Looking for high SL, 0% intro APR for immediate large expense. Help?

[wowthisiswild]

Tl;dr: Looking for $15-25k SL with 0% intro APR on purchases to finance a new HVAC system by the end of the month. App pending w/ Ameriprise, wondering if I should apply for another (and which one) in case they give me a low SL. FICO 850. TYIA for any advice!

Hi all, stumbled on this community yesterday while researching CCs. I couldn't find an analogous question in other recent posts, so here I am. Not sure which details are relevant ... so here’s everything. With headings so you can skip what's irrelevant.

The basics:

I have to replace my HVAC system to the tune of around $25k. I could cover it w/ my savings, but I'd rather finance at least $15k at 0% APR for a while. Need to do this w/in the next couple weeks. Cash back SUB would be a nice bonus but quick high SL is the priority.

Credit situation:
*Other than 10 years ago when I was unemployed, I PIF every month.
Discover: 25 yrs /CL $30,600/Balance $1800. This is my default everyday card.

BofA Customized Cash Rewards: 22 yrs/CL $12,700/Balance $0. Use just enough to keep it open.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Signature Visa: 10 yrs/CL $10k/Balance $0 (EQ), $75 (TU, EX). Got it for BT after unemployment. They gave me $10K SL (I think it was Slate then?), I used it all for the BT and had most of it paid off by the end of the intro period. No CLI requested or received. Use it when Discover isn't accepted.

Best Buy/Citi: 3 yrs/CL $1k/Balance $40. Use at Best Buy a couple times a year.

Line of credit at my CU: 9 yrs/CL $30k/Balance $0. Never used. Opened after that unemployment period bc I was terrified of ever being stuck relying on CCs again.
BofA mortgage: 4 yrs/$347k original/30 yrs @ 1.75%/Balance $313k/Monthly pmt $1440. (I got realllly lucky!)
Student loan: Paid off Feb 2024.

AAoA: 15 yrs, 9 mos
AoOA: 25 yrs

Revolving utilization: 2%

Total revolving CL: $53,700 CC (+ $30k LoC)

Hard inquiries: 0 (TU, EX); 1 today for Ameriprise (EQ)

Derogatory marks: 0

Late payments: 0

FICO:

EQ: 850 (as of 8/13, per myFICO)

TU: 850 (as of 7/24, per BofA statement)

EX: 849 (as of 8/14, per EX website)

Income situation:
Not sure how to figure this, so here's the facts and my (questionable) logic:
*Self-employed since 2017, net approx. $80-95k/year, bit of a dip in 2023. (AGI is like half that net. Not sure if tax info matters?)
*Net SE Jan-June 2024: $65k
*Started FT job July 1 at $113k

*Expected SE July-Dec 2024: $5k receivables outstanding + $20k to be invoiced in Sept.
*No plans to continue SE after Sept.
*So projected total 2024 income = $145k; 2025 = $113k.
*Decided to base my income estimate on 1 year beginning July 1 2024. So that's $113k salary + $5k SE receivables + $20k SE not yet invoiced = $138k.

DTI: Not sure how this is figured.

Recent actions:
*Thawed all 3 credit bureaus last week
*Applied yesterday for Ameriprise Visa Signature card based on a mail invitation. 0% for 15 mos, $0 AF. (Also a points system and a points SUB. This is probably heresy in this forum, but I never bothered to figure out how points work since they always seemed like more trouble than they were worth.) I have a SEP IRA, other investments, LTD, and VUL w/ Ameriprise, so I thought that might help me get a high SL.

*Updated income w/ CCs, CK, CS.

*Requested CLI w/ Discover (SP, so why not?); denied.

Timeline considerations:

*Ameriprise said 1-2 business days for a decision + 7-10 days to send the card. I didn't get a confirmation email so I called to make sure the app had gone through and they said it wouldn't show up in their system for 3-5 days since I did it over the phone. (?!) When I call the number to check application status, the recording says it takes 2 weeks to process applications.

*HP on EQ today. Nothing on Equifax or TU as of this AM.

*My HVAC guy has the good sense not to move forward until he has 60% down.

*I need it installed by 9/30 to lock in a $2k local rebate.

*The only other credit I anticipate considering in the foreseeable future is an auto loan since my car is 25 years old.

Questions:

1: Should I apply for something else to hedge my bets? I don’t want to put this off for 2 weeks only to find out I got a $5k SL.

2: If so, suggestions for what to apply for? (Note: I bank with a super small local CU. Their CC has much better APR than most but no 0% offer.)

