35 y/o first time credit cards

[Anonymous]

I know this may strange, but as the title says, I just got my first credit card(s) this year at 35 years old.  I'm looking to maximize my score to get a mortgage and have always hated debt for invalid reasons.  I'm now looking to expand my knowledge on credit and credit cards and boy this is a strange world to me.  My apologies for the long read.

Some quick stats:

August 15th - 721-719 Vantage for 2 years straight checked quarterly on mint (Vantage 3.0 I believe).

Absolutely no derogs, 100% payment history, etc.

90k/year 7500/mo (7 years same company)

3 open accounts (land, tractor, car), 4 closed accounts (installment loans for cars and a rented washing machine in 2008 lol)

3 new first credit cards opened August 16th.  Dropped 51 vantage points the next day, up 30 the following week, stuck at 704/706 vantage now.

Inquiries: TU 4x EQ 4x.

About 9 years ago I first cleaned up my credit and started buying cars using credit.  Before that I always paid cash for everything including cars.  Since then I've bought 4 cars on credit: 6k 1 year, 8k 4 years, 25k 1 year, 28k (new current vehicle) 3 years.

Bought some land in 2012 at 6% interest (installment not mortgage).  Bought tractor last year at 6%.  I believe the interest is almost the lowest possible.  I attempted to buy a house in April, took the 2x HP from shopping around, got financing at 4.25% with 3.5% down FHA, deal fell through b/c house failed inspection/appraisal.  I got docked ~0.25% on my mortgage app b/c of my 748ish (FICO Mortgage I assume) and that bothered me to no end.  $375 * 30 years = $11,250.  I gambled with the fed and expect to lose in December when they raise rates

Mid August I got tired of seeing $0/$0 Credit card usage "You're right where you need to be" and "Try to have a good mix of credit lines open."  Researched a good bit and learned about signing bonuses and cash back cards (I don't travel, sorry).  I decided to hold off on the house for 6 months, and get the 3 best cash back cards.  

In order of my applications all on the same day and insta approved:

CIti DoubleCash (planned to be primary)

$3,000 23.24% APR

No score yet, but should be on their site soon.

CapitalOne QuickSilver

$1,000 23.24% APR

Score 698 Experian.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

$4,000 23.24% APR

Score 676 "Card Acquisition Risk Score" (range 250-900)

Key factors:

Number of General Purpose Cards

Number of Requests for New Credit

Balances on Accounts compared to Credit Extended

1. Biggest question: Was it a good choice to wait 6 more months for mortgage and open my first 3 credit cards instead?
2. Why did I get docked for "Number of General Purpose Cards"  Surely it can't be too many as 0 were open at that time.
3. I rented a washing machine in 2008 for $25/mo.  It's closed on Equifax (last reported Jun 01, 2009), but open/current on TU (last reported Apr 24, 2009).  Guess that's going to help my AAoA forever?
4. Chase won't accept more than one payment a day. CapitalOne and Citi won't accept more than one payment per bank account per day.  **bleep** is up with this?  They also don't put a hold on the bank funds, it just disappears 2 days later from my bank accounts as posted.  I've never seen anything like this; is this normal?  All three have done this.
5. I had 7 total accounts before the 3 new cards.  Why is this "poor" and why is 21 debt accounts over 7 years "good" ?  Should I open 2-3 cards every 6 months to get to the magical 21+ accounts?
6. Ran through both min spends on FU and QS within days of having the cards and they're not reported yet as open accounts, just the HPs.  Citi, however, did report it before I even got the card.  I guess keep waiting?
7. The low limits are killing me.  Tried last weekend to keep one card in my wallet.  $0 balance on Friday b/c I pay frequently, but spent $2100 for auto repair and other stuff.  Didn't have enough of a limit to handle this and was embarrassed I had to go home to get my bank card.  Is there no other way with Citi than to wait 6 months for SP CLI?  I was afraid of being penalized for going over $3k limit.  For C1 it seems you have to use the crap out of it and you get SP CLI after 3 months.  Chase sounds like it's stuck forever.  Can I do anything about this without HP?
8. Should I app for a Freedom since I'm still under 5/24 (I regret not having categories)?  Should I get some other chase cards now?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post and tons of questions

[Anonymous]

Thank you for submitting your application for an American Express Blue Cash Everyday card.  We will notify you by mail in 7-10 about our decision on this matter.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know this may strange, but as the title says, I just got my first credit card(s) this year at 35 years old.  I'm looking to maximize my score to get a mortgage and have always hated debt for invalid reasons.  I'm now looking to expand my knowledge on credit and credit cards and boy this is a strange world to me.  My apologies for the long read.

