App Spree Questions!

[difringe]

Hello, I joined a couple of days ago and after lurking the topics, I just want to say this is such an incredible place! It really reminds me of what the internet was back in the day, people helping (almost) complete strangers, aggregating and sharing information, it really took me back.

I've recently begun the journey of improving my credit; my scores are below

Equifax - 681

TransUnion - 678

Experian - 697

I've got a collections account that shows on my TransUnion and Experian accounts that I'm hoping to have cleared by the end of the year, and I've got a ton of missed/late payments on student loans and such, so my payment history is dreadful compared to the average person. That said, I've gone from an Equifax score of 550 in July 2017 to what I have now, despite still screwing things up until about March of this year.

I should be getting a raise in February, and also in February, my consecutive months without a late/missed payment should reach 1 year, so I'm thinking I'll have a score of a little over 700 from all 3 bureaus. I only have one credit card, and was thinking about applying for one more card in February and another in August, but checking topics on here, I've seen people apply for a bunch of cards at once.  My current credit limit to income ratio is about 10%, I was wondering if anyone could provide any pointers or tips w/r/t applying for credit cards?

Thank you all so much, it seriously was a breath of fresh air discovering this place!

[Anonymous]

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@difringe wrote:

Hello, I joined a couple of days ago and after lurking the topics, I just want to say this is such an incredible place! It really reminds me of what the internet was back in the day, people helping (almost) complete strangers, aggregating and sharing information, it really took me back.

I've recently begun the journey of improving my credit; my scores are below

Equifax - 681

TransUnion - 678

Experian - 697

I've got a collections account that shows on my TransUnion and Experian accounts that I'm hoping to have cleared by the end of the year, and I've got a ton of missed/late payments on student loans and such, so my payment history is dreadful compared to the average person. That said, I've gone from an Equifax score of 550 in July 2017 to what I have now, despite still screwing things up until about March of this year.

I should be getting a raise in February, and also in February, my consecutive months without a late/missed payment should reach 1 year, so I'm thinking I'll have a score of a little over 700 from all 3 bureaus. I only have one credit card, and was thinking about applying for one more card in February and another in August, but checking topics on here, I've seen people apply for a bunch of cards at once.  My current credit limit to income ratio is about 10%, I was wondering if anyone could provide any pointers or tips w/r/t applying for credit cards?

Thank you all so much, it seriously was a breath of fresh air discovering this place!

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Well first of all, welcome!

App sprees tend to be very ill-advised in situations like yours. Your plan to apply for a new card in February and a new card in August is a solid one, also try to get your utilization to 8.9% or less to optimize your score. 

The ideal tradelines for rebuilding that I have seen reported here seems to be 3 credit cards and one installment loan - it seems to be the general consensus that beyond that, your FICO score won’t improve but you’ll be thickening your file. 

Check Amex and Discover for pre-qualified offers and if you’re eligible, NFCU is a good place to check out, PenFed otherwise seems to be pretty popular with rebuilders too. 

App sprees with a file like yours can be devastating though, definitely not advised at all. 

[difringe]

Thanks for the welcome! I should clarify, I never gave my actual credit utilization; right now I'm below 1% and plan to stay that way (no real big purchases coming up).  I only have 1 credit card, and it's limit is about 10% of my annual salary.  Wasn't sure if that changes things. I can provide more detail if needed.

[Anonymous]

My first app spree was 2 years ago. I applied and was approved for discover, capital one, nfcu and Amex. Some were small limits and some were massive(nfcu). I had 3 collections and an old charge off at the time. I think I had a few lates. Scores were around 630/640. I also hadn’t applied for crap in years. And I had one credit card that was about 9 years old. Don’t get discouraged, just thoroughly research what you will actually work for you before applying.

[Anonymous]

Well it sounds like you have a low debt to income ratio so that will certainly help. 

The problem with an app spree is that a sudden burst of seeking new credit, especially while recovering from a period of lots of negative events, can make lenders very skittish. You’re much better off checking to see what you’re pre-qualified for with the various big banks and getting one or two cards or going to NFCU or PenFed (if you go with PenFed, make sure you apply for any credit through them first, they’re inquiry and new account sensitive) which both are known for generous credit limits when your income supports one. 

