topic Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances in Credit Cards

Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:50:00 GMT

Hello all,

Being the impatient person I am I wanted to ask your opinion to help me make a decision. My wife and I are waiting for some CC balances to report to my credit reports before we have our LO pull our credit so we can get the preapproval letter. My question is should we really wait?

Here’s the scenario:

My Fico scores are TU 635 and EQ 645 DW’s are 626 and 602 respectively. Our lender does go down to 600 fico midscore for FHA, unfortunately at a 1% hit, I’m pretty positive her Experian score is gonna be the lowest of the 3 so the 602 is where we’ll be sitting.

Anyways about the credit cards. There’s a best buy card reporting a $250 balance on a $800 limit. I paid it down to 0 about a month ago and requested a mid cycle update from HSBC Best Buy but they said it only happens on my Statement Date (December 6th).

There’s also a Macys card reporting a $36 balance on a $170 limit. That’s also been paid down to $0 but not sure when it’ll report to the credit bureaus.

Last card is a credit card with a $42 balance on a $450 limit. That has been paid down to $1 but has not reported either.

The balances currently reporting aren’t too bad are they? Will waiting really help since these will only affect my ficos and not hers?

DW does not have any CC’s only a car loan she paid off with no lates of about $4k and our current car loan of about 13K with no lates that we have been paying for over two years. She Does have 3 medical collections totaling $470 dollars.

Is there anything I can do to try and get her Ficos up to 620? Will paying those help?

Sorry this is so long, if you need me to provide anything else, I’ll be glad to! Thanks for your time and help this board is awesome

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

demo18c — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:46:09 GMT

You can try to add her an Au to your cards. Throw a little mixture in there..It may help

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:37:15 GMT

Will adding her as an AU count as an inquiry as well though? I don't want to do anything that will have a negative impact on her score as you can see we are right on the border of that mid 600 at this point!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

luvs2barre — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:43:30 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
Will adding her as an AU count as an inquiry as well though? I don't want to do anything that will have a negative impact on her score as you can see we are right on the border of that mid 600 at this point!

No it won't. But I would choose wisely the account you want to add her as a AU on. Make sure its a account that has the longest history, no late payments and a low utilization (between 1-9%). Also you may want to check with the credit card company before adding her to make sure they report AU to all 3 credit bureaus. I know for a fact that Cap One does. Hope that helps!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:07:42 GMT

So of my 3 cards the oldest is the Best Buy. opened 1/1/2008 the Limit is 800 and high balance was 799 now the balance sits at 253 at least on the CR. I have paid it down to $0. Would this be the best to add?

Macys opened 8/1/2008 high balance of $252 Limit of 170.00 I thought I had a $300 limit so that really threw me off when i saw that limit, so not sure if its a good idea to use this card. Balance showing on the report is $43 but has also been paid down to $0

Last CC is a Visa with limit of $450 high balance of $465 which was for like one day before I paid it well below the limit.. Current balance showing is $36 but I have paid this down to $1.

So what does everyone think? should I wait for the new balances to report and what card would be best to add her to?

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

luvs2barre — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:19:48 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
So of my 3 cards the oldest is the Best Buy. opened 1/1/2008 the Limit is 800 and high balance was 799 now the balance sits at 253 at least on the CR. I have paid it down to $0. Would this be the best to add?

Macys opened 8/1/2008 high balance of $252 Limit of 170.00 I thought I had a $300 limit so that really threw me off when i saw that limit, so not sure if its a good idea to use this card. Balance showing on the report is $43 but has also been paid down to $0

Last CC is a Visa with limit of $450 high balance of $465 which was for like one day before I paid it well below the limit.. Current balance showing is $36 but I have paid this down to $1.

So what does everyone think? should I wait for the new balances to report and what card would be best to add her to?

I would post this on the Credit Cards forum to see what they think. Some people on that forum may know if these cards report AU and if they are reported to all 3 credit bureaus. To me it seems like the Best Buy card would be the best bet but I'm not for sure.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:34:25 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
Anyways about the credit cards. There’s a best buy card reporting a $250 balance on a $800 limit. I paid it down to 0 about a month ago and requested a mid cycle update from HSBC Best Buy but they said it only happens on my Statement Date (December 6th).

Hmmm...HSBC/Orchard cards usually post the balance as of the last business day of the month, not the statement balance (unless, of course, your statement hits at the end of the month). I also have an HSBC BestBuy MC & this is what I have seen. Also, I've seen my report update before my statement date. Example: I've seen my reports update on the 9th, but my statement date isn't until the 13th (yes, I pull my credit report frequently thanks to CCT). I'm still rebuilding & like to keep an eye on things.

Post about when CCs update on reports:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&message.id=35340&query.id=267343#M35340

As a previous poster mentioned, I'd check on the Credit Cards forum for more insight on balances & if AU accounts post from a particular institution. Just be sure that if you add your DW as an AU that you add her to a clean account, no derogs, no lates.

Hope this helps!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:50:19 GMT

Cass and Honey thank you so much. I will post in the Credit Card forum. Hopefully my best buy card also updates last day of the month, but I do not have the best buy mastercard just their store card, not sure if that post different!

