Patience is the key. Too many inq's on a thin file will not benefit you. If you manage an approval, chances are the limit will be low.
I did. I had a 9.4 year old Ch 7 BK still reporting and that played a significant role. My 4 year revolving history was just barely enough reestablishment. If you have no baddies, it is really a minimum of 1 year revolving history with Chase.
Trying to rush and get things over with is a recipe for disaster. Slow and steady is the way to build your score for the approvals you want. Trust me, the bank is in no rush to approve you. You have to start thinking how the banks think and not go off of what you're telling yourself.
As I have gotten older, I have learned to wait. I want a Discover It but I know my reports aren't in good enough shape yet so I'm waiting until at least Sept. I have a new car, new house, and 4 CCs I am happily gardening. The approvals on here don't push me to apply unless I was already planning to apply soon. I look at the approvals as an accomplishment of another person that I haven't accomplished yet and I think about where my credit needs to be to get the same result and I work on it. This is a marathon not a race.
Trying to rush and get things over with is a recipe for disaster. Slow and steady is the way to build your score for the approvals you want. Trust me, the bank is in no rush to approve you. You have to start thinking how the banks think and not go off of what you're telling yourself.
As I have gotten older, I have learned to wait. I want a Discover It but I know my reports aren't in good enough shape yet so I'm waiting until at least Sept. I have a new car, new house, and 4 CCs I am happily gardening. The approvals on here don't push me to apply unless I was already planning to apply soon. I look at the approvals as an accomplishment of another person that I haven't accomplished yet and I think about where my credit needs to be to get the same result and I work on it. This is a marathon not a race.
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13!
Well said Moving! And worth repeating ...'This is a marathon not a race'
Thanks Lexie. It is so true. You live and you learn. 
What I'm saying and what Lexie agrees with me on is patience comes with experience. Some folks will heed the advice and others will learn the hard way. I was one of those folks that learned the hard way. I got denied so many times that it strapped me in my chair once I realized building and having credit doesn't happen overnight and that I have to be proactive and aware of my credit situation before applying. After I figured that out, I began realizing what the right times to apply are and waiting for those times and it paid off as I got every single approval I wanted. There is a season to app but also there is a season to garden for everyone even if your score is 800. All your newly grown up plants will die if you stop taking time out to garden. Right now I am happily in gardening season. I have a BK that will delete in August and I have 6 INQs on my EQ report that won't begin to fall off until July 2014 but by July 2013 they won't affect my score as much. In Sept., I plan to evaluate whether or not apping for the Discover It is the right thing to do. Whether or not I app will depend on the fruits of my gardening. If it turns out I need to garden a little more, I will. No hurry.
What I'm saying and what Lexie agrees with me on is patience comes with experience. Some folks will heed the advice and others will learn the hard way. I was one of those folks that learned the hard way. I got denied so many times that it strapped me in my chair once I realized building and having credit doesn't happen overnight and that I have to be proactive and aware of my credit situation before applying. After I figured that out, I began realizing what the right times to apply are and waiting for those times and it paid off as I got every single approval I wanted. There is a season to app but also there is a season to garden for everyone even if your score is 800. All your newly grown up plants will die if you stop taking time out to garden. Right now I am happily in gardening season. I have a BK that will delete in August and I have 6 INQs on my EQ report that won't begin to fall off until July 2014 but by July 2013 they won't affect my score as much. In Sept., I plan to evaluate whether or not apping for the Discover It is the right thing to do. Whether or not I app will depend on the fruits of my gardening. If it turns out I need to garden a little more, I will. No hurry.
Thank you guys for all the responses in this thread so far.
LS- Thank you, I appreciate the advice you have given me in this thread so far
b_seeker- No I am not an AU on my parents card. They both have excellent credit though and they are joint on one card that has a 28k limit, but my dad says it is best to establish credit myself has opposed to being an AU on their cards...they have their reasons i guess...lol. My oldest line is my BOFA card (smallest limit as well.) and I opened that in April of last year. Unfortunately, I cannot think of anything that will bump up my AAOA either..lol.
webhopper- Do you think it will increase my chances if I wait in June. I was orignially planning to apply in the first week of June, but I figured if I have the same chance now that I will in June, I might as well pull the trigger now. But I will definitely keep it in mind.
Pilot- But I did get approved for thir charge cards, so I would think I have a shot at their revolvers as well, which is the reason why I would go for the Delta Gold, because it is the easiest revolver to be approved for. The BCE, I realize, is a pretty hard card to obtain, but I think with my profile, I think I have a reasonable chance now, if I try in June I'd assume I have a better chance of getting approved right? or will it be the same if I go for it now. And yes, I have heard that Chase is pretty inquiry sensitive but I do hope that my 3 inquires on EX and 2 on the other bureau's won't scare them off too much..lol. And yeah I do realize income is going to make it harder, but I'd just being honest and posting my situation as it is right now and if I have a chance at being approved or not.
