Do I need another card?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Looking to put myself in positon to buy a house in a couple years. I was looking at my credit report and it says my profile is too thin.

EX: 757, 1INQ

TU: 774 0INQ

EQ: 768 1INQ

Inquiries are from 2017.

AAoA: 2yr, 1mo

No negs.

I have three cards currently; Local CU, Discover, PenFed.

Would it be to my benefit to pick up another one? AMEX has me prequalified for BCE. USAA has me prequalified for one of their cards. Or would I be better off staying the course?

Thanks all! 

[Anonymous]

General rule of thumb is 3 revolvers and 1 installment loan. You could look into self lender to establish installment loan history. Secured personal loans work well, too, such as the one from NFCU if you're a member.

[Anonymous]

3 cards and your scores would indicate you're fine if you went shopping for a mortgage.  

For the best rates though it depends on what your mortgage scores are as they're lower then a Fico 8/9.  The standard over the years has always been 720+ but, the higher the better for some of the nuances surrounding mortgages.  If you're thinking about  alow DP then that will factor into your costs when evaluating whether FHA or 5% conventional with PMI.  Some PMI lenders won't issue a policy with a score under 700.  

If Amex / USAA give you cards do you have a plan to keep them active every month to generate activity and collect the points for your score?  It doesn't have to be huge spend but it has to be something whether $5/mo to amazon GC or a recurring bill.  

[pinkandgrey]

As someone else said, 3 is supposedly the “magic number” and you already have that. If you could really use one of those other cards, then go for it. With your scores and lack of inqs you could get some good ones. I wouldn’t get another card just for the heck of it though. Score-wise, you have a sufficient amount of cards.