topic Re: Which is easier to get and why? in Credit Cards

Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:54:28 GMT

A prime credit card like and AMEX Blue/Discover More or a low interest mortgage? Explain please...

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:04:37 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
A prime credit card like and AMEX Blue/Discover More or a low interest mortgage? Explain please...

I think you need to explain the question a lot more for it to be meaningful.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:13:04 GMT

Well I forgot where I read it(i think it was at Experian's website), but it says that a mortgage is a like a 4 star quality credit to have, a car loan/installment loan is 3 star, a major bank CC is 2 star and dept store is 1 star. That being said, it seems from what I'm reading about credit score, I'm going to have a pretty hard time trying to get a prime credit card like an AMEX Blue or Discover More... but I just got approved for a low interest rate mortgage. Seems a bit backwards that I'm able to get a mortgage but may face hardship trying to get those prime cards I want. So I was wondering if what I read was full of sh*t or if it's correct. I'm hoping someone could explain that for me.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:31:21 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
Well I forgot where I read it(i think it was at Experian's website), but it says that a mortgage is a like a 4 star quality credit to have, a car loan/installment loan is 3 star, a major bank CC is 2 star and dept store is 1 star. That being said, it seems from what I'm reading about credit score, I'm going to have a pretty hard time trying to get a prime credit card like an AMEX Blue or Discover More... but I just got approved for a low interest rate mortgage. Seems a bit backwards that I'm able to get a mortgage but may face hardship trying to get those prime cards I want. So I was wondering if what I read was full of sh*t or if it's correct. I'm hoping someone could explain that for me.

I believe in your other post you were wondering if you contacted the CCC and spoke with a CSR or Analyst would they be able to tell you your chances of approval based off your FICO score alone. Someone mentioned everything looked okay except for the fact that you closed all your revolving accounts. Unless you have your FICO score from the mortgage co you'll be shooting in the dark with your EX score anyways. With the info you provided I think you'll have a good shot at some of the prime cards with maybe the CL being affected because of history. This is all IMHO of course

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:02:51 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
Well I forgot where I read it(i think it was at Experian's website), but it says that a mortgage is a like a 4 star quality credit to have, a car loan/installment loan is 3 star, a major bank CC is 2 star and dept store is 1 star. That being said, it seems from what I'm reading about credit score, I'm going to have a pretty hard time trying to get a prime credit card like an AMEX Blue or Discover More... but I just got approved for a low interest rate mortgage. Seems a bit backwards that I'm able to get a mortgage but may face hardship trying to get those prime cards I want. So I was wondering if what I read was full of sh*t or if it's correct. I'm hoping someone could explain that for me.

I think that explanation is so simplified as to be useless.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:09:05 GMT

assume i know nothing... what were you going to say?

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:13:32 GMT

and my actual question without ties to any of my previous questions is still up for debate. Some people may have a harder time getting one over the other. I'm trying to get a logical explanation as which one is really easier to get and why. I haven't actually applied for those CC so I don't have something to compare to. I'm just wondering if others have had experience one way or the other.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Creditaddict — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:39:49 GMT

Some creditors like to see a mortgage and some don't. thats the simple answer

If you have no other credit except a store card that you have not used in 8 years and a new mortgage, credit card companies are going to look at you like a person that does not use credit and may have a hard time approving you with larger limits because you are not showing you can handle any limits because you are not paying on any debt except mortgage.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:26:47 GMT

With a mortgage, the bank has a physical asset to take away from you to recoup losses. Credit cards are unsecured and purely "voluntary" repayment (with some caveats, of course). Your income, your past credit usage and payment history are the biggest factors.

You also put down a down payment on a house, you have it appraised to guarantee its value in case the bank has to take it back from you for non-payment, and you may have mortgage insurance. The biggest factors are not only your past credit, but a full evaluation of your financial ability to repay without hardship, which credit cards really don't take into account (much). Mortgage underwriters will evaluate your assets, your DTI, your employment stability, even your personal stability (though marriage, education, etc are not supposed to be considered legally, they really are).

Huge differences in the type of credit, so comparing credit card approvals and mortgage approvals is an exercise in futility.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:20:40 GMT

That's fine, I understand I probably won't have a high credit limit... my goal is just to have the card period. I could worry about the CLI later once they trust me. My huge concern was that I wouldn't get accepted at all. I suppose I could go for subprime cards to start establishing credit usage there as I know I'll get approved for that... I guess I'm wanting to run before I can walk again. It's been such a long time since I had a prestigious card in my wallet that I'm missing it. C'est la vie.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:43:43 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
Well I forgot where I read it (i think it was at Experian's website), but it says that a mortgage is a like a 4 star quality credit to have, a car loan/installment loan is 3 star, a major bank CC is 2 star and dept store is 1 star. That being said, it seems from what I'm reading about credit score, I'm going to have a pretty hard time trying to get a prime credit card like an AMEX Blue or Discover More... but I just got approved for a low interest rate mortgage. Seems a bit backwards that I'm able to get a mortgage but may face hardship trying to get those prime cards I want. So I was wondering if what I read was full of sh*t or if it's correct. I'm hoping someone could explain that for me.

