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Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?

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madnutz
New Contributor

Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?

Hello Everyone, Please bare with me here, It's been a long two years but I have managed to go from a 500 credit score with multiple collections, not being able to get a cell phone or internet through cox to having multiple credit cards on file and 0 bad marks, all the collection items have been wiped from my report as well, here is hte breakdown of what i have and I wanted to ask everyone here what I should do moving forward;

 

Currently I have 

  • 10 Credit cards, 3-4 of them are store accounts for Macy's/express - total credit available is about 5k(very low yes i know)
  • total amount utilized is 3% on credit cards
  • Car loan at 10% interest, I want to refinance this as FAST as possible, think it's possible with my score? loan was for 25k and current balance is 20k
  • I got approved for a mortgage loan and I am due to close on the 30th, the loan amount is 243k and interest rate was at 4.25@30 years, since I haven't closed, this is not on my credit report yet
  • equifax from their site is showing me at a score of 630
  • I have NO bad marks on my credit, no late payments, no collections and again carrying a very low balance
  • 28 inquiries Smiley Sad This is what I hope to fix, but I think this is the reason why i am not at over 700?
  • Credit sesame is showing me at 695
  • creditkarma at 650
  • equifax at 630

 

These are some of the questions I have

  • I have some cards with very low credit limits, I want to apply to some other cards but don't know which ones would be best, I want to get some with  a higher credit limit and close out hte small ones, the small ones also charge me yearly fees which i HATE! WHat do you guys think? Amex? chase slate? Kinda lost on this one
  • Will the mortgage loan help or hurt my score?
  • The other thing I would like to do is get credit at ashleys furniture to buy some furniture for my new home, I have hte cash to buy it but I was wondering if i should just ge thte loan then pay it off while im in the no interest period
  • Should I start applying for cards the day i close on my mortgage loan? Or after my mortgage loan is on file?
  • any other suggestions? Please feel free to ask any quesitons that would help you get a better idea
Message 1 of 22
21 REPLIES 21
myjourney
Super Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?

Question do you have your real scores from the mortgage process? That would help

Before you app think...
Have you done your research of the CC?
Does it fit your spending?
Do you have a plan for the bonus w/o going into debt?
Can you afford the AF?
Do you know the cards benefits? Is it worth the HP?
Message 2 of 22
wHiTeSoL
Valued Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@madnutz wrote:

Hello Everyone, Please bare with me here, It's been a long two years but I have managed to go from a 500 credit score with multiple collections, not being able to get a cell phone or internet through cox to having multiple credit cards on file and 0 bad marks, all the collection items have been wiped from my report as well, here is hte breakdown of what i have and I wanted to ask everyone here what I should do moving forward;

 

Currently I have 

  • 10 Credit cards, 3-4 of them are store accounts for Macy's/express - total credit available is about 5k(very low yes i know)
  • total amount utilized is 3% on credit cards
  • Car loan at 10% interest, I want to refinance this as FAST as possible, think it's possible with my score? loan was for 25k and current balance is 20k
  • I got approved for a mortgage loan and I am due to close on the 30th, the loan amount is 243k and interest rate was at 4.25@30 years, since I haven't closed, this is not on my credit report yet
  • equifax from their site is showing me at a score of 630
  • I have NO bad marks on my credit, no late payments, no collections and again carrying a very low balance
  • 28 inquiries Smiley Sad This is what I hope to fix, but I think this is the reason why i am not at over 700?
  • Credit sesame is showing me at 695
  • creditkarma at 650
  • equifax at 630

 

These are some of the questions I have

  • I have some cards with very low credit limits, I want to apply to some other cards but don't know which ones would be best, I want to get some with  a higher credit limit and close out hte small ones, the small ones also charge me yearly fees which i HATE! WHat do you guys think? Amex? chase slate? Kinda lost on this one
  • Will the mortgage loan help or hurt my score?
  • The other thing I would like to do is get credit at ashleys furniture to buy some furniture for my new home, I have hte cash to buy it but I was wondering if i should just ge thte loan then pay it off while im in the no interest period
  • Should I start applying for cards the day i close on my mortgage loan? Or after my mortgage loan is on file?
  • any other suggestions? Please feel free to ask any quesitons that would help you get a better idea

About those INQs, when and where? Are they all on EQ? how many within 6 months? 1 year?

1. Wait until your house closes, dont do anything at all until then, after that it may be a stretch to get an Amex right away and slates aren't known for huge limits. Everyone is pretty excited about certian animal cards (cough beaver cough duck) or try GE, but you still may want to hang tight a few more months and let those INQs age.

2. Will the mortgage help? Unscienficly and just IMO i think it looks good on a manual review and it will help the mixture of debt

3. I dont think it matters as long as the big purchase is done.

4.Time is your friend, it'll take a little bit to build. In the meantime list out your current cards and open dates so others can speak to CLIs (when and how often)

 

So in closing. Do nothing until the house closes, work on SP CLIs on your current cards, age those INQs.

Message 3 of 22
madnutz
New Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only

Message 4 of 22
wHiTeSoL
Valued Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@madnutz wrote:

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only


It would certianly help to know which ones are which so people can direct you more specificly to certian lenders/products.

Message 5 of 22
madnutz
New Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@wHiTeSoL wrote:

@madnutz wrote:

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only


It would certianly help to know which ones are which so people can direct you more specificly to certian lenders/products.


