Closing on a house...need advice on Synchrony card or CC?

[Anonymous]

I'm currently closing on a house...thanks to all of the help and advice that I've gotten from the forums here and watching myFico like a hawk.  The only downside is trying to furnish it.  I'm buying with FHA, and have maybe around 3400 CL left after close for buying a washer and dryer and furniture.  A family friend owns a furniture store in the area and offered to cut me a deal if I buy from him, but he uses a Synchrony bank store card.  I'm wondering on the likelyhood of me being approved, and/or if it would be better for me to act on prequalify letters/notifications for AMEX or Discover?  I'm still pretty new to all of this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I started out sub 550 less than a year ago.  Slowly getting to an initial goal of > 700.

TU 675 EQ 651 EX 681

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your house!  Rooms To Go and Ashley Furniture cc's are Synchrony.  They both run promotional deals, that if pif before the promotion ends, you will not pay any interest.  Besides that perk, there are no rewards.  

I would probably act on any prequalify letters/ notifications that you may have been offered with Discover or Amex.  With Discover, you'll probably get 0% APR for 12 months or longer, plus the cash earned from your purchases.  Once you close, there are plenty of great cards out there for you to decide on! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice!  I was kind of leaning that way because I was a little leery of a card that I can only use in one place.  I'm hoping that with Discover or Amex I can get a $3k or $4k CL to start...I make enough and my profile is way better than it used to be...but I'll have to see.

Can't begin to stress how immensely helpful these forums are for getting on the right track!

[Anonymous]

Oh, I forgot to mention.  If you do apply for one of those furniture cards, make sure you pif before the promotional date expires.  If you don't, they will not only charge you interest on the amount you owe, but they will charge you interest on the full amount that you borrowed.  This is their meat and potatoes!

[Anonymous]

Makes total sense...so I really would be better off with Amex or Discover if I can get a high enough CL.  Are there any recommended cards to look for?  The AMEX notification I received was for Amex EveryDay (25k / 2k), Blue Cash Everyday (250/1k) and Blue Cash Preferred (250/1k) Note: I left off the additional for US Wireless purchases.
Discover was the Discover It but can't remember what the full offer was ...

[Anonymous]

When you say notifications, have you been prequalified for these cards by mail or on their preapproval sites or are they just mailings or say you've been preselected?  If so, what terms have they offered you?  Have you gone on Discover's, Amex's, Citi's, Cap One's, or Chase's prequalification sites?  

[Anonymous]

I've gotten two mailings from Discover. One saying prequalified, the other more recent saying I was pre-approved but didn't list a limit?  Maybe my age is showing but I always though pre-approvals would show the limit or at least a "...up to $xxxx".  The Amex I received multiple prequalifies through their link on their site and one in the mail but I think the mail piece was Sams Club which I'm not entirely interested in...

When I go to Discover's site, I get the Disvoer It.  It appears to be just a normal offer that shows the variable APR, etc.  Cash rewards 5% cashback per listed calendar, 1% for all others.

Amex's site shows what I listed in previous post most times, other times I get the two gold cards showing along with the green but haven't been able to get those back for some reason.

Chase I think I opted out several years ago because they were bombarding me with car loan offers, etc.  I still get pre-approved car loan mailings from them lol.

Citi I get the 30k/1k AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard every time.

Capital One I already have a Quicksilver card so I get no offers with them.

[Anonymous]

I just did the Ashley Furniture card through Synchrony. I was able to get a promotional purchase with 48 months no interest for spending over $3000 on the card. I believe 4 years is significant time to pay off the furniture. I thought it was a great deal. 

[Septrosh]

I would use one of your Prequal links as previously mentioned. However, some furniture stores will cut a deal if you pay cash in full or use their partner banks/cards. Sounds like your friend is already hooking you up with a deal so I would just do one of the Prequal cards so they can grow with you and are more versatile. However, if you can't get a 0% APR (or low APR) or will be taking awhile to pay it off then this route might not be the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  That's what I'm leaning towards doing.  Seems to make more sense if I use one of the others rather than the store card...especially if I get more perks back.  Thanks for the advice