Applying for New/Additional Cards Soon

[Anonymous]

I will be closing on a house in January and am planning on adding a few cards to the lineup AFTER I close.  At this time, I am thinking Discover IT, AMEX BCE, Lowe's, and maybe Amazon or Walmart.  Is there a minimum amount of time that I need to be in my new house before I apply?  I am just concerned about my new address not matching what the CRAs have on file.  I won't really have anything if they ask me for verification either...  I'm a giant stress ball right now with all of this mortgage stuff and am feeling anxiety over every little thing, so this is the stuff I worry about...

[Anonymous]

Relax, enjoy the new house for a while, give it a few months to let information update, the cards you want will still be there when you're ready.

[ChessChik47]

Congratulations on your new home! I recommend waiting at least 6 or 7 months before applying for any credit cards. You’ll have positive mortgage history for 4 months (normally your mortgage isn’t due for 45 days) and you’ll be able to say you’ve lived at the address for over 6 months.

I purchased my home September 2016 and applied for my AMEX BCP in April 2017 and got a 15K SL (now 34K due to the 61 day CLI) and a Chase Sapphire Preferred with a 24K SL. My scores were 787 to 795 when I purchased my home and of course they dropped after the mortgage debt hit my reports, however by April I was around 740 on EX when I applied and got very good SLs. I’m now back in the 771 - 798 range on all 3 bureaus. I think waiting really helped me.

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your suggestions!  I was really hoping to get the new cards to make some purchases for my new home and get some rewards.  I have the cash to pay for everything, but wanted to get the most bang for my buck!  I'm going from a small two bedroom apartment to a three bedroom 2 bath house and will definitely need some more furnishings.  My current cards are definitely rebuilder ones and all of the major cards have limits under $1,000, so they won't be much help with buying furniture.  My store cards however, are treating me like royalty with Wayfair recently more than doubling my credit limit from $1100 to $2600.  I think it helps that have a bunch of saved, so it looks like I will be spending a lot of money soon, as my previous high balance with them was only $71.

I thought that I had read somewhere to get the cards before your mortgage reports because your scores will be much better off at that point, but waiting to gain the points back for a few months makes sense as well.  

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on the new house!

Hold off on new credit apps until after you close, and try to wait a few months.  You're putting a huge investment down soon, so what's more important is that you have a sparse living space, but can afford heat, electricity and water, and a mortgage reporting solid payment.  Depending on your arrangement, you may have a bit of a cushion between closing and your first mortgage payment.  Do not be tempted even then!

It is totally tough.  I waited 3 months so that my address could be populated with the USPS, UPS, FEDEX, GoogleEarth, everybody  The last thing you want to do is apply and not have a verifiable address!  I was able to get a charge card with 0% financing for 24 months with my furniture store, and a 0% APR for 21 months on a Citi Diamond Preferred which helped a lot with finally making my home feel "lived in."

Good luck, let your scores mature a bit more, and exercise some restraint!