($3k limit & 2% CB)

I did some quick math and those two new cards should drop my AAoA to pretty much 6 yrs even... so I'm losing a year here...

I was looking at the Marvel card for 3% back on dining and entertainment (don't care for Marvel itself but the benefits seem nice)

Also I was looking at Blispay because of simpler 2% back and hopefully a higher limit than the $3k joke of a limit that Citi gave me

My rough calculations project me dropping to 5yrs 7mo if I add one card and and 5yrs 4mo if I add both Marvel and Blispay

At that point I'll have 4 HPs and 4 new accounts... How will that look for a mortgage application a year from now? What is it gonna do to my FICO score? I'm mildly worried because I'm in that borderline category where I don't want to drop below 740... I know it'll recover in time but how many points am I expected to lose on this? Will it make a difference? Should I sit tight and wait a year or do a spree now and just garden like forever after that? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:16:26 GMT

From a mortgage qualification standpoint you'll be fine. Even after the apps your file will still be strong, and in 12 months you'll be fully recovered from any minor ding in score.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:26:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
From a mortgage qualification standpoint you'll be fine. Even after the apps your file will still be strong, and in 12 months you'll be fully recovered from any minor ding in score.

thanks! So I guess I should specify... I feel like we'll be able to get a mortgage no problem, but I'm worried about the rate... will we still be able to get the top rates?

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:27:18 GMT

I applied for two cards and a car loan in the six months before my mortgage. I was fine. You want your middle score to be as high as possible for interest. If you apply for more cards I would do it sooner rather than later. As you get closer to applying for the mortgage you want your credit to be perfect.

Normally, with your scores, low inquiries, and student loans padding your AAOA, I wouldn't see a ton of downside to getting Blispay. Worst that happens is you lose a HP (when you don't have very many) and take a month hit on your AAOA in the event they close shop. If they don't, you have an awesome card.

But with the mortgage coming up, I'd be scared to get the Blispay because there is a lot of uncertainty with them. If they closed up shop in a year when your loan is in underwriting, it could look like you're messing with your credit and it could hurt your utilization, your score, and possibly your interest rate. That would definitely not be worth the headache.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:28:16 GMT

Inquiries are supposed to stop affecting your credit score after a year, and new accounts usually decrease your score short-term while increasing it if you show responsible use long-term. Since you just got 2 new cards, I would personally suggest waiting to get any more until after your mortgage goes through.

I'd also look at themanwhocan's charts for cashback cards to figure out which ones would be best for you in the long run. For instance, Blispay is the same as your Double Cash in rewards rate, and it's much newer and less established, so I would suggest avoiding that in favor of something that gives greater than 2% rewards on categories in which you spend more.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:35:30 GMT

OP, you'd likely still get the best interest rate if you got a new card now because the HP stops affecting your score after 12 months and it would actually pad your utilization. You'd just want to decrease your utilization in time for it to report when they do your application.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:41:53 GMT

@deltatee wrote:
OP, you'd likely still get the best interest rate if you got a new card now because the HP stops affecting your score after 12 months and it would actually pad your utilization. You'd just want to decrease your utilization in time for it to report when they do your application.

I always carry a zero or next to zero balance... I'm very fortunate to be in a position to not have util issues so purely from a util standpoint, I won't get much benefit out of more limits... really just looking to establish better long term history and and farm some rewards...

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:53:10 GMT

Then I don't see much downside to apping, just do it soon so your scores rebound!

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:17:11 GMT

ok, here's a hypothetical twist then... we live in Atlanta so the market is insane here.. houses come off the market in matter of minutes... so let's imagine future wife falls in love with a house in September/October? Am I screwed?

PS She has better credit history than me, probably in the 810-820 range... most of it comes from her parents' cards that I unfortunately can't be added to... I could add 2 of her cards to massively up my limits but it'll likely decrease my AAoA since those are from 2012... so that likely does nothing for me...

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:32:11 GMT

Can't answer it for certain, but I doubt it.

I'm in Denver and the market is the same way. You literally have a weekend to place a bid well over asking, pay the differencenter between offer and appraisal value, and waive inspection, just to compete with at least 20 other offers on the house.

Anyway, I applied for my Sallie Mae last February and expected to wait another year before buying. But between my taxes and the market I had to jump in the market a lot sooner than expected and got pre qualified one month later. I was fine because my card reported and was on my credit report by the time I applied, and my score was good enough that the card didn't knock my score out of the highest interest rate range.

However, it would've been a headache going through underwriting if the card ended up reporting after my pre-qual.

So I guess what I am recommending is to make sure it reports before the pre-qual and dont go over board.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:34:47 GMT

By highest interest rate I mean best interest rate.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 18:48:34 GMT

so then bottom line I guess... get both? or just choose one of them?

