topic Re: YMMV in General Credit Topics

YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 08:37:35 GMT

There are no proven methods that if someone does A that B will invariably, 100% of the time take place. I have been blessed to be indirectly introduced to various products, promotions and ideas of what I may want to consider as far as strengthening my credit profile. The thing that drives me crazy are all of these tips and this blanket idea that if someone who has been the beneficiary of CLI's in a consistent and proven basis, when they say "hey, do this and this will happen" and when a person does THAT and THAT doesn't happen that the first thing said in retort is "something must be in your profile that 'they' do not like. Really? Lol is that the best word of advice and consolation that you can articulate to someone who is doing their best to achieve YOUR success but has obviously found the results to be in contrast to yours is pretty much "sucks to be you"

I love to read the credit card, credit app and approval sections of the forums and I am always excited to see when us "newer" members have attained a great breakthrough in gaining a foot in a company that once would never give some of us a chance. I would just like some to bear in mind that not everything that is done on a 60 day basis, only one CLI request per every other month on exactly this timeframe, while not having a higher utilization post at this % versus that % is going to generate this "proven" result. Yes, patience is not always the strongest muscle exercised in every member. I get that. Your experience and what works for you will not work for all of us even if we literally had the same score, post the same utilization % and our AAoA is pretty close to even, income and length of time at our current employer, it doesn't mean that 'we' will share the same result just because it worked for you today, yesterday or any time in your recent experience.

We are all thrilled that a certain method and structured approach has begat great success for you but please, remember, not all of us "newbies" need to just go all-in on what worked for you and think that the same will work for us all. Someone once said that hope deferred makes the heart sick and unfulfilled expectations after trying so hard hurts deep enough that lots of "newbies" just flutter and disappear from these forums and that's been quite sad to notice as well.

Ok, I am ready to be crucified.

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 08:59:26 GMT

I doubt anyome is going to crucify you, but as your thread title says, ymmv.

Credit scores, aaoa, and utilization are just a few components of what makes up one's credit profile. No two people on this board have the same exact profile, so no advice given here is ever guaranteed.

Advice is just that, advice. Members of this site take pride in giving tips and techniques as to what worked and didn't work for them, but no one guarantees results or anything. A lot of the info members provide to our community is 100% sound advice, and if followed will lead you to a path a great credit, but on that journey we all at one point or another had some bumps or setbacks along the way.

The key to this site is to read alot and really take in the loads of information around here, then for the most important part, YOU need to think long and hard about how that information applies to YOU, and what YOU should do with it.

Re: YMMV

austinguy907 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 09:18:43 GMT

I smell some of my advice in here

As always everything is YMMV and I don't try to state as a fact but more of a plan and observation of trends around here and/or personal experience. Nothing in credit is 100% no matter how much of an SME you think you are. The best we can do is educated guesses when it comes to the parameters set forth before us.

Cause and effect is never certain either. I usually suggest things like with Discover based on the information I have from past performance and assistance from others posting their experience that certain things help more than others. Usually where you would see the 30/60/90 day intervals come into play when trying to time a CLI. 90% of the time a 30 day period is just too short to get a positive response from them. 90 days for some is more optimal than a 60 day spot.

Similarly AMEX 3X and hitting the "limit cap" before they request a 4506 is a best guess for most at $34.5K since this watermark seems to be a popular point in which they ask for the doc. Just because policy seems to be 3X doesn't ever mean you'll get that amount but, there's a good chance if you don't ask for it you're not collecting the full amount available for your particular account.

Of course each lender has specific nuances in how they do business and it's helpful to have an eye for picking up on these things to pass them along to others that may stumble into the puddle. I tend to focus on the posts that I'm more of an SME in when it comes to what lenders are doing. I jump around on the same 3 catagories you mentioned and don't divert into learning, smorgs, mortgage, auto, etc. I have personal experience in loans that are collateralized i.e. auto/home since I've done many of them over the years and can offer some support there as well if I happen to see a thread going sideways.

