Too many inquiries, How long to Garden?

[Anonymous]

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@Medic981 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Inquiries are one of the smallest factors when it comes to FICO scoring and far too much concern is generated surrounding inquiries on this forum, IMO.

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I actually agree with that...I'm still debating with myself about testing the waters again after the six-month mark has passed since that would give enough time for the vast majority of my inquiries to have aged to at least 1 year. Except for last June/July when I got Walmart, Penfed and Apple FCU within less than four weeks, my new-account inquiries have always been spaced at least 1 month apart, sometimes as much as 4. I could be wrong but I think much of the problem with lots of new inquiries has been from having a lot of them spaced real close together, as in literally days or even hours apart. There's also the fact that for car loans and, I believe, mortgages, all inquiries within a 2-week period count as one HP put together.

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I see that limiting HP on a CR is really only important when you are applying for a loan and your FICO is borderline as to if you get approved or approved at an interest rate you are shooting for.

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Mortgages usually, I think. I'm not sure it even matters that much when it comes to car loans (correction invited); I got a pretty decent used-car loan from Penfed at 3.99% for 60 months early last year when my credit rebuild was a lot newer and I didn't even really know about the impact of HP's on credit reports. It's kind of academic since I'm not sure if I'll ever apply for another mortgage and I don't anticipate having to buy another car for at least two-three more years assuming my present one, which has run like the proverbial Swiss watch so far, stays in good shape, and by then my scores ought to be well into the 700's.

[morgacj2004]

Honestly it depends on what your strategy is. I do churn but my wife is not. That way she will be able to get products from Chase, Barclay etc that are inquiry sensitive. So for me 10-12 inquiries per year is fine. I keep my UT low and seldom. Carry a balance. It is however getting much harder to chase bonuses do to all of the new rules so I have had to slow down. I usually get 4-6 new cards a year not counting any PC or upgrade/downgrades. You need to be smart and develop a strategy that works for you. There is NO one correct answer to your question.

[Anonymous]

@BrutalBodyShots wrote:
Hopefully everyone is clear that any time that a bank denies someone for too many inquiries (or anything, really) they aren't really getting denied for too many inquiries; They're getting denied for too many inquiries based on their overall credit profile.



Cornelius may get denied for "too many inquiries" and he's got 5 in the last year with a 700 score.



Rupert may get approved for the same exact credit product, also with a 700 score, yet he has 10 inquiries.



If number of inquiries were a hard and fast rule, naturally if 5 were too many, certainly twice that at 10 would also be far too many. The fact that Rupert here is able to get approved with twice the inquiries means that it's not the number of inquiries tht are holding Cornelius back, but rather his overall credit profile, one part of which is those 5 inquiries and that's simply the excuse he's being given.



Essentially any denial may as well just state, "you're being denied because your overall credit profile isn't quite what we're looking for."

You know the first rule of inquiries is not to inquire at all.
So is the second rule.
And it wasn't Rupert or Cornelius.
It was Durden. Tyler Durden. 🙈🙉🙊