In my experience it completely depends on the lender who's considering your credit as to what constitutes "too many" inqs. People like Barclays often think more than 3 in a 6 month period is "too many," anything related to mortgages wants an explanation for each and every one, while auto lenders tend to like seeing less than 6-12 in a year. If you're able to justify the number of inqs in the timeframe during which they occur, you may be fine, such as "I was shopping for the best terms & rate on a credit card to consolidate or rebuild my credit," which is one I've used a few times. The key is to just make sure you cut back after you go on a spree and don't repeat the app spree too often so you eventually get to a point with <5 inqs in a 2 year period. Until that point, there's a good possibility you'll get the robot "number of inqs in the past 6-12 months" messages. The type of credit being apped for also def matters. If it's all for mortgage/auto loan, etc., easy to explain; credit cards, not as much.
My Top 3: Amex Delta Platinum ($30k) | Amex PRG | Citi Prestige ($30k) |
Starting scores 600-640 (2013), current 765-775 (2019); It is possible!
