topic Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule in General Credit Topics

CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

JuliusC — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 05:37:27 GMT

Hi all,

I've recently been studying up on the forums and received great advice while applying for cards. October was a very successful month for me as I got approved for Discover It for $5500, Chase FU for $4000, WF Cash Wise for $1500 and an Amex Delta Gold Skymiles for $1600. I am at the 5/24 rule since I did apply for the BCE this year in April and my bank credit card reaches it's two year term in August of 2018. My Amex is $2500 and my local bank is $2000. I know Chase is strict with its 5/24 rule and I need to garden a bit more to let them age as my AAoA is approx 1.5 years. What would be a good time to chase the CSP?

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 05:27:41 GMT

How do your FICO scores look currently?

Once your AAoA is > 2 years and you are < 5/24, you're probably all set to app for the CSP.

Although I know you didn't mean it this way, referring to obtaining multiple new revolvers as "profitable" probably isn't the best delivery. I know you just meant that you had some good success with obtaining new cards with decent limits, but it's important not to confuse anyone into thinking that a spree equates to profits.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

JuliusC — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 05:37:54 GMT

I can see how profitable can be misinterpreted. I definitely didn't mean it that way. I've adjusted the wording on it. EQ is 704, TU is 697 and EX is 723. I have zero baddies on my account and my utilization is less then 12%.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

marty56 — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 11:08:03 GMT

Unless you need to, I would garden for at least a year to get your AAoA up and those INQs to stop counting. 2 years would be better. The only thing holding your scores back now is time. Evey time you app you are just extending your timeline out into the future, a moving target if you will.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 14:22:05 GMT

@JuliusC wrote:
I can see how profitable can be misinterpreted. I definitely didn't mean it that way. I've adjusted the wording on it. EQ is 704, TU is 697 and EX is 723. I have zero baddies on my account and my utilization is less then 12%.

If your aggregate utilization is > 8.9%, which it sounds like it is by a little bit, you're probably leaving 20-30 points on the table with respect to the utilization sector of the FICO pie. Add 20-30 points to each of those scores you listed and you can see how much more appealing they are... both to you and to a potential lender like Chase. I otherwise agree with Marty that time is the only factor that will improve your score. Definitely get your utilization down into the top scoring tier though!

I'd say app in 6 months. This way your AAoA will be > 2 years, your AoYA will be > 6 months and your inquiries will be > 6 months. Those factors combined will probably yield you another 10-20 points. Combine that with taking your utilization down to a single-digit value and you're sitting on scores that are all in the 730-770 range 6 months from now.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 14:26:22 GMT

Since you're in with Chase due to the one credit card, you have two options for getting around 5/24: online "Your Offers" section, or go into any branch once a month and ask for personal preapprovals with any personal banker.

Either of these may/should get you the CSP without worry about 5/24.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

JuliusC — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 21:25:36 GMT

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I will definitely give it a good year. I definitely will be bringing my utilization down to single digits. I will go for the SP CLI whenever I get a chance and hope for some love.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

EAJuggalo — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 03:06:21 GMT

Just watch the My Offers section of the Chase website. I got a CSP in May of this year being at 11/24 with Utilization over 50% and scores at around 650.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 05:50:05 GMT

Correct that the 5/24 "rule" isn't the be all end all. There have been people on this forum that were > 30/24 that have been approved for Chase products. Pre-quals are always a great thing.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 16:20:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Correct that the 5/24 "rule" isn't the be all end all. There have been people on this forum that were > 30/24 that have been approved for Chase products. Pre-quals are always a great thing.

I'm one of those 30/24, probably a little more than that.

I waited for the green check mark in my Chase offers. CSP showed up(3 months ago)+, Presto! Instant approval for $18900!

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 02:27:36 GMT

Excellent reference/example above.

Re: CSP and Gardening with the 5/24 Rule

JuliusC — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 18:22:38 GMT

Thank you all! I want to a responsible credit user and improve on what unfortunately my family wasn't able to. As I saw how they mishandled credit, I didn't want to do that and seeked advice and found this awesome forum. Thanks again!