topic Re: Road to perfect from 490 in Credit Cards

Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 02:26:58 GMT

New to forum, first post here.

8 months ago I had 490, now 759 FICO8

Only credit I have now is a BankAmeriCard that was secured $300 and converted to $500 unsecured.
100% payment history, 0 balance 8mnth history

Some places show 1 inquiry and some 2.

I would like a higher score and perhaps a cashback card. So what's there first step, secured loan, apply for a card (maybe Fidelity one since I have accounts with them)? Or wait for the inquiries to fall off and credit history to get to at least a year?

To my recollection, I've burned Strawbridge's store card, Sears store card, Sears credit card and Capitol One.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 22:34:28 GMT

Being new I don't know how to edit my post, so I'll just add here:

Should I start an AMEX card because of their prestige, should I ultimately have an AMEX, discover, Visa and MC? My current card is MC. Should I have store cards?

I don't currently have a need for any credit other than I'd like to buy a house one day and maybe start a business.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

medicgrrl — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 23:00:30 GMT

Where do you spend money? Groceries, restaurant's, gas? You can get a rewards card based on your spending, use it regularly, make a few dollars and pay in full every month.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 23:23:47 GMT

Bars, convenience stores and eBay mostly. Probably need a lifestyle change. Figured Fidelity was good because it's 2% on everything, a Visa which diversifies my card collection and the cash goes into my retirement. But the post isn't much about which card as much as how to best raise my score to ultimately get the best rate on a home loan

Re: Road to perfect from 490

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 23:34:03 GMT

759 is a pretty darn good score that should get you the best of the best. Going from 490 to 759 Fico8 in 8 months is phenominal but question , how thin is your file? If your only credit card is a $500 card, and youve been paying it on time for 8 months, with the limited info you have given, sounds to me like you are just starting in the credit world.

If you really want better and specific advise on how to have best scores for purchasing a home etc, you should try and tell us a bit more about your current profile. Many who are new to credit can have a wonderful score, but a thin file 759 is not the same as someone with estsblished credit and thicker score. Lots more goes into getting approved etc.

By the way welcome to the forum , glad to have ya

Re: Road to perfect from 490

happypill — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 23:35:02 GMT

What did you do to go from 490 to 759 in 8 months? If items aged off, they wouldn't have had that much of an impact, so you must have gotten items removed I guess.

Why do you think you'll get a better mortgage rate with a score higher than 759, did you have a specific lender program in mind? Most lenders offer their best rates at 740, but you should definitely look at your mortgage FICO scores as most will take the middle score of the three.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 23:44:45 GMT

Debts just agreed off and I got a secured card the next day. Then after 6 months of having the secure card (which I only used once for like $20 the day I got it and paid it off the same day), I called and asked for a limit increase, the said "congrats, it's now $500 and unsecured".

Didn't know about the 740 and the middle score thing. Thx!

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 00:03:02 GMT

I guess that's the golden question, what's the best way to thicken my profile.

I had about 7 cards I maxed when I was 24, as well as some medical bills that happened along the way. One day a Lady said don't pay/talk to any of them. Well, one day years later it all disappeared.

Now I'm 34, pay cash for everything and owe noone. I bartend and make/claim about $700/wk. I also moved back in with my parents recently, so I have a heck of a opportunity in front of me.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

HeavenOhio — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 00:48:35 GMT

If you were to post which card companies you burned, that would help people here identify who's forgiving and who isn't. There may be a handful of banks that you don't want to potentially waste pulls with right now. There'll still be plenty of banks that'll be happy to have you.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 00:53:25 GMT

I'll do that one of these days for sure

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:07:10 GMT

I once read a story about how credit analysts judge credit holders. It said to never use your credit card at a bar. It said this scares lenders who think you may miss work because of drinking and therefore they view you as risky.

The question about MC,Visa and AmEx is an easy one. Prestige is overrated. My $18,000 NFCU Visa Signature swipes just as good as any AmEx. It's also accepted at many more places.

Since you say you are new to credit it would be wise to wait a year before applying for another card (if you want a prime bank card). If you are willing to spend a year preparing for a high limit card apply for a J. Crew or Boscovs or BonTon through the shopping cart trick. In no time you can get them to $10k or $20k. That's when you apply for something like an NFCU Cash Rewards card. In a year you could have a $10k-$20k prime Visa.

When I first started I bought a 20 slot credit card wallet and felt like the man with 12 Comenity cards. I recovered from it quickly but almost got myself in trouble. Think quality over quantity on number of cards.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:31:32 GMT

Are those 3 specifically good? Pertaining to quality over quantity: shouldn't I skip the store cards? I'll look up said shopping cart truck because I like tricks!.

Interesting about using the card at bars.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:36:09 GMT

Guess I should also note that I received snail mail for both Capital One Quicksilver and Ally home loan pre-approved in the past two weeks since I upgraded my secured card to non secured.. Didn't intend on using either

Re: Road to perfect from 490

medicgrrl — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:37:47 GMT

Did you burn Discover? They like thin files. I wouldn't waste time on store cards. Acquire cards that you may use in the future. Major cards are good in the event you need to rent a car or put a deposit on something etc. As another poster stated, it would be helpful for you to list the creditors you previously had charge off's with.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

gdale6 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:40:05 GMT

@Justinb6003 wrote:
Being new I don't know how to edit my post, so I'll just add here:

Welcome to the board

In each post in the upper right hand corner is an options pull down menu, you click on it then select edit post and then the post button when you are done editing.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:41:19 GMT

I only have one store card and that's Lowes at $25k. I found out about this card before I learned of BonTon and Boscovs quick rise to big limits. I would only use a store card to quickly get to a big limit so a prime bank CC will match your highest limit. I see no use for store cards otherwise. Lowes sells things everybody uses including paint, tape, batteries, light bulbs, cleaning supplies and so forth so it's easy keeping the card active by using it.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:48:08 GMT

I never had Discover, in fact that's the online inquiry on my report in the past 2yrs for when I tried to get the IT card

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 01:52:02 GMT

I don't seem to have an options pull down menu. I'm on Android FWIW

Re: Road to perfect from 490

K-in-Boston — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 02:10:34 GMT

Right next to "powered by Lithium" under the reply box is "Version: Mobile | Full" Clicking on Full will give you the desktop experience with all the bells and whistles, but not always as easy to read on a phone. Also, welcome to the forums!

I would take a look at the prequalifying pages for the major lenders to see if anyone if offering you a specific APR for their products to see if anything matches your spend. Synchrony is a major issuer of store cards, but they also offer a PayPal Extras credit card that may make sense for you if you do a lot of eBay buying.

Re: Road to perfect from 490

Justinb6003 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 02:19:58 GMT

Ahh, I can see everything now