I'm always a bit skeptical of anything as general as this that I read on a website, especially one from the CRA's.

As others have said, it's true that with a house or a car, you have a hard asset that the lender can take back if you fail to pay (not that they'd really want any more foreclosed houses these days...) and with a CC, they can't recover that plane trip or restaurant meal that you used it on.

May I ask, why have you gotten the impression here that you'd have a hard time getting a good card? Since you did get a mortgage, can you share your FICO scores, all three? Any serious baddies, and/ or recent baddies?

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:41:45 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:

May I ask, why have you gotten the impression here that you'd have a hard time getting a good card? Since you did get a mortgage, can you share your FICO scores, all three? Any serious baddies, and/ or recent baddies?

My FICO EQ score is 681, my FICO TU score is 721 and my FAKO EX score is over 730(The FICO EX score I got from my mortgage lender shows its over 700). I don't have any collections or judgements. I have 2 released tax lien on my public record section which means it's paid off already. Any baddies I've had in the past have been from so long ago that they've fallen off the record. I've been a straight shooter since those stupid younger years. My assumption that I may not get approved is based on readings from websites like "who gave me credit" where I've seen people with higher scores get declined etc.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:10:38 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:

May I ask, why have you gotten the impression here that you'd have a hard time getting a good card? Since you did get a mortgage, can you share your FICO scores, all three? Any serious baddies, and/ or recent baddies?
My FICO EQ score is 681, my FICO TU score is 721 and my FAKO EX score is over 730(The FICO EX score I got from my mortgage lender shows its over 700). I don't have any collections or judgements. I have 2 released tax lien on my public record section which means it's paid off already. Any baddies I've had in the past have been from so long ago that they've fallen off the record. I've been a straight shooter since those stupid younger years. My assumption that I may not get approved is based on readings from websites like "who gave me credit" where I've seen people with higher scores get declined etc.

Do you have any open credit cards at this time? CL? Balances? That is very relevant to getting the CC you want.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:23:25 GMT

WhoGaveMeCredit-dot-com used to be kinda-sorta reliable, but it just completely fell apart over the last few years. I wouldn't worry too much about what you read there. Most people post FAKO's, they use the wrong bureau, and so on and so on.

Although credit union cards haven't traditionally been considered status cards, there's been a big migration to them since the meltdown, and they are certainly more likely to give higher CL's that the Big Boy banks.

Another possiblity might be your mortgage lender, if it's affiliated with a bank that issues CC's.

And a third possibility might be a charge card (not a revolver, but a Green, Gold, or Zync) from American Express. The charge cards are usually easier to get, because AmEx can limit its liability more than with their revolvers. They generally pull Experian, but they sometimes also pull the others as well. They don't go by FICO scores, as they use a roll-your-own inhouse formula based on your EX report. At any rate, if you don't mind the annual fee, they might be a possibility. I don't know how they would regard the released liens, though. And they recently chopped another member here, giving a perplexing reason.

Discover seems to have become quite the TU-puller these days, and every now and then they seem to go through a period where they approve nearly everyone. (Still don't know what's up with that.)

At any rate, you might want to check out the threads here on the CC forum about who is getting approved for what. For the most part, posters are pretty honest about any warts on their reports and their scores. (Although you never know for sure, lol.) Hope that helps!

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

davidsawsparks — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:12:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Do you have any open credit cards at this time? CL? Balances? That is very relevant to getting the CC you want.

I have 1 Zales Jeweler card opened since 1998 and 1 JC Penny card opened since 1998 also. They both have 0 balance. All the other credit cards I use to have are all 0 balance and closed. I closed them way before I knew about the disadvantages of closing accounts many years ago.

Re: Which is easier to get and why?

MattH — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:09:08 GMT

@davidsawsparks wrote:
A prime credit card like and AMEX Blue/Discover More or a low interest mortgage? Explain please...

Your question implies an apples-to-oranges comparison: a mortgage is a different thing entirely because it is a long-term loan. At least in my own experience a person with a clean credit history can get credit cards and auto loans based on nothing more than (1) what the applicant writes on the application and (2) what they learn when they pull a credit history. When my wife and I applied for a mortgage we had to provide all sorts of documentation that no other lender has ever requested, such as bank statements and verification of employment.