Gardening HELP...?

[Charmante]

Could someone explain what gardening means? I assume aging?

How long do you wait when gardening?

Please explain the AGING Process:

I have ONE TOTAL ACCOUNT and One Inquiry.

A 3 MONTH Old Macy's. $10,000 CL.

Total debt: $94

Credit Score: 677

When will it be "established"?

When should I start expecting approvals?

What should my second card be?

ALSO: I read something about a 12 month penalty? Are scores hurt by accounts less than 12 months?

Break down the Age Tiers:

6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 3...?

Lastly, what's a nice amount of cards? How many should I get to? 3? 5? 10?

Thank you all!

[Meanmchine]

Quoting from @UncleB 

What is gardening?  Quite simply, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pull CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current trade lines to grow and mature, waiting for inquiries to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed/age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA (average age of accounts) grow and the new credit ding fade. Here we socialize, commiserate and support each other while waiting for baddies to fall off, new accounts and/or inquiries to age or if we just want a place to hang out to get away from the hustle and bustle of credit card talk.

So, if you're at the stage of your credit journey where you're ready to enter the garden, please come and join us. You may pick up your complimentary watering can and garden gloves by the front door - you can even choose your favorite color! We're proud to offer a well-appointed clubhouse. There is a snack table set up. You'll always find camaraderie available here as you work towards your gardening goals.

Help yourself to our drinks and appetizers. Flat-breads, sliders, pizza, buffalo wings, grilled zucchini, kale salads, pecan and apple pie à la mode. There's also a nice selection of cold beers. Once again, please feel free to bring anything you'd like to add to the festivities. And, in the corner diagonally across from the front door, there is a fully stocked bar, along with a wide selection of soft drinks. If needed, there are some anti-itch medications stocked in our supply cabinet near the door - Lanacaine, Benadryl, etc. If you need to place your reports in the deep freeze, we also have a freezer, located next to the bar, so go ahead and throw your reports in!

[AllZero]

I would recommend reading the below from Birdman7
General Scoring Primer and Version 8 Master Thread rev.5.17.20

[AllZero]

For optimized scoring:

For FICO 8, recommended is 3 open revolving accounts and a open installment loan.

For EX2, TU4, EQ5, recommended is 5 open revolving accounts and a open installment loan.

[Anonymous]

@Charmante I merged your duplicate posts. Per TOS, please refrain from cross posting. 

[Charmante]

So, that 12 month penalty: is it very significant?

Like, if I'm 677 WITH that penalty, what may I expect to raise to at 12 months?

Thanks!

[Charmante]

ALSO: How important is that 1 installment? Is it important enough to mess with getting?

What may I increase if I get one?

AND DOES THE SIZE MATTER? Will a $2,500 installment help as much as a $50,000 one?

[RadioRob]

Think of it this way. When you open a new account, there are LOTS of changed things. Some add points, others remove points, others are situationally indifferent. 

When you applied for credit, you most likely took a HP. That could have costed you a few points. That penalty is felt for 12 months but the query itself is viewable for 24. 

You also reset your Age of Youngest Account to 0 months. It'll start recovering over time. I believe there are some points at 3/6 mo and continue to grow until you have gone several years with no new apps.

Your Average Age of Accounts will change. Depending on how old/thick your file is, this may or may not move much.

If you have fewer than 3 revolving TLS or no installment TL, you also miss some points. There are times that those points more than offset the point loss for the items above. That's why some folks sometimes see a GAIN from opening a new account. 

Not having any sort of installment costs you points in the "credit mix" category. That entire category is only worth 10% of your total score so it's nowhere near as weighty as payment history or utilization but it's there. 

That's why you'll see people talk about a SSL. Basically a low cost secured loan that can be mostly paid off to less that 8.9 percent and then dragged out to pay it off as long as possible. 

[AllZero]

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@Charmante wrote:

ALSO: How important is that 1 installment? Is it important enough to mess with getting?

What may I increase if I get one?

AND DOES THE SIZE MATTER? Will a $2,500 installment help as much as a $50,000 one?

---

Size does not matter. It's how you use it. Preferably, paid down to 9% utilization.

I would recommend reading the below from CreditGuyInDixie
Adding an installment loan -- the Share Secure technique
The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

NFCU SSL

Here are two institutions that have SSL which you can pay in advance to 9% utilization without shortening loan term:
NFCU - membership restrictions.
SSFCU - geofence.

[Charmante]

What is an SSL? And how can you pay it to below 9% without shortening term...? I'm confused. Lol