So what do you guys think should we wait to have our LO pull credit? would the balances currently showing on my report have a negative effect?

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:26:50 GMT

Is there a Mod in the house? I think this post should be moved.

I normally hang around the Rebuilding forum, but poke my head in here since I'm looking to buy a home next year. It sounds like there may be a bit of tweaking/cleanup to be done to your scores, so I would suggest having the LO hold off on pulling your scores (if you can afford to wait).

From what I've seen, FICO likes to see utilization at between 1-9% & less than half your revolving TLs reporting a balance. Of course, the gurus on the Rebuilding would have better insight than I.

Good luck!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Lel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:36:14 GMT

honeybunnygal wrote:

Is there a Mod in the house? I think this post should be moved.

I normally hang around the Rebuilding forum, but poke my head in here since I'm looking to buy a home next year. It sounds like there may be a bit of tweaking/cleanup to be done to your scores, so I would suggest having the LO hold off on pulling your scores (if you can afford to wait).

From what I've seen, FICO likes to see utilization at between 1-9% & less than half your revolving TLs reporting a balance. Of course, the gurus on the Rebuilding would have better insight than I.

Good luck!

Sounds like a good idea. Moving it now!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:09:56 GMT

Thank you!

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Jazzzy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:13:42 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
Cass and Honey thank you so much. I will post in the Credit Card forum. Hopefully my best buy card also updates last day of the month, but I do not have the best buy mastercard just their store card, not sure if that post different!

So what do you guys think should we wait to have our LO pull credit? would the balances currently showing on my report have a negative effect?

If you are in a position to wait...then why not wait? I know it's exciting to buy a house, and you're likely anxious to get started...but be patient and give yourselves the best possible shot at it. Let those lower balances report. You not only have to get through a loan officer...you have to get through underwriting. Give yourself the best chance.

As for adding your spouse as an AU on one of your cards, what is her AAoA right now? Am I reading correctly that you will have only $1 showing as a balance on your credit cards after everything reports? If that is the case, then adding her as an AU would only be beneficial if it raises her average age...unless I'm missing something (which is entirely possible).

Hang in there...you'll get more input.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:20:47 GMT

Lyn thank you maybe you're right I should wait. But abou the Average age of accounts is that only on credit cards or auto loans as well? currently she has no credit cards revolving etc. only thing on there is our current car payment which we started september of 07. She had a car loan for about 6 months before that that was paid off as well.

Message Edited by acevesf on 12-01-2009 01:20 PM

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

MarineVietVet — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:49:27 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
Lyn thank you maybe you're right I should wait. But abou the Average age of accounts is that only on credit cards or auto loans as well? currently she has no credit cards revolving etc. only thing on there is our current car payment which we started september of 07. She had a car loan for about 6 months before that that was paid off as well.
Message Edited by acevesf on 12-01-2009 01:20 PM

Your AAoA is the sum of the ages of every account on your report, whether open or closed. This is measured from the time each account was opened until present.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:33:23 GMT

sorry for the newb question but does AAOA also include any collections?

thank you all so much for your help.

I think I may put her as an AU on my Best Buy card.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

MarineVietVet — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:57:30 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
sorry for the newb question but does AAOA also include any collections?

thank you all so much for your help.

I think I may put her as an AU on my Best Buy card.

Unfortunately yes.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Jazzzy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:05:00 GMT

@acevesf wrote:
Lyn thank you maybe you're right I should wait. But abou the Average age of accounts is that only on credit cards or auto loans as well? currently she has no credit cards revolving etc. only thing on there is our current car payment which we started september of 07. She had a car loan for about 6 months before that that was paid off as well.

Her score should go up if she shows a credit card. If she could be an authorized user on a card with no utility, that would be ideal. The oldest possible card would be ideal.

She is not showing what they call a "mix" of credit, which means revolving, installment, and mortgage. Her car loan is installment. A credit card would be revolving.

You are on the right track to be looking at all these things BEFORE you sit down with a loan officer. Too many people don't even look at their reports first, and they sit down to a big surprise. Homework first. House second.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:51:24 GMT

I wonder if I should add her to my Best Buy card tomorrow, if they do AU. and hopefull by the time the $0 balance reports to my CR it will also show up on her CR. any idea how long AU takes to report to the CB's?

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:45:54 GMT

When you call, be sure to mention something about having the AU reported to the CRAs. If their computer system allows it, they'll be able to tack on your wife's SS# right then and there so they won't have to go searching around for her, which could expedite things for you.

Re: Wait for pre-approval? Question about CC balances

acevesf — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:25:53 GMT

Just called they said they can add her as an AU and issue her a card but the agent said it would not build her credit.... I asked if I could provide him with a SSN he said no, only on co-signer and for that I would have to fill out an app.

anyone know if it will eventually show up on her CR even w/o her ssn or DOB?

nevermind about the co-signer either said thats not possible after the first 30 days of the original app have elapsed.

Message Edited by acevesf on 12-04-2009 12:25 PM