I find myself inclined to inquire:
Why, if you make enough money and have enough money, would you voluntarily carry that debt? Would your credit not be better off paying down that revolving debt, letting the HPs age up to a year and applying for CLIs or applying then? Then you would likely get a much higher SL and your credit score would likely shoot up towards the mid 700s. I am not sure I understand the motives of your mission.
To answer your question, for best results, I suggest you wait a couple months, at least until you are 0/6 months for HPs on all 3 major CRAs, especially Experian, since that's who they tend to pull most often.
@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:Hello everyone!
recently started posting after an 8 year hiatus haha. Interesting to see I'm a "senior contributor" now.
Anywho, so I've been thinking about going for the Citibank Double Cash for the BT offer and also the Cash back. The reason is just to manage my liquidity a little bit better on the personal finance side as well as to sort of rebuild a relationship with citibank. haha.. I paid off a 5k CDP and closed it back in 2016 ish. Paid zero interest. have had a paid off Shell card and one other Citi card I can't remember... but I've never defaulted with them in 16 years. I just never was impressed with their service, but their 0% offers are some of the best in the US.
Not sure what info you guys look for these days, but here are the key DPs I think are noteworthy/needed:
Current FICO 08 on Exp/Eq: Avg 660... might be closer to 680/700 by the time I decide to pull the trigger.
-1 - 120 day DQ on student loans (four years ago by mistake)
-just opened a car loan in Aug for 50k
-have 30% utilization (which I'm able to PIF but I haven't used a BT card in a while and would like to. )
-aaoa 9 years
-oldest account 18 years
-Ive opened three credit cards not listed in my siggy in the past month (cap one QS 14k, brightway + 3K, Target $300)
also, was the victim of fraud on a Credit One card that dropped my score 25 points because it happened about 8 months ago.. so I have a collection for it making it look like I was recently DQ, BUT Credit One agreed it was Fraud after investigating and is going to remove it. Once that happens, my score might go up 20 points or so. Might get to 680 on EQ/Exp which I know was always the cut off. Not worried about TU as I know Citi doesn't really pull TU.
income: 300k
no mortgage
rent: 6k
as far as inquiries, and this includes THREE inqs from stupid auto lenders:
exp: total 15/24 but 4/6
eq: total 7/24 but 2/6
What should I be most concerned about and what can I do to mitigate that concern? I'm not expecting Citi to approve me for a giant limit. I've managed to get by well in the credit world staying in the 650-700 range because my income is higher, and I've literally paid off hundreds of thousands of $$$ in CC debt.
I think it's a pretty tough card to get. I don't think your profile would swing it, at this point in time.
@youngandcreditwrthy escribió:
@PayAndProsper wrote:I find myself inclined to inquire:
Why, if you make enough money and have enough money, would you voluntarily carry that debt? Would your credit not be better off paying down that revolving debt, letting the HPs age up to a year and applying for CLIs or applying then? Then you would likely get a much higher SL and your credit score would likely shoot up towards the mid 700s. I am not sure I understand the motives of your mission.
To answer your question, for best results, I suggest you wait a couple months, at least until you are 0/6 months for HPs on all 3 major CRAs, especially Experian, since that's who they tend to pull most often.
apologies if I wasn't clear... I pay off my balances in full for the most part every month. I have 30% util because I let them report that. Could easily pay it to zero, but you use it or lose with credit cards. To be clear, I can pay down to zero %. I guess I'm trying to get back in with Citi as I've recently given my arch nemesis capital one another chance, and they are doing me well. my CDP card was going no where. I have so many friends that have gotten citi cards all with like 620-640 and they end up getting the best cards.. but even when I've applied with 720, citi has denied me. for my CDP, i had to go through the exec office almost a decade ago. I just want to have the flexibility plus I was considering possibly trying to pay my car loan off faster and if I could do maybe 10-20K on a Citi card for 18-21 mos 0%, I could save money on my auto loan interest.
Ive done that before when I paid off the last 10K ish of a BMW loan. Worked out great, and I got the title to the bmw about 2 years sooner.
they usually pulled EQ for me. but exp close second and Tu hardly never.
I have four inquiries falling off between now and Jan 2024
I'm just saying... If you're anticipating an application, and are concerned about a denial, I think it would make sense to put yourself in the best condition possible. Practice AZEO, wait a few months to distance out your HPs, and give time for the issues/discrepancies you mentioned to be resolved and taken off of your reports.
@youngandcreditwrthy escribió:Yeah, I'm going to finish getting my report corrected and wait til at least Dec/Jan. Should be back to 700 by then.
I don't need to start practicing that hokey pokey AZEO (which I presume to mean all zero except one? lol.. I have no idea tbh). Im aware max util points are at 9% util.
I have no reason to need an 800 score. I already have other OCD issues in life. Only recently started using my credit accounts again. I've def been on an app spree and have stopped as of a few weeks ago.
Not applying for any credit for almost four years will drive a person mad.
Appreciate the advice, I think? lol
P.S. When I got CDP for $5k, I was at 688 EQ and 140k income. and Citi Couble Cash is geared towards folks with "fair credit" based on my research. When I was building my credit in the early 2010s, you couldn't get approved with a single collection on your credit.. these days it seems like a lot of ppl get major cards with derogs.
@youngandcreditwrthy I guess I was a bit confused by the part where you asked "What should I be most concerned about and what can I do to mitigate that concern?"
I just gave you options to help mitigate your concern about getting the card. You are right. You don't need an 800 FICO to get a DC... but it sure would help your odds more than apping with a 680. Most people with profiles with an 800 and no recent hard inquiries would not feel inclined to post about their concerns regarding approval.
The tone of your reply gave me the impression that you're not interested in my suggestions to strengthen your profile and mitigate your concerns. That's fine. I'm sorry if you took it as an order or demand, as that wasn't my intention. They were merely suggestions to optimize your profile. In the end, do whatever you feel comfortable doing. Either way, I wish you good luck.
@youngandcreditwrthy escribió:the tone was meant to be more playful. I do appreciate the advice. Just wish it was different than what I already knew haha.
Thanks.. and please clarify what the AZEO is? I really haven't seen it until recently.. and what is the purpose of it? just to maximize score or?
@youngandcreditwrthy Sorry. I thought that you knew because of the conviction with which you said you did not need to practice it. You were correct; the acronym stands for All Zero Except One and is a way to optimize your credit score. Many practice it consistently, but I would argue the most practical application would be when you know you are going to be seeking credit.
You can start paying off all cards except one right before statement close, causing them to report a zero balance. Then, you let one bank card (as opposed to a store card) report a balance that is no more than 9% utilization of the card. After that balance reports, feel free to pay it off to avoid paying interest. The reward reflected in your FICO score is, typically, much greater than that one would receive simply spreading out sub-9% utilization on all of their cards. The difference here is due to the number of cards carrying a balance.
I encourage you to refer to this post (specifically, section B) of the Credit Scoring Primer, Pub.5.17.20, the collaborative effort of various members of the community that have taken the time to study and conduct experiments in order to provide us with reliable information regarding FICO score behavior in an array of situations. The merits of AZEO are explained in much more detail than I can explain without visual aids.
Again, good luck.