Credit Building need new CC

[Anonymous]

This my first post so please bear with me. I recently started to clean up my credit, I needed to purchase a new home, and stumbled upon MyFico. I am closing on my new house next week and decided to app for new CC's the day after I close. I dont want to waste HP for CC's I will probably not get approved for. I have received a few pre-approval offers from PenFed for Pathfinder Rewards and Delta Amex Gold since I started rebuild. In my younger days I believe I took down Cap1 and Discover. However I am not sure if my parents covered these or not in the past and they do not show on any bureaus, so I rather not APP them.

By current stats are:

FICO 8 EQ 692

FICO 8 TU 691

FICO 8 EX 693

$160K INCOME

USAA SECURED CARD $2/$1000 - 0 LATES 

FIRST PREMIER $37/800 - 0 LATES 

FIRST PREMIER $128/400 - (1)30 DAY (1)60 DAY (1) 120 LATE. WILL BE TWO YEARS IN AUGUST SINCE ALL LATES

Any advice would be awesome. Thank you

[Anonymous]

I meant to say pre-approval offers from Penfed and Delta Amex

[Anonymous]

Personally I would hold tight until your scores are higher.  Concentrate on the mortgage for making sure you don't have any more late payments.  It's always tempting to get a bunch of cards out of the way after closing but, it's not always the best decision.

The 1st Premier's though raise an eyebrow around here as they're known to be a nasty company to deal with but, they got you into a house.  So, the big question is are they charging you a fee to carry them?  If so then we could offer some ideas moving onto better options.  Some of those options may be geo-restricted though so knowing where you are would be helpful.  Also, what do you want to focus on for rewards if that's what you're looking to get into?

Once your scores breach 720 you're more likely to not be throwing darts and hoping for a bullseye approval.  Also keep in mind your mortgage won't report for 2-6 months after you close since there's a ton of paperwork they'll still be processing and then selling it off to another servicer to collect the payments going forward.

[Anonymous]

I am currently through underwriting and close next week on the new house.

The First Premier’s are god awful. If I’m not mistaken there is a fee to carry them every month(about $10 a month). However there is a fee for everything. About a year ago they offered me a CLI of $100 and charged me $89 dollars! I am located here in the South East so the BBT train is appealing. I would like the have a card that offers reward points for travel and grocery stores. I will be able to earn reward points required for most cards minimum purchases as I pretty much pay cash for anything right now and will be able to pay off after the statement post.

My intuition tells me to wait till August when all of my late pays with First Premier are more than two years old. I have also considered calling or sending them a letter ask for forgiveness and remove the late pays.

My AAoA are 7yr 4 Months
AooA are 10yr 4 months

[Caardvark]

I am going to disagree with the poster above, I think you SHOULD get new cards immediately after you close on the house. This will enable you to close the First Premier cards which have onerous interest rates, no interest grace period and a plethora of additional fees. 

Once the mortgage hits your report, your scores are going to dip, not increase, putting you further away from the goal of getting rid of the vulcher cards you have (if you follow the advice given above). So... get new cards. 

You need three cards. You have three cards. But, the ones you have are not ideal so, I'd apply for three. Check the prequalification links for the cards you like and use that as a guide. If you do not prequalify, I'd probably avoid applying. There is a thread with the links you can find via search. If you provide some guidance on what you are looking for in a card we can provide more specific recommendations. 

Lastly, Capital One is very forgiving (and they have a prequalification link) so, if they offer a card you really want, do not be afraid to apply if you prequalify.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Caardvark. Your scores are good enough to get much much better cards now. It is true that some banks like to see derogatories at least two years in the rear view mirror so waiting until August is a good compromise. (There is no guarantee that you will hit 720 in the near or long term).

Try the prequalification for all the major banks. (After you close) Start with Chase, American Express, Discover, Citi, Cap1 etc.

Don’t accept right away if you get offers. Do a little research to see which one’s benefit you long term.

This article has all the links. I would try them all except Cardmatch (tends to be full of subprime offers)

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/view-personalized-credit-card-offers/

If you do get an offer from Chase you might want to get that one first because of the Chase’s 5/24 rule (they auto decline you if you opened 5 or more cards in the last 24 months, with a few exceptions)

[Anonymous]

Being in the SE opens plenty of doors that would be good options.... BBVA / PNC / Regions / BBT

BBVA - need an account to apply online or a mailer w/ code  

PNC - need an account to apply online (savings account is free and 2.35% APY w/ no fees)

Regions - same thing.... (open a checking account and say you'll fund in a branch to get access to the online pre-qual which will come back with the CL and APR if they like what they see)

BBT - https://www.bbt.com/offers/checkOffers

[Anonymous]

Wanted to give an update on my situation. I apped for Discover and Amex after I closed and was approved by both. Discover gave me a 10k SL and Delta Amex Gold gave me 1k. So there is hope for people with Baddies on their profile. 

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@Anonymous wrote:

Being in the SE opens plenty of doors that would be good options.... BBVA / PNC / Regions / BBT

BBVA - need an account to apply online or a mailer w/ code  

PNC - need an account to apply online (savings account is free and 2.35% APY w/ no fees)

Regions - same thing.... (open a checking account and say you'll fund in a branch to get access to the online pre-qual which will come back with the CL and APR if they like what they see)

BBT - https://www.bbt.com/offers/checkOffers

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[gdale6]

As OP has now been approved this thread is closed to further comments. OP is free to start an approval thread in the appropriate forum if he so desires.