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 20:39:08 GMT

IMHO don't app for Blispay until after you close.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 20:45:48 GMT

@deltatee wrote:
IMHO don't app for Blispay until after you close.

but do the Marvel, right? I'm actually more excited about Marvel cause fiancee does all our grocery/daily life shopping and I've always paid for our dining/drinks/entertainment... clearly accounts will be joint at some point, but likely not the credit cards till we close (so we don't bring down each other's scores twice with new lines)

PS I can sort of live without Blispay... technically I have a 2% everyday card... DC doesn't seem as good though and the limit is a joke... but it's SOMETHING you know... I feel like I'm more jaded by the rarity (limited amount) of Blispay...

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

SouthJamaica — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 22:35:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've been here for a bit now but learning a lot from everyone here. For those that might have missed my situation- I'm getting married at the end of May and will likely look for a house in a year or so. My credit history isn't extensive. I had an AU card from Nov 2009 and first real card from May 2011. "Luckily" I have 11 education fed loans that are upping my AAoA to roughly 6.9yrs (so 6yrs 11mo let's say). My TU/EXP scores are around the 765-770 area.

I wanted to get my credit in order as well as get a card with no FTF for our upcoming travels. So this month I applied and was approved for Cap1 QS (10k limit & no FTF) and Citi DC ($3k limit & 2% CB)

I did some quick math and those two new cards should drop my AAoA to pretty much 6 yrs even... so I'm losing a year here...

I was looking at the Marvel card for 3% back on dining and entertainment (don't care for Marvel itself but the benefits seem nice)

Also I was looking at Blispay because of simpler 2% back and hopefully a higher limit than the $3k joke of a limit that Citi gave me

My rough calculations project me dropping to 5yrs 7mo if I add one card and and 5yrs 4mo if I add both Marvel and Blispay

At that point I'll have 4 HPs and 4 new accounts... How will that look for a mortgage application a year from now? What is it gonna do to my FICO score? I'm mildly worried because I'm in that borderline category where I don't want to drop below 740... I know it'll recover in time but how many points am I expected to lose on this? Will it make a difference? Should I sit tight and wait a year or do a spree now and just garden like forever after that? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Seems to me that they are both 'flavor of the month' type cards which you should avoid.

The Marvel card is IMHO just for people doing it for the fun of it, willing to add a junky card with great esthetics

The Blispay card is IMHO not going to be around more than a year or two, since the business model doesn't make economic sense. All the risk is on a startup company with $12.5 million. When it gives 2% cash back it's giving away almost all the revenue it would get from the swipes and transactions. When the 6-month interest-free consumer borrowing comes due, there will be 2 types of customers: (A) those who are in good financial shape and will pay the loan back rather than get stuck paying high interest, and (B) those who are in bad financial shape, and get stuck with the high interest, but are high risk and above average candidates for default. Just doesn't sound like a way to make money to me.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 22:54:26 GMT

Op I have 3 cards less than a year old. I honestly can't say how much damage was done to my scores becuase I had some things fall off my report. So far, no one has even asked me about my credit cards but I'm still a few weeks out from closing. I'm thnking it's because I don't carry a balance. My discover will hit a year this month. but the other two won't be a year until July. I knew I was going to app in a year and I also knew I wanted to app chase sooner rather than later. If you think these cards are worth it, go for it, but if I remember correctly you had mid 700 scores. I think my highest scorre when I apped for the CSP was 725. Might be worth looking in to.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

deltatee — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:15:45 GMT

Just to emphasize what SouthJamaica said, if you're interested in this card because of its 2%, I'd look elsewhere. Blispay seems to marketing itself as a financing option for small and medium businesses. So I think it is very likely they nerf the CB in the future. And as others have said, there are better 2% cards on the market than this. IMO this card is really only good for the 6 month financing in lieu of multiple store cards. Then only for people with thicker files (not suggesting yours is thin) who won't be hit as hard if the card shuts down in a couple years.

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:51:33 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I've been here for a bit now but learning a lot from everyone here. For those that might have missed my situation- I'm getting married at the end of May and will likely look for a house in a year or so. My credit history isn't extensive. I had an AU card from Nov 2009 and first real card from May 2011. "Luckily" I have 11 education fed loans that are upping my AAoA to roughly 6.9yrs (so 6yrs 11mo let's say). My TU/EXP scores are around the 765-770 area.

I wanted to get my credit in order as well as get a card with no FTF for our upcoming travels. So this month I applied and was approved for Cap1 QS (10k limit & no FTF) and Citi DC ($3k limit & 2% CB)

I did some quick math and those two new cards should drop my AAoA to pretty much 6 yrs even... so I'm losing a year here...