Understood I will get the info from the loan officer Monday, here are my inquiries, At one point i was frantically applying everywhere trying to get more credit.... And you got it! I am not applying to anything until my house closes, although cox did a credit pull to establish internet service at my new place, hope that doesn't cause a problem, here are my inquries

 

Name of CompanyDate of Inquiry
ADVANTAGE CREDIT/FCF2 ::3798235970  
Show Details
09/30/13
CABELA'S   
Show Details
03/16/13
CAP1/BEST BUY  
Show Details
07/31/12, 12/15/11
CAPITAL ONE  
Show Details
02/13/13, 01/24/12
CAPITAL ONE   
Show Details
08/15/12
CAPITAL ONE  
Show Details
07/31/12
CHASE HOME FINANCE   
Show Details
03/05/13
RELS ::3798235970  
Show Details
08/03/12
COX COMMUNICATIONS   
Show Details
10/24/13
CREDCO::3798235970  
Show Details
03/06/13
DIRECTV  
Show Details
07/10/13
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICE  
Show Details
10/07/12
EARNHARDT DODGE  
Show Details
01/21/12
EM QUICKEN ::3798235970  
Show Details
05/08/12
FIRST INVESTORS FIN. SERVICES   
Show Details
01/23/12
FIRST PREMIER BANK   
Show Details
05/07/13
FLAGSHIP CREDIT ACCEPTANCE  
Show Details
01/23/12
FUNDING SUITE ::3798235970  
Show Details
09/24/13, 05/31/13
PENTAGON FCU   
Show Details
07/03/13, 08/03/12
PRESTIGE FINANCIAL SERVICE  
Show Details
01/23/12
REGIONAL ACCEPTANCE  
Show Details
01/24/12
THE HOME DEPOT/CBSD   
Show Details
07/31/12
WEBBANK/BML  
Show Details
08/27/12, 08/05/12
ZALES/CBSD  
Show Details
12/08/11
Message 6 of 22
myjourney
Super Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@madnutz wrote:

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only


Amex and Chase in most cases will pull EX and possibly EQ so if scores are over 670 there your in better shape 

Close on the mortgage and go straight home and app away but be prepared to recon all due to the large number of INQ's 

Some of which can easly be explained as mortgage ...hopefully the car too.

All but 7 INQ's are over a year old so that will help a little

Before you app think...
Have you done your research of the CC?
Does it fit your spending?
Do you have a plan for the bonus w/o going into debt?
Can you afford the AF?
Do you know the cards benefits? Is it worth the HP?
Message 7 of 22
madnutz
New Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?

Here are the cards I currently have

 

 
Account Name
Date OpenedCredit Limit
CAPITAL ONE BANK USA  10/08/2010 $500   
   
CAPITAL ONE BANK USA  04/07/2011 $750   
   
CFC  04/16/2013 $300   
   
COMENITY BANK/EXPRES  04/16/2013 $250   
express store  
CRDT FIRST  03/08/2011 $0   
   
CREDIT ONE BANK  06/10/2011 $800   
   
FINGERHUT/WEBBANK 11/29/2010 $200   
   
FIRST PREMIER  05/09/2013 $700   
   
FIRST SAVINGS CREDIT  11/03/2012 $350   
   
MACY'S/DSNB  11/01/2010 $200   
   
MERRICK BANK CORP  05/13/2011 $1,600   
   
Message 8 of 22
madnutz
New Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@myjourney wrote:

@madnutz wrote:

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only


Amex and Chase in most cases will pull EX and possibly EQ so if scores are over 670 there your in better shape 

Close on the mortgage and go straight home and app away but be prepared to recon all due to the large number of INQ's 

Some of which can easly be explained as mortgage ...hopefully the car too.

All but 7 INQ's are over a year old so that will help a little


 

 

Thank you for the insight Smiley Happy Which Amex do you recommend would give me the best shot, where would i find recon number for amex? I have the chase slate recon number already

Message 9 of 22
wHiTeSoL
Valued Contributor

Re: Help me decide on how to improve my credit?? What new card should I apply for?


@madnutz wrote:

@myjourney wrote:

@madnutz wrote:

I don't have them on hand, but remember that they were 3 scores the loan officer told me i had

 

690 something

620 something

and 650 something

 

Although I don't remember what score was from what credit buereau, I can ask the loan lady I was working with on Monday if that would help, also I had 1 late payment on my credit when I applied for hte mortgage loan, this was due to someone having me as an authorized user on THEIR credit card, after I found this out, i filed a dispute with the 2 credit agencies it was reporting on and got them deleted from my credit report, so the scores should be higher on the lower 2 since it was reporting on those two only


Amex and Chase in most cases will pull EX and possibly EQ so if scores are over 670 there your in better shape 

Close on the mortgage and go straight home and app away but be prepared to recon all due to the large number of INQ's 

Some of which can easly be explained as mortgage ...hopefully the car too.

All but 7 INQ's are over a year old so that will help a little


 

 

Thank you for the insight Smiley Happy Which Amex do you recommend would give me the best shot, where would i find recon number for amex? I have the chase slate recon number already


I would suggest a charge card first, the PRG is a good choice with the waived AF the first year (look around for a better bonus offer). The recon number for amex should be in the sticky but it will probily result in another HP if you recon with them

Message 10 of 22
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