Some quick stats:

August 15th - 721-719 Vantage for 2 years straight checked quarterly on mint (Vantage 3.0 I believe).

Absolutely no derogs, 100% payment history, etc.

90k/year 7500/mo (7 years same company)

3 open accounts (land, tractor, car), 4 closed accounts (installment loans for cars and a rented washing machine in 2008 lol)

3 new first credit cards opened August 16th.  Dropped 51 vantage points the next day, up 30 the following week, stuck at 704/706 vantage now.

Inquiries: TU 4x EQ 4x.

About 9 years ago I first cleaned up my credit and started buying cars using credit.  Before that I always paid cash for everything including cars.  Since then I've bought 4 cars on credit: 6k 1 year, 8k 4 years, 25k 1 year, 28k (new current vehicle) 3 years.

Bought some land in 2012 at 6% interest (installment not mortgage).  Bought tractor last year at 6%.  I believe the interest is almost the lowest possible.  I attempted to buy a house in April, took the 2x HP from shopping around, got financing at 4.25% with 3.5% down FHA, deal fell through b/c house failed inspection/appraisal.  I got docked ~0.25% on my mortgage app b/c of my 748ish (FICO Mortgage I assume) and that bothered me to no end.  $375 * 30 years = $11,250.  I gambled with the fed and expect to lose in December when they raise rates

Mid August I got tired of seeing $0/$0 Credit card usage "You're right where you need to be" and "Try to have a good mix of credit lines open."  Researched a good bit and learned about signing bonuses and cash back cards (I don't travel, sorry).  I decided to hold off on the house for 6 months, and get the 3 best cash back cards.  

In order of my applications all on the same day and insta approved:

CIti DoubleCash (planned to be primary)

$3,000 23.24% APR

No score yet, but should be on their site soon.

CapitalOne QuickSilver

$1,000 23.24% APR

Score 698 Experian.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

$4,000 23.24% APR

Score 676 "Card Acquisition Risk Score" (range 250-900)

Key factors:

Number of General Purpose Cards

Number of Requests for New Credit

Balances on Accounts compared to Credit Extended

1. Biggest question: Was it a good choice to wait 6 more months for mortgage and open my first 3 credit cards instead?
2. Why did I get docked for "Number of General Purpose Cards"  Surely it can't be too many as 0 were open at that time.
3. I rented a washing machine in 2008 for $25/mo.  It's closed on Equifax (last reported Jun 01, 2009), but open/current on TU (last reported Apr 24, 2009).  Guess that's going to help my AAoA forever?
4. Chase won't accept more than one payment a day. CapitalOne and Citi won't accept more than one payment per bank account per day.  **bleep** is up with this?  They also don't put a hold on the bank funds, it just disappears 2 days later from my bank accounts as posted.  I've never seen anything like this; is this normal?  All three have done this.
5. I had 7 total accounts before the 3 new cards.  Why is this "poor" and why is 21 debt accounts over 7 years "good" ?  Should I open 2-3 cards every 6 months to get to the magical 21+ accounts?
6. Ran through both min spends on FU and QS within days of having the cards and they're not reported yet as open accounts, just the HPs.  Citi, however, did report it before I even got the card.  I guess keep waiting?
7. The low limits are killing me.  Tried last weekend to keep one card in my wallet.  $0 balance on Friday b/c I pay frequently, but spent $2100 for auto repair and other stuff.  Didn't have enough of a limit to handle this and was embarrassed I had to go home to get my bank card.  Is there no other way with Citi than to wait 6 months for SP CLI?  I was afraid of being penalized for going over $3k limit.  For C1 it seems you have to use the crap out of it and you get SP CLI after 3 months.  Chase sounds like it's stuck forever.  Can I do anything about this without HP?
8. Should I app for a Freedom since I'm still under 5/24 (I regret not having categories)?  Should I get some other chase cards now?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post and tons of questions

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1. I'm sure your reasons for hating debt are totally valid; debt is something to be feared.

2. Forget Vantage scores & start using FICO scores only.

3. The most important scores for you will be the mortgage scores, which are only available when you pull a MyFICO report.

