How long in the garden after an app spree?

[FishingGuy]

Jonesie,     I know you're on a rebuid, and wanted to open up numerous,  but in my opinion I woudn;t want to "waste" the credit hits on store / retail cards unless there was a specific need....  like wanted to redo part of a house with a Home Depot card.... (possibly getting no finance for 24 months)....... or unless I really planned on using those cards.

Personally I'd rather have 2-3 major cards with higher lines than 4 -5 store cards....... less credit pulls, and showing less "credit seeking" behavior.

I think that helps the rebuild more in the long run,   but that's just my opinion..... It's also how I did my rebuild.... I went slow & strategically. 
I probably have about 15 cards now, with only one being a store card  (Walmart, which was one of the first ones I got approved for on a rebuild)

[Jonesie]

---

@FishingGuy wrote:

Jonesie,     I know you're on a rebuid, and wanted to open up numerous,  but in my opinion I woudn;t want to "waste" the credit hits on store / retail cards unless there was a specific need....  like wanted to redo part of a house with a Home Depot card.... (possibly getting no finance for 24 months)....... or unless I really planned on using those cards.

Personally I'd rather have 2-3 major cards with higher lines than 4 -5 store cards....... less credit pulls, and showing less "credit seeking" behavior.

I think that helps the rebuild more in the long run,   but that's just my opinion..... It's also how I did my rebuild.... I went slow & strategically. 
I probably have about 15 cards now, with only one being a store card  (Walmart, which was one of the first ones I got approved for on a rebuild)

---

The strategy I used at the time, which will show wise/stupid later, was to add volume to my overall credit. Meaning I took my $5k total credit to $12k. The strategy was to decrease my utilization percentage by increasing the number it was being divided into. We'll see...  I don't shop at Nordstrom, Bloomies or BB&B. The Macy's card is an amex, and I've read a lot about Macy's and their generous CLI's.  I opened cards, bought a single item from each, and tossed them into the drawer, with the exception of the Macy's card. I order food delivery with that one. 

Time will tell. I appreciate all the feedback.

[coldfusion]

---

@Jonesie wrote:

---

@SouthJamaica wrote:

---

@Jonesie wrote:

My credit disappeared after many years abroad, so I rebooted it 2 years ago. Got my score up to 750ish with all 3 and got bored one weekend.  Opened 5 cards in a week. All got approved, but now I'm getting declined for CLI requests that were a formality before. 

How long before love comes back to town?

---

6 months to a year.

---

Even for soft pull CLI?

---

Yes. 

[markhs777]

Ask yourself would you rather have one Amex, Chase etc with a 10k limit or 5 store cards with 2k limits.

[Jonesie]

---

@markhs777 wrote:

Ask yourself would you rather have one Amex, Chase etc with a 10k limit or 5 store cards with 2k limits.

---

Obviously the former. But that wasn't one of the options. I wanted a larger overall CL and multiple data points/payment history. Again, this is all early credit maneuvers, not moves I'd make with mature credit. I got a bit carried away and need to take a time-out until the smoke clears. At this point, I don't need any more cards, but I would like some soft pull amex/cap1/macy's CLI's while I'm in the garden.  YMMV

[805orbust]

@Jonesie you've got good options for those sp increases moving forward, however this market is shifting fast, and in unpredictable ways. Even before, 5 new accounts in such a short time was something the banks would side-eye you for... Now?  Anything could happen. Credit seeking behavior is a big red-flag and toy limits/increase denials are a sure sign that one needs to take a breather.  

At this point it's ymmv, however the course of wisdom seems to be "err on the side of caution"

[Jonesie]

Just a follow up. Amex finally re-opened the love button and tripled my CL this weekend. 

My last new account was in October for the Amex BCE that only gave me a $1k limit. Shortly after that I did a SP for the FNBO card and it gave me a preapprove for $9k. Then denied me with the hard pull that kicked off my exile to the garden. Having read up a little more on that bank, that seems common. The bureaus must have a flag that says "He's applying for the FNBO card, he's obviously crazy and desperate". 

In the meantime, I did a monthly soft pull on my bloomies card and have taken it from $500 to $6k in these months. I accidentally put in a wrong digit on my Macy's amex and a payment got returned in October. They seem to be taking it personally and haven't raised my limit since. Wonder how long that lasts...