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Sequencing my applications (edited again: new plan #2)

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coldfusion
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: What's worse? Card, card, wait 12 months? Or card, wait 6, card, wait 6?

BoA fully factors in assets held in Merrill Lynch accounts towards their qualifiers including the 3/12 and 7/12 rules as well as Preferred Rewards status, which is itself relevant for their personal cards' bonus multipliers.

(3/2024)
FICO 8 (EX) 846 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850
FICO 9 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850

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Artist formerly known as the_old_curmudgeon who was formerly known as coldfusion
Message 21 of 25
TyrannicalDuncery
Regular Contributor

Re: What's worse? Card, card, wait 12 months? Or card, wait 6, card, wait 6?

Thanks @coldfusion! I knew the second part (rewards) but had no idea about the first part (approval odds).

 

That raises an interesting question, I don't expect you to know the answer, mostly just speculating here for my own reference:

 

Maybe it makes sense to actually wait longer for my BofA application, so the "relationship" gets deeper as my Merrill account gets older. Since I'm now planning a steady pace of applications, I don't think the timing of my application is going to affect my "3/12-ness"; I think I'm pretty much always gonna be 2/12.

Message 22 of 25
TG10X
Regular Contributor

Re: If I apply for too many credit cards, how likely am I to lose my existing cards or bank accounts

Hey,

 

I think the one thing you're missing in your strategy is knowing which bureaus these institutions pull from. When strategizing on on any type of app spree, this is vital. The good thing about the credit card game is that the right hand often times doesn't know what the left is doing (until it hits your credit report😅). Therefore if one card pulls experian... you do not need to wait 6 months to go for another card if its on equifax or transunion. In fact I would encourage you to apply for them all at once (if the bureaus are different) so that they can hit your credit report at the same time. If you apply for one card... then wait.. it will show up on your credit report as a new account & deter the other bureaus to approve you. If you do them at the same time.. you'll be approved and have your cards in hand before they even pop up on your credit report. With a low number of accounts currently, you don't have to worry about anything getting shut down. That's for people who abuse the system & it doesn't appear your plans are to do that.

 

Hope this helps!





Message 23 of 25
OmarGB9
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: If I apply for too many credit cards, how likely am I to lose my existing cards or bank accounts


@TG10X wrote:

Hey,

 

I think the one thing you're missing in your strategy is knowing which bureaus these institutions pull from. When strategizing on on any type of app spree, this is vital. The good thing about the credit card game is that the right hand often times doesn't know what the left is doing (until it hits your credit report😅). Therefore if one card pulls experian... you do not need to wait 6 months to go for another card if its on equifax or transunion. In fact I would encourage you to apply for them all at once (if the bureaus are different) so that they can hit your credit report at the same time. If you apply for one card... then wait.. it will show up on your credit report as a new account & deter the other bureaus to approve you. If you do them at the same time.. you'll be approved and have your cards in hand before they even pop up on your credit report. With a low number of accounts currently, you don't have to worry about anything getting shut down. That's for people who abuse the system & it doesn't appear your plans are to do that.

 

Hope this helps!


A few misconceptions here:

 

1. While it's true you could potentially avoid one lender seeing another lender's HP if they usually HP different bureaus, it doesn't preclude them from also SPing (which you wouldn't even know about unless you go look at your SPs after the fact) one of the bureaus that was just hit with a HP by a previous application. 

 

2. Not all accounts report at the same intervals. Some report within a couple of weeks, some within a month, some within two months, and some within a few days!

 

3. The bureaus don't make the approval/denial decisions. The lender does.

 

4. Approvals are never guaranteed, whether you space out applications or apply for lenders who HP different bureaus.

 

5. Low number of accounts or not, it doesn't mean a lender can't get spooked by a sudden app spree and take preemptive action by slashing current limits/closing an account altogether. In fact, a thin/young file may be even more prone to adverse action *because* they dont have a proven track record of responsible account management. Telling OP not to worry about it just because they have a young/thin file is not good advice at all. 


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Message 24 of 25
TG10X
Regular Contributor

Re: If I apply for too many credit cards, how likely am I to lose my existing cards or bank accounts


@OmarGB9 wrote:

@TG10X wrote:

Hey,

 

I think the one thing you're missing in your strategy is knowing which bureaus these institutions pull from. When strategizing on on any type of app spree, this is vital. The good thing about the credit card game is that the right hand often times doesn't know what the left is doing (until it hits your credit report😅). Therefore if one card pulls experian... you do not need to wait 6 months to go for another card if its on equifax or transunion. In fact I would encourage you to apply for them all at once (if the bureaus are different) so that they can hit your credit report at the same time. If you apply for one card... then wait.. it will show up on your credit report as a new account & deter the other bureaus to approve you. If you do them at the same time.. you'll be approved and have your cards in hand before they even pop up on your credit report. With a low number of accounts currently, you don't have to worry about anything getting shut down. That's for people who abuse the system & it doesn't appear your plans are to do that.

 

Hope this helps!


A few misconceptions here:

 

1. While it's true you could potentially avoid one lender seeing another lender's HP if they usually HP different bureaus, it doesn't preclude them from also SPing (which you wouldn't even know about unless you go look at your SPs after the fact) one of the bureaus that was just hit with a HP by a previous application. 

You do also know that a lender seeing that you have another hard pull is not the end all be all right? People have success with many more inquiries than they're supposed too, late payments showing, things in collections, and the list goes on. Also, an Equifax SP is only looking into Equifax..an Equifax SP is not going to show you Experian or Transunion HP or SP. I don't get you're point here.

I've used this strategy time and time again with success. 

2. Not all accounts report at the same intervals. Some report within a couple of weeks, some within a month, some within two months, and some within a few days!

This is common knowledge and also why you can STRATEGICALLY apply for multiple cards if they hit different bureaus. If he wants to apply for a card and the institution checks Equifax and then another that checks Transunion. There is nothing wrong with this. & it is better to do this on the same day closer to the same time for the reasons you just mentioned.

3. The bureaus don't make the approval/denial decisions. The lender does.

Who said bureau's make approval/denial decisions?? The institutions(lenders) use the bureaus to make their decision.

4. Approvals are never guaranteed, whether you space out applications or apply for lenders who HP different bureaus.

Who said approvals are guaranteed?

 

5. Low number of accounts or not, it doesn't mean a lender can't get spooked by a sudden app spree and take preemptive action by slashing current limits/closing an account altogether. In fact, a thin/young file may be even more prone to adverse action *because* they dont have a proven track record of responsible account management. Telling OP not to worry about it just because they have a young/thin file is not good advice at all. 

I lender can get spooked for any reason. Sometimes you can have a clean profile and still be denied based on the structure of your credit report, or debt to income ratio, or for any reason. There's all kinds of would've could've should've that may possibly happen. A thin profile attempting to get 2 or 3 more cards is not necessarily "app spree" that is going to get someone's account shut down. If you look at the scenario, they alreay have one card that's 10 years old. I'm just sharing options that they may not have considered.


There's no misconceptions, maybe just a different way of doing things than what YOU'RE used to. The whole purpose of these forums are for people to share THEIR experiences. Therefore I share insights based upon trial, error, success, and failure. Anything that I'm sharing is based off something I've executed first hand. I would not line someone up to fail and I also cannot guarantee their success. He has a plan in place and I'm just sharing my experience since he is looking to building a stronger profile in the upcoming months with multiple cards. There is a strategic way that he can do that in less time if he chooses to. 





Message 25 of 25
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