There's also a ton of info you don't see posted since a good handful of us also just direct message each other on particular subjects and situations. If it's not public there's a good chance the info being passed back and forth is more upfront between people. As to the churning of new members.... it happens for a variety of reasons like forgetting their password to the other extreme where they don't get coddled with the answer they were hoping for. Sometimes it's when a thread goes sideways and diverts totally off base into a spat between other members about silly stuff.

Since it's a forum most of the time just take it as a grain of salt.... eventually those grains add up as you see the results from each person pan out in your own experience.

Re: YMMV

sarge12 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 11:37:10 GMT

I am sure such things as approvals, CLI's and such is a multi-step process. All except the final step involves your credit reports and scores. I believe for the final step, there is a dart board or roulette wheel involved. Nothing can convince me otherwise!!

Re: YMMV

redpat — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 11:41:24 GMT

Always do your own homework and never take a follow the herd mentality in anything you do.

That's for everything in life.

Re: YMMV

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 11:51:08 GMT

As is most things, take things like a grain of salt, the flavour will be different for each person no matter how you cook it

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 11:58:52 GMT

+1 spaghetti. Good post. I agree there have been quite a few many posts lately where people have been phrasing it as "A will equal B" instead of YMMV. Some posts on the board would be better posts if they started with "my opinion is....."

No one but the credit card company themselves can tell you that A will equal B - and the reason A doesn't equal B is not always because "something in your profile doesn't add up." I've seen a few people with 780-800 FICO's and clean files lately not get a CLI from Discover or Amex and it's definitely not their profile.

As Irish stated very well yesterday, these CLI's and situations are extremely variable and not always possible nor easy to predict. I wouldn't want to see anyone on our board think that if they do x, it will equal y.

Re: YMMV

Gidgetmom — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 12:51:11 GMT

Regardless of how the advice is written here, I have always read it as YMMV. Without anyone knowing the exact algorithms that go into the Fico scoring model, all we have is everyone's opinions, educated guesses and experiences. Nothing in this forum should be taken as an absolute....just a "here's what happened to me".

If someone has misunderstood the intention and left the forum...that's on them. Blame cannot be placed on the good people who take the time to share their experiences in this forum. Most people are doing their best to guide others based on whatever information the "poster" has decided to give, which quite often isn't much.

Just my thoughts and opinion....YMMV.

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 13:04:12 GMT

@Gidgetmom wrote:
Regardless of how the advice is written here, I have always read it as YMMV. Without anyone knowing the exact algorithms that go into the Fico scoring model, all we have is everyone's opinions, educated guesses and experiences. Nothing in this forum should be taken as an absolute....just a "here's what happened to me".

If someone has misunderstood the intention and left the forum...that's on them. Blame cannot be placed on the good people who take the time to share their experiences in this forum. Most people are doing their best to guide others based on whatever information the "poster" has decided to give, which quite often isn't much.

Just my thoughts and opinion....YMMV.

True - I think the point several people are trying to make is that the way information is delivered makes a difference as well. No one is an expert.

Re: YMMV

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 13:03:53 GMT

One thing ill add is if by chance someone believes by doing "a" you get " b", and i understand how that can happen when you see enough people getting the same results, you tend to learn real fast when start doing those things and only come away with "c" . I know this firsthand as i watched many people join lets say Penfed or Navy and come away with huge starting limits, only to find when i did so, to only come away with less, or " c" . It truely is YMMV. Its not their fault, its just we all have different profiles no matter how close we may seem to be thd same. Best advice given truely is to read what is presented, compare to yourself and gleem what info may be pertinent to you and apply. Always with the thought results may vary. I do agree with Humu, very nice thread OP, , its ok to discuss, we all will grow and learn and its an interesting topic...... salt, still stand by lol

Re: YMMV

sarge12 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 13:45:00 GMT

In actual practice through years of experience I have a pretty good idea what my scores will do if I take a certain credit action with MY credit profile. It does not necessarily equate to someone elses credit profile. It is more of an art than a science. So if you were to have a similar profile...it still may not work for you.