09Lexie- I agree that it will hurt me. Out of the list of my cards I really want, I really do want the BCE and the Freedom, and then I really don't want any other for a while unless I get denied those two, then I would I apply for the other cards mentioned. And your right, If I do managed to get approved, it probably will be a low CL. My thinking is just If I have the same chance I will in 2 months from now, then why wait. If I get denied in June, I probably would have gotten denied in March/April. That's the only thing, and I other then that I think I have more credit then I need...lol.
Movingforward- I don't have any baddies, my reports are really clean and all the information in first post is as accurate as it can be. The only other reason I was thinking to apply now (other then to find out if it would have been the same chance in June.) is because I have seen cases on the forum here that there have been people getting approved for the Freedom card or a Slate card with 6-12 months of history. I am in no rush, believe me. I just want to see if I would be approved or not, I have read to many stories of people here and on the other boards saying they racked up so many inquires and or ruined their credit early in their lives and it took them many years to make it as good as they have it now. I think it would be best if I heeded your advice, but do you think June would be a reasonable time to apply for the 2 cards I mentioned? cause I really don't want to wait until November..lol. I've been in the garden for four months and my original goal was to go for it in June, I'm not to crazy about going another 5 months in the garden...lol.
But all in all I agree. My goal is to have cards that I have always wanted to attain since I first started building my credit and I am 4/6 of the way there. I just wanted to gauge my chances and see where I stand.
I think you should wait until at least one of your cards is at least a year old. If that puts you in Nov, then that is when you should app. Denials and Recons don't feel good. So not sure why you want to see. I should have waited to app for the Chase Freedom in Sept as well because my starting limit might have been higher but I convinced myself I needed it in support of the new home purchase. $1000 limit was not what I was looking for. Luckily Best Buy came through with $2500 CL so we were able to get the electronics we needed.
Now I'm waiting because I found out through apping that the BK is still a hindrance plus I have lots of new accounts to manage and build good history with. I didn't get denied anything but the 3 week long Chase approval process was not what I wanted to go through. So once my reports are BK free, it will be smooth sailing.
You are your own person. All we can do is tell you what we think is best given your credit profile. Sometimes you have to go through the apping until denied phase in order to be patient until you truly feel optimistic of the outcome. Not saying you will app until denied but you seem very unconvinced of our advice. If you end up apping and get approved, we will be there congratulating you of course.
Starting from the beginning is slow because there is nothing you can do to build history but wait. I didn't app at all from 5/2009 through 10/2010 and from 10/2010 to 7/2012 (no apps) and now from 2/2013 to 9/2013 (no apps). So as you can see, 4 months of no apping really isn't that long. During the times I wasn't apping I was monitoring my reports and scores frequently, paying on time and watching my balances drop and AAOA increase, and just focusing on other life goals other than credit and then one day, my scores soared and I knew it was time for a new car, a mortgage, and 3 more credit cards. I had just one card from 5/2009 through 7/2012. Before 2009, I was a cash only person after filing BK on all the credit cards I had in college. I know next year is going to be my best year ever credit wise.
Now I'm waiting because I found out through apping that the BK is still a hindrance plus I have lots of new accounts to manage and build good history with. I didn't get denied anything but the 3 week long Chase approval process was not what I wanted to go through. So once my reports are BK free, it will be smooth sailing.
You are your own person. All we can do is tell you what we think is best given your credit profile. Sometimes you have to go through the apping until denied phase in order to be patient until you truly feel optimistic of the outcome. Not saying you will app until denied but you seem very unconvinced of our advice. If you end up apping and get approved, we will be there congratulating you of course.
Starting from the beginning is slow because there is nothing you can do to build history but wait. I didn't app at all from 5/2009 through 10/2010 and from 10/2010 to 7/2012 (no apps) and now from 2/2013 to 9/2013 (no apps). So as you can see, 4 months of no apping really isn't that long. During the times I wasn't apping I was monitoring my reports and scores frequently, paying on time and watching my balances drop and AAOA increase, and just focusing on other life goals other than credit and then one day, my scores soared and I knew it was time for a new car, a mortgage, and 3 more credit cards. I had just one card from 5/2009 through 7/2012. Before 2009, I was a cash only person after filing BK on all the credit cards I had in college. I know next year is going to be my best year ever credit wise.
Thank you so much...long road...very long road. I'm shocked at how so many folks on the BK forum can be so optimistic right after discharge and they start apping all over the place. I was very humble, and took my dear time as I knew I ended up bankrupt for a reason and I had to work on answering all the whys so I don't end up there again.
I think you will have a slightly better chance in June when your reports show at least one year of revolving history.
I think you will have a slightly better chance in June when your reports show at least one year of revolving history.
