Best Card for a new homeowner

[Anonymous]

I am in the process of having a home built. Once the loan is finalized, I wanted to go on a Spree then garden for a year.

As a homeowner, I can think of several stores (Lowes, HomeDepot, Sears, Target, Best Buy) etc that I will need to shop at. Is there any one store card out there that is tops over the others or am I best suited to use a Visa/MC/Disc of some sort with cash back options?

Note: Lowes offers 5% off in store with their card, but I already get a 10% military discount and they cant be combined.

Thanks,

Brew 

[wasCB14]

My favorite issuer for those purchases is Citi, followed by Amex.

The former gives me price protection and a two-year extended warranty. The latter offers no price protection and only a one-year extended warranty, but has a reputation for a consistently easy claim process.

That said, my personal warranty claim experience with Citi has been smooth.

Neither card is likely ideal if you'd rather have a long period at 0% or some very low APR.

[K-in-Boston]

You will almost certainly get a far higher credit line with Lowe's (issued by Synchrony) than with Home Depot (Citi), or can at least get one with a simple phone call and no additional hard inquiry.  While the 10% discount (thanks by the way) doesn't stack with the 5% back, it does stack with the 0% for xx months promotions which is how I use mine for large purchases.  For smaller purchases, I just use a rewards card stacked with the 10% discount.  Discover it and Chase Freedom often have home improvement as one of the 5% categories, which of course stack.

Sears stores are closing left and right and Target cards will almost always start with very small credit lines, maybe not the best for filling a new home with essentials and home goods. Best Buy can have usable limits and great 0% promo APRs, but with your scores I'm not sure that an application would result in an approval.

Is the mortgage on the home already secured?  If financing isn't in place, it is highly advised to not open any new accounts prior to doing so.  Once you've closed on the loan, app away.

[Adkins]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

 Sears stores are closing left and right and Target cards will almost always start with very small credit lines, maybe not the best for filling a new home with essentials and home goods. 

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If you have the cash in hand, you can always get the Target debit Red card, instead of the credit card. You'll get the 5% off but the money is taken from your checking account. This could be an alternative if you don't get a high credit limit on their credit card. (I have no idea if you can have both?)

[EAJuggalo]

For large purchases I'd go with Lowe's for the 0% offers.  For smaller and mid-sized purchases I'd go with a Citi Double Cash.  I put a washer and dryer on mine last year, registered it with Price Rewind and Citi found me a lower price a month later and refunded me the difference.  Of course when the Freedom or Discover have 5% home improvement I'd use those instead.

[Anonymous]

Amazing! I had no idea that there were such cards geared for that. I will certainly look into it and the Spree wont start until January where i am estimating my FICO 8 to be around 680-700

Motgage not secure until Jan 10th ish where they will do a final HP.

Cheers!

Brew

[Anonymous]

The only Lowes ones I see are...

Is the 0% a random offer I have to wait for?

[EAJuggalo]

the 6 month special financing is 0%.  At least that is how it works on the Synch backed Amazon and Walmart cards.

[Anonymous]

I clicked on it and I see that now. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

+1 for Lowe’s. Approved 8/2016 CL of $500 with similar score; $6,000 by 12/16; $12k by 3/17; and just for kicks I plugged in (the unofficial max) of $35k on 7/17 and was approved online, no issues. 1 HP at opening and all increases were SP from there.  Similar experience with Amazon Prime - $600 to $25k in less than 24 mos and 0% all the time and term varies based on purchase amount.