I was looking at the Marvel card for 3% back on dining and entertainment (don't care for Marvel itself but the benefits seem nice)

Also I was looking at Blispay because of simpler 2% back and hopefully a higher limit than the $3k joke of a limit that Citi gave me

My rough calculations project me dropping to 5yrs 7mo if I add one card and and 5yrs 4mo if I add both Marvel and Blispay

At that point I'll have 4 HPs and 4 new accounts... How will that look for a mortgage application a year from now? What is it gonna do to my FICO score? I'm mildly worried because I'm in that borderline category where I don't want to drop below 740... I know it'll recover in time but how many points am I expected to lose on this? Will it make a difference? Should I sit tight and wait a year or do a spree now and just garden like forever after that? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Seems to me that they are both 'flavor of the month' type cards which you should avoid.

The Marvel card is IMHO just for people doing it for the fun of it, willing to add a junky card with great esthetics

The Blispay card is IMHO not going to be around more than a year or two, since the business model doesn't make economic sense. All the risk is on a startup company with $12.5 million. When it gives 2% cash back it's giving away almost all the revenue it would get from the swipes and transactions. When the 6-month interest-free consumer borrowing comes due, there will be 2 types of customers: (A) those who are in good financial shape and will pay the loan back rather than get stuck paying high interest, and (B) those who are in bad financial shape, and get stuck with the high interest, but are high risk and above average candidates for default. Just doesn't sound like a way to make money to me.

I definitely think that you're right on Blispay... seems risky and if the only thing that doesn't satisfy me with Citi DC is the credit limit, it's probably more wise to take a hit with HP CLI app with Citi than to both take a HP hit, AAoA hit and then risk them going out of business... I was really only looking at them for the 2%, which I already have and the higher limit isn't guaranteed at all... too much risk

now in terms of Marvel... the reason why I want it is because of how me and fiancee use our cards, she usually takes care of our everyday expenses and I'm in charge of fun- dining, drinks, entertainment, etc... So I was looking to max that 3% everyday category... if Amazon is included in "books"... that's like 90% of my spending... the fact that it's Marvel is actually a turnoff for me... I don't want Spiderman on my card, I'm nearing my 4th decade on this planet lol (still love video games though, hopefully Steam and GMG counts as "entertainment")... So if I was to get it, I'd get that black one with logos barely visible so people don't make fun of me lol... it's purely a simpler way to get more CB on most of my spending rather than rotating different cards to match calendar quarters... so I'm not doing it for fun, really don't care about comics lol... just seems like good set of rewards to me...

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:57:33 GMT

@deltatee wrote:
Just to emphasize what SouthJamaica said, if you're interested in this card because of its 2%, I'd look elsewhere. Blispay seems to marketing itself as a financing option for small and medium businesses. So I think it is very likely they nerf the CB in the future. And as others have said, there are better 2% cards on the market than this. IMO this card is really only good for the 6 month financing in lieu of multiple store cards. Then only for people with thicker files (not suggesting yours is thin) who won't be hit as hard if the card shuts down in a couple years.

lol actually my profile is pretty thin in all honesty... only thing that's keeping me afloat are 78417248914181 student loans (never thought that'd be a good thing?)... if I only had credit cards, I'd probably be struggling to open ANY card, much less get a mortgage lol... funny how things work out lol

and you are SouthJamaica are right... I was looking at Blispay for wrong reasons... I was looking at it simply for the 2% and higher limit... I already have a 2% card and I can get a CLI with another HP through Citi to make it effectively what I wanted out of Blispay... but skip another account dragging my AAoA down... thanks for your help

now the real question is... how much do I value that 1% extra on dining and entertainment through Marvel over DC...?

Re: Help me decide if I should open these cards please

Callandra — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:34:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@deltatee wrote:
Just to emphasize what SouthJamaica said, if you're interested in this card because of its 2%, I'd look elsewhere. Blispay seems to marketing itself as a financing option for small and medium businesses. So I think it is very likely they nerf the CB in the future. And as others have said, there are better 2% cards on the market than this. IMO this card is really only good for the 6 month financing in lieu of multiple store cards. Then only for people with thicker files (not suggesting yours is thin) who won't be hit as hard if the card shuts down in a couple years.
lol actually my profile is pretty thin in all honesty... only thing that's keeping me afloat are 78417248914181 student loans (never thought that'd be a good thing?)... if I only had credit cards, I'd probably be struggling to open ANY card, much less get a mortgage lol... funny how things work out lol

and you are SouthJamaica are right... I was looking at Blispay for wrong reasons... I was looking at it simply for the 2% and higher limit... I already have a 2% card and I can get a CLI with another HP through Citi to make it effectively what I wanted out of Blispay... but skip another account dragging my AAoA down... thanks for your help

now the real question is... how much do I value that 1% extra on dining and entertainment through Marvel over DC...?

How much do you spend monthly? Only you can decide if the extra 1% is worth it to you.

I won't lie...I would love a Spiderman credit card. I don't have any characters on my cards...not since Hello Kitty was on my Japanese bank card.