Hi all,
My credit score right now is pretty good, between 730-765 depending on the CRA, but I would like to get it higher and manage my debt in anticipation of applying for a mortgage in the spring.
I have four credit cards, two of which have high interest rates (15%) and are being paid in full this month. I just applied for a new card with a low balance transfer rate to transfer my highest balance (9 grand) to a 4.99% card. My question is, what's the best strategy here? Do they look at total balance/limit percentages, or per card percentages? In other words, does my having a large balance on one card look worse than having smaller balances spread out over the other cards? My total balance/limit percentage right now is 21%, but on that one new card, it's 83%! So which is better?
I am pretty sure that, no matter what, it's better to do the 4.99 and get it paid off ASAP, which is the plan, but looking ahead, let's say I still have 3 or 4 thousand on that card and zero on the other cards when it comes time to apply for the mortgage. Would it be better to move some of that around at that time?
Thanks for all your help! These forums are extremely informative!