Currently under consideration (all offering 15 mos 0% and no AF):

*PenFed Gold Visa (pre-qualified online)

*Capital One Venture One Rewards (pre-qualified online; Experian odds: good)

*Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards (Experian odds: good)

*Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards (Experian odds: better)

*Truist Future

*Citi Custom Cash (Experian: matched for you)

*Citi Rewards+ (Experian: matched for you)

*AmEx Blue Cash Everyday (Experian: matched for you, apply w/ confidence)

*AmEx Cash Magnet

*The AmEx cards also have $200 SUBs and $0 Buy Now, Pay Later intro Plan It fees for plans created during the intro period. No experience with these plan thingies. Does that mean if I financed this now and paid for 14 months, I could set up a payment plan for the remainder with no fees and no interest? That sounds too good to be true.

*Didn’t consider Chase bc the application said they won’t approve you if you previously used an intro offer and then quit using your card. Which is more or less what I did.

*Didn’t consider BofA bc they’ve warned me at least twice to use or lose the card I have.

*Didn’t consider Discover since my CL is so high and last CLI request was denied.
*Didn't consider Wells bc I can't stomach their patterns of discrimination.

Appreciate any advice!

(None of the labels fit, but I had to pick one.)

[CreditCuriosity]

Going to be hard getting a 15-25k CL out of the bat with 0% APR for 12-15 months as that cost lenders money and usually they don't like giving free money out.  Also say you get 15k CL through PenFed GOLD (max CL of theirs on that card if not mistaken) you would be maxed on that card tanking your scores.  Their are certainly cards out there that might give you a 15-25k CL with 0% for 12 months but with credit nothing is guaranteed and usually higher limit cards such as you discover came with them.  I have many 30-60k CL cards but most of those were with time woth the BCU that gave me 35k out of the gate.   BCU(baxster cu)  recently changed I heard to 5k for new members through the method many used to join.  BECU(boeing employee credit union)  might give you that CL.  Sure others will pipe in but in reality your ask isn't that easy especially if you don't want to be maxed on card and taking a huge hit on scores do to being maxed.

Possibly call discover and see if they will offer you 0% for 12 months offer as sometimes they are known to do this as that way you wouldnt have to open a new card and have the limit you desire already.  If you did discover you would want to pay off that balance first though if they had an offer for you

[wowthisiswild]

Thanks for replying, @CreditCuriosity. I wrote the post bc it was seeming like a long shot, but this isn't my area of expertise lol.

I'll def try calling Discover.

I'm not too concerned about maxing out a new card. I'll pay it off in a year or so, so the CS drop should be temporary and there are no major credit needs in the foreseeable future. (Even if my car dies in the meantime, a used vehicle will be a lot cheaper than this HVAC system. I can pay cash if needed.)

Any thoughts on applying for a second 0% card? My thinking is if I got 2 cards in the $5-10k level, I could finance half the system and pay the rest out of savings. Seems worth it to me if the only downside is a temporary hit on my CS -- please correct me if I'm misunderstanding how this works, though!

Never heard of BCU. I'll check them out tomorrow. Thanks again.

[GZG]

gm personal and gm biz cards are both 0% apr for the first 9 months, and you can see your limit before choosing to accept or decline the offer, no HP unless you accept the offer 

[OldDog]

Here's a link

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/list-of-0-apr-credit-card-offers/

The trick is getting the high cl. My experience is best with amex and wells.

[SouthJamaica]

Welcome to the forum.

Since your absolute highest priority is a high starting limit, I would go for one of the co-branded airline or hotel cards. I find those to be the most generous on starting credit limits.

Are you sure Chase said they wouldn't approve you, as opposed to saying they wouldn't let you have the sign up bonus? I ask because the signup bonus doesn't seem to be a concern of yours.

[wowthisiswild]

Thanks, @GZG. Never would have occurred to me to look at GM!

[wowthisiswild]

Thanks, @OldDog. I was leaning toward AmEx based on a few similar comments. Checking out the new suggestions on this thread before I make a decision.

[noonway]

Keep us posted on what you end up with and good luck!

[wowthisiswild]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you! 

Since your absolute highest priority is a high starting limit, I would go for one of the co-branded airline or hotel cards. I find those to be the most generous on starting credit limits.

I haven't seen any co-branded ones that do the 0% APR yet, but this encourages me to look again at the list posted further up-thread.

Are you sure Chase said they wouldn't approve you, as opposed to saying they wouldn't let you have the sign up bonus? I ask because the signup bonus doesn't seem to be a concern of yours.

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The fine print on the pricing and terms sheet says: "Chase cardmembers with a history of only using their current or prior Chase card for promotional pricing offers, are not eligible for a second Chase credit card with promotional pricing."  I assume promotional pricing = 0% APR?