If you go on an app spree, some lenders will see that in a review and they will subsequently decrease your credit limits or even close the card so just be cautious. 

[difringe]

Makes sense...just for a bit more clarity,

My AAoA is 9yrs

My AoOA is 13yrs 3 months

My AoYA is 3yr 5 months

I have 11 installment loans, they're all student loans, no mortgages. As stated earlier, I have 1 credit card; the last time the limit was increased on that card was December 2016.  I only have 1 revolving account.

I have 9 accounts with balances, and my total balance on revolving and open-ended accounts is $35 and will go down (my revolving utilization is 1% and will be either that or lower, depending on if I get another interest charge).

[Anonymous]

A little about my profile. Earlier this year my entire file was a paid off auto loan(17 lates all 30 day), current auto loan(50% util), 1 medical collection ($25) almost aged off, cc opened March of this year. My AAoA was 3 years, AoOA was 7 years. In August I checked my score thanks to the folks here. My Ex fico was 720. 

I listened and did the prequal for Amex and Disc and approved for both. I was shocked. So I now had 3 cc which is optimal for my score improvement. 3 weeks went by and since only Disc had reported I decided to try NFCU. Approved. Figured I was done but then 3 days later tried for Pendfed. Approved. Next night Uber. Approved. 5 cc in 3 weeks. The nice thing was Disc pulled EX and EQ. The rest pulled one each. I app'ed for ones that pulled different bureaus. So I ended up with 2 inq on each so it didn't hurt anyone report or look that bad.

Scores dropped because I went from AAoA over 3 years to 1 year 5 months. Once my first cc hit 6 months 9/1 and Amex and Disc hit 3 months on 11/1 my scores jumped and then when the rest hit 3 months on 12/1 went up again. I got approved for another auto loan through Penfed and it is reporting now as well(100% util). My fico 9 are higher than what they were when I began my app spree and my fico 8 is slightly lower. That is with an AAoA at 1 year 3 months because now the new loan brought it down. 

I did freak out for a bit but I have recovered rather quickly. The only points I can gain now are with age. I got all good keeper cards I believe. I am 91/3 with NFCU next weekend and with scores reported today I am hoping I can SP cli and possible 2nd card with them. No more inq or apps after that. I will have my 2 auto loans and 6/7 cc. I am set and will only see improvements now.

I know that everyone is different and your results may vary obviously. But you have very good age. If you select cards you will keep, go through the prequals, get them all before they report(Uber reported 2 days after approval but was my last card), select ones that pull different bureaus, accpet the score drops and don't need to apply for anything else, I say go for it and rip the bandaid off. But it can hurt short term for sure. With your lates and student loans it might be tougher to get the approvals however. For me it was worth it. I just wanted. to let everything age together rather than keep dropping it every few months. 

[difringe]

Thanks! I've been combing through the pre-qualified offers and saw I had some from AMEX and Discover. I figured I should wait until February then go for those two and the Uber card, since from what I could find, they all (mostly) pull from different bureaus. As far as when cards report, is that something that is listed anywhere on here? I was under the impression that all cards basically reported 30 days after you opened them, but I don't have any documentation on that.

Thanks again!

[Pikaboo-icu]

Welcome to My Fico!!  

I agree with your assessment of this site- it brings me back to chat rooms long ago & far away.(I was in the nice ones) LOL

It is a great bunch of peeps- I joined for help and never left. 

If you're looking to add a card to your mix, you should check out the prequal sites.

See if it's likely you'll be approved with only a SP to your credit.

Many good lenders have them now.

AMEX

Disco

Cap One

Citi  and so on.. Find a card that will work good for you- Have you thought about a Credit Union? If you have a family member that's Military NFCU is a GREAT CU and if you don't; PenFed is good and will let you in with a small donation to their charity.

There are others too but those are the ones I personally belong to.

CHEERS   

[difringe]

Thanks for the welcome! I did see that a lot of you all have joined NFCU or PenFed; I wasn't sure what the appeal was outside of them being available for veterans and their relatives (and PenFed through charity)

The cards look pretty similar to other cards, I was wondering if there's something obvious that I'm missing w/r/t what makes joining those credit unions a great option. I already have a pretty nice savings account with over 2% APY and daily compounding...

Thanks!