4. Pay down your loans to 9% or less of face amount but NOT down to zero.

5. Each month have 2 of your credit cards report a zero balance with the other one reporting 9% or less of its credit limit.

6. Don't apply for any new credit and don't apply for any credit limit increases unless you're sure it's a soft pull with that lender.

7. 'Accepting' payments only relates to using the credit card site to 'pull' payments from your bank account; there's no limit to how many payments you can 'push' from your bank account.

If you follow my advice you'll be good. But something tells me you've got too many false notions for me to dispel them all.

[Anonymous]

I don't intend to sound combative, but I don't believe this answers my questions.

2. Forget Vantage scores & start using FICO scores only.

3. The most important scores for you will be the mortgage scores, which are only available when you pull a MyFICO report.

I intend to pull FICO Mortgage from MF a 2-3 months before I start the mortgage process.  I'm only using Vantage as a reference for now since it comes with the free reports.

4. Pay down your loans to 9% or less of face amount but NOT down to zero.

I have three loans because I need them.  The aggregate yield has been just over 10% YOY on $130k in assets with $60k balances.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but FICO doesn't calculate UTIL on installments, only credit cards.

5. Each month have 2 of your credit cards report a zero balance with the other one reporting 9% or less of its credit limit.

Definitely in the works.  I'll probably end up with 1% on the card when it matters.  I'm very attentive to my statement cut dates.

6. Don't apply for any new credit and don't apply for any credit limit increases unless you're sure it's a soft pull with that lender.

Understood.  That's why I was asking about SP CLIs.

7. 'Accepting' payments only relates to using the credit card site to 'pull' payments from your bank account; there's no limit to how many payments you can 'push' from your bank account.

Good point.

[righthererightnow]

Re: Chase cards... Chase cards are hard pull inquiries, and the same for CLIs with them too. No more chase cards, a few are enough.

I would focus on your CapitalOne QuickSilver. CLI's on this card are Soft pull (!). : ) REQUEST a CLI asap via the website.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similar boat with you except I have absolutely zero on my credit bureaus at age 30... not even any car loans because I always paid cash.  

Here is my 2cents:

1. If you don't mind waiting and as long as the fed isn't bump up the fed rate that high in their next meeting and the home you want is available...6 months wait should be fine.
2. No clue why it recommended that.  But it is good advice for choosing good long term credit cards.  You have the Double Cash 2% card which makes the Quicksilver useless.  Your Freedom Unlimited is only 1.5% unless you get a UR card like CSP or CSR or Ink and then you could get higher value once it is UR points.
3. Looks like a good AAoA boost on your EQ.  You could dispute it if you wanted but I don't see any harm in leaving it.
4. Why do you have to pay multiple times per day?  You only need to be concerned with paying on the due date so you aren't late and the statement date if you are trying to report low/zero balance on the credit reports.
5. No need to get to the magically 21 cards or whatever it recommends.  It is probably just a data point that the people with the best scores had 21+ accounts...most likely they were much older individuals with 30+ years of credit history and many cards/loans/mortgage/refi/children student loans/etc all on their reports.  You only need 2-3 credit cards to maximize the FICO score for the revolving debt side.
6. Usually it takes a full statement or two for a credit card to report.  Your scores will probably take a major hit when they do report and then it'll take 3-6 months for them to bounce back and might end up higher than when you started by then.
7. CapitalOne will probably have you on credit step program where in 3 months you'll get an auto CLI.  Also every 6 months you can request an increase.  Citi and Chase will probably give you a CLI.  Spread your spending thru the cards and don't let a total of more than 30% utilization of your total max to report on your bureaus (pay before the statement cuts) and don't let any single card go higher than say 50-60% utilization.  One of the banks are going to budge and bump up that CL of yours.
8. Chase Freedom is great and definitely a keeper in my wallet.  If you don't want to open up another new card right now... (I would let these 3 grow over the next 3-6 monts and then look into new cards)... you may want to ask Chase to product change your Freedom Unlimited to the 5% Freedom.

Then as these 3 cards age and you get those soft CLIs... the next round of applications you'll get better starting limits and APRs and probably even access to better cards.  Between now and then you can think of what other cards fit your spending or goals...whether it is great cash back % or miles/points for travel... lots of options out there... and all depend on what your monthly category spending looks like.