How many inquiries is too many?

Anonymous · ‎03-24-2013

So I have been living in the US for 2 years and I have a decent credit score of 704, but limited credit history. I have a Capital One Credit Card with a $500 limit, that I have always pif.

I am seeking a car loan, and in trying to gain approval, there have been multiple inquiries which dropped my score from 714 to 704.

I have three questions:

1. How many inquiries are too many?

2. How do I increase my credit rating to retrieve a better rate in a relatively short period of time?

3. Do you think it is wise to get a store card to increase my credit?

Anonymous · ‎03-24-2013

@Anonymous wrote:
So I have been living in the US for 2 years and I have a decent credit score of 704, but limited credit history. I have a Capital One Credit Card with a $500 limit, that I have always pif.

I am seeking a car loan, and in trying to gain approval, there have been multiple inquiries which dropped my score from 714 to 704.

I have three questions:

1. How many inquiries are too many?
2. How do I increase my credit rating to retrieve a better rate in a relatively short period of time?
3. Do you think it is wise to get a store card to increase my credit?

1. # of inquiries and its effect on getting credit will depend on the lender to a large degree. How many do you have and how recent are they? On which reports (CRAs)? Lenders pull from different bureaus, so you can try to get credit from a lender that pulls from the bureau that has the fewest inquiries.

2. Quickest way is to lower your credit card utilization. YOu said you have a single card w/ $500 limit. Pay before statement cuts to have the statment balance be <10% (ideally 1 or 2 %) of the limit. When that reports you should get some bump.

3. In medium term, yes. But, initially, you are going to increase the inquiry count. And for a few months the presence of new credit will hurt your score.

Anonymous · ‎03-24-2013

Pakman92 thanks for responding.

As you can tell, I am relatively new to this! I have 6 inquiries on my Experian credit report.

It seems that you are not a true advocate of the "store" cards. Are there any alternatives?

Thanks

Chris123nTx · ‎03-24-2013

Your score of 704 would not hold you back with an auto loan. It will be your very thin creditt profile that may keep you from what you want. If the inquiris are all related to getting an auto loan, they should not hurt you, as long as they are all within a few weeks. I myself dont much like store cards, but that is up to you. As someone else said, it could help long term, but short term it may cost you a few points. Anbig down payment will help you more than anything. Your income, other debts, time on your job, etc are all things a lender could consider. Best bet may be to find a car you like, can afford, find the price that car should sell for ( cars.com is helpful), then go to a dealer and talk to their finance people and see if they can find you something. I been wrong before and may be here too. Just one guys opinion for what it is worth.

Anonymous · ‎03-24-2013

@Anonymous wrote:
Pakman92 thanks for responding.

As you can tell, I am relatively new to this! I have 6 inquiries on my Experian credit report.

It seems that you are not a true advocate of the "store" cards. Are there any alternatives?

Thanks

Six may be too many for many of the creditors. Do you know what the inquiry count is on other CRAs? (TU and EQ) Once you have that info. Google for credit pull databae, It will help you understand which lenders typically pull from which CRA for a given state. Store cards are fine. It will count as a revolving credit just like credit cards and may be easier to get approval for.