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:12:33 GMT

@Gidgetmom wrote:
Regardless of how the advice is written here, I have always read it as YMMV. Without anyone knowing the exact algorithms that go into the Fico scoring model, all we have is everyone's opinions, educated guesses and experiences. Nothing in this forum should be taken as an absolute....just a "here's what happened to me".

Agree, people here are not the decision makers for the issuers. To my mind, it's not a whole lot different from hearing from somewhere (friend, internet, program etc) "Team X is gpomg to win the Superbowl next year." It would be unwise to stake a large amount of money on that, and complain if it doesn't turn out that way!

Somewhat to be expected, the least conditioned advice often comes from the least experienced: understandably they are excited about finally getting the CLI or the "prime" card, and share THE way to do it, without being aware of all the variations.

I would like to think that the negative advice is much less YMMV, e.g. if you get a customer-initiated CLI from Amex, it's extremely unlikely that asking less than 180 days will be successful. On the other hand, I would have said something similar about waiting a year/13 months before being able to transfer a limit from an Amex card, and recent posts suggest that is no longer true.

So, always understand the implicit YMMV!

Re: YMMV

kdm31091 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:22:36 GMT

The thing with credit is that we are not privy to all of the information on how creditors operate -- how do they decide CLIs? How do they determine who gets approved and who doesn't? We generally know the major exclusions (no recent derogs, Chase 5/24, Citi 24 months between bonuses, whatever) but the nuances aren't easy to predict. There are some things we can say doing A will equal B, but many things aren't as clear and never will be.

Similarly, with FICO, while we know "factors", we are not told the complete formula behind scoring.

With everything credit related, take it with a grain of salt. Don't follow the herd expecting the same result. Do your own homework and decide what makes sense for you. That's the only person you have to justify it to. You don't have to apply for a card just because everyone else is. Maybe it doesn't suit your spend and that's okay. While it can be great to hear of other people getting approved, don't let it influence you into things you don't want or need.

Re: YMMV

Gidgetmom — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:57:48 GMT

All I was trying to say is...regardless of the way it is posted, one should read it as YMMV. I agree that it is not always posted that way. This is an important discussion and I agree that many posts don't preface with the YMMV or IMO fact. It's important that newcomers realize the YMMV fact when studying the forums. Kudos to the OP for getting out there. Hopefully, newbies will read it! 😉

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 15:38:39 GMT

Someone' signature is not their **bleep** Credit profile. Someone's approval share is a one-time occurrence/experience with that one lender. How many times have you seen where they get an approval and they're pulling a last month's record? Knowledge and following trends will put you in a good fighting position but copying what someone else did even step by step is YMMV all the way.

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:20:44 GMT

Our posts here are meant to help add to a thread's information, not to judge or say we have all the answers that apply to someone. We all just add our two cents and the posting OP can decide which information is helpful.

One of the values of the forums are all the varied experiences. By adding our individual experiences it gives a lot of input. I love that about everyone's posts. It gives me perspective. We get to know each other here in many ways and occasionally will laugh together.

OP, your post is a good reminder to all of us to make sure the tone of our posts are helpful and kind. We are not here to judge each other, but to help. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me with so many questions and issues in my rebuld. I will be forever grateful. Thanks for your post.

Re: YMMV

Gidgetmom — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 19:28:56 GMT

Very well said, Musiclover!

Re: YMMV

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 19:43:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Our posts here are meant to help add to a thread's information, not to judge or say we have all the answers that apply to someone. We all just add our two cents and the posting OP can decide which information is helpful.

One of the values of the forums are all the varied experiences. By adding our individual experiences it gives a lot of input. I love that about everyone's posts. It gives me perspective. We get to know each other here in many ways and occasionally will laugh together.

OP, your post is a good reminder to all of us to make sure the tone of our posts are helpful and kind. We are not here to judge each other, but to help. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me with so many questions and issues in my rebuld. I will be forever grateful. Thanks for your post.

+1 Musiclover. Could not agree more.

Re: YMMV

sjt — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 20:51:56 GMT

I think you need to realize that folks here are sharing their experience for data points and they realize in most cases its a YMMV type of thing. However, there is alot of infomration that is not a YMMV and more of "heads up" to all.