Credit Inquiry - Applying for Victoria Secret and Khols store cards

[Anonymous]

HI all:

Looking for advice - I have just closed out a few cards and I was looking to add a couple more. I had made a mistake of closing a credit card while having significant balances on the rest of my cards resulting in a drop in my credit score. So far, I have been working hard and I have been able to bring my credit up to the mid 600s. My credit report is pretty much clean now wherein I have paid all of my collections and everything is pretty good my utilization is below 30%. I am looking to add a couple cards, a victoria secret card as well as a khols card. my issue here is that my inquiry report on my credit report is poor because of mulitple inquiry I have done. Should I lay low and not apply for these cards until my inquiry report is better or I can go ahead and just apply for these cards since it's already poor and I can wait for a while before making another inquiry? Any advice will be helpful. Thanks.

PS - I also qualify for Amex Cards and I was wondering if I should apply for the AMEX Travel card as well. thanks for you response in advance.

[Remedios]

Your CR is not clean, you still have collections on it. However, now that they are paid, they will no longer update and your scores can start recovering. 

It's up to you if you want to apply at this time or wait till your scores improve further. Applying for new credit/new inquiries will postpone that.

I would wait for score increase before applying. Your EX and EQ are still on the low(ish) end. You'd probably have a better luck with, especially with non store cards if you garden for a while. 

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, I have to update the scores I have on there...

My EX score is 657, Eq 668, and Transunion is 666 - it should go up soon as I've paid down more of my cards. In about a week it should go up to the high 600s or lower 700s.

[Anonymous]

I would take Amex all day long over VS/Kohl's.  You can only use those at those stores vs being able to use Amex at those stores and many other places.  I would wait for the next update cycle on your CR's to reflect the pay down to open more doors with better results.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend joining the "garden club" for awhile and letting your scores grow before applying for anythign new. You've already done so well coming from your starting scores in your sig until now, just wait another six months or so and then you can start applying. Good luck!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Maybe pick up your Amex and take a break if you can. I hate seeing my inquiries grade , not good either lol, but that isnt what really gets you approved or denied, its the orher stuff like your debt, income, etc.

[KJinNC]

Unless you are trying to maximize scores in the near future for something like a car loan or mortgage, personally, I would pick up an Amex. I would stand pat after that (other than efforts to get the collections removed from your credit report). You have enough cards to keep your utilization under 30% unless an emergency arises and an Amex would make it that much easier. JMO.

[Anonymous]

So, I just did the prequalification process again and I am prequalified for the following:

Blue Cash Everyday and Amex Everyday with 0% APR for 15months. FYI I'm saving to buy a house...

[tcbofade]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, I just did the prequalification process again and I am prequalified for the following:

Blue Cash Everyday and Amex Everyday with 0% APR for 15months. FYI I'm saving to buy a house...

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When?

If you are planning to apply for a mortgage in 2019, I'd advise against opening ANY new accounts.

If you're thinking next year, then adding one new account won't be a deal breaker... I'd go for the Everyday card. 

Good luck!

[CreditInspired]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm sorry, I have to update the scores I have on there...

My EX score is 657, Eq 668, and Transunion is 666 - it should go up soon as I've paid down more of my cards. In about a week it should go up to the high 600s or lower 700s.

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IMHO, I don't think you're going to see a 30-pt score increase from paying down more of your cards unless your're talking about reducing maxed out cards to less than 1% and you've been doing the AZEO method. But that's just my 2cents.