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Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

Hello all, longtime lurker, first time posting.

I am selling my current house today and buying my new house tomorrow. I will be getting about 50k in proceeds from my current house and putting it into the new house (garage, appliances, floors, etc). And I’m not sure why it JUST dawned on me to put my money to work.

About me:
I have a 778 TU score and the following cards. Citi diamond (12.5k), Wells Fargo (10k), barclay (8k) And Capital One (3k). I currently have ZERO CC debt. Just a 9k car loan and the new mortgage.

I have been looking around and it seems like the Chase Sapphire Preferred has the best signup bonus with 50,000 points and 5,000 additional points when I add my wife as an AU. My questions are, is there a card out there that I’m overlooking that will give me the most rewards for my dollars spent? Should I have my wife get a card too and get potentially 110,000 chase points then cancel them after redeeming them? Also, if I were to pay off my current car loan with a card, would I get reward points for that or is it considered a balance transfer?

Thanks a lot and I appreciate any potential help!
Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

Welcome, @Anonymous. Smiley Happy

 

Your profile should be in fine shape for the CSP. You didn't provide your wife's data, but if her profile is similar, she should be fine too. The main thing is having a profile that won't make Chase shy away from approving a card with a limit of $5,000 or more.

 

If you don't want to keep the card over the long haul, consider a product change to one of the Freedom cards when it's time for the annual fee to hit.

 

AMEX is another option if you're looking for a generous limit. You'd want to read up on the cards and decide if cash or MR points are your thing. Oftentimes, your credit limit can be increased to 3X its original amount after 61 days. For information on limit increases, read the first few pages and the last few pages of The Definitive Amex 3X CLI Guide.

Message 2 of 18
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

You might also want to consider a card that offers a strong extended warranty or price protection on appliances and fixtures.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 3 of 18
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

+1 Also, depending on how you plan to use the points, you may want to consider the Sapphire Reserve instead.  As for paying off the auto loan, that depends on how you pay for it.  Doing a balance transfer would not count toward either the spending bonus or earn points, but if your lender were to accept credit card payments then the answer is yes.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Message 4 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

Thanks for the quick response guys. The wife’s credit situation is FAR better than mine. 800+ credit score, 75k in cards and zero utilization.

The sapphire reserve scared me off with the sign up fee and honestly, I am happy with my current cards, I just want to sign up for something, exploit the hell out of their points and cancel it lol. Cash back is cool, but if I’m going to get more bang for my buck with travel perks, I’ll take the wife on a trip. I’m looking at this solely as, I was going to spend the money anyway, let’s get the most I can out of it in the next 3 months 😁
Message 5 of 18
jamie123
Valued Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help

This is what I would do:

 

App for an AMEX BCE and a Discover IT or Discover Miles. Your looking for their 0% APR for X amount of months.

 

Open an E-Trade account and split your $50K to buy shares of AMD and ENPH. $25K each.

 

Charge all your house upgrades to the cards and pay the minimum amount each month for the next 12 months.

 

After 12 months, sell your shares of AMD and ENPH, pocket the 30% profit or $15,000 that you made and pay off the AMEX and Discover cards.

 

Take your wife on the Hawaiian vacation that she always wanted to go on with the $15K profit and relax!


Starting Score: EQ 653 6/21/12
Current Score: EQ 817 3/10/20 - EX 820 3/13/20 - TU 825 3/03/20
Message 6 of 18
Skymogul
New Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help


@Anonymous wrote:
The sapphire reserve scared me off with the sign up fee and honestly, I am happy with my current cards, I just want to sign up for something, exploit the hell out of their points and cancel it lol. Cash back is cool, but if I’m going to get more bang for my buck with travel perks, I’ll take the wife on a trip. I’m looking at this solely as, I was going to spend the money anyway, let’s get the most I can out of it in the next 3 months 😁

Chase Sapphire Reserve would be a poor deal for home improvement spend. You'd only get 1% back, 1.5% if you booked your travel through  the portal. And you can get a flat 1.5% cash back on everything on a ton of different cards.

 

There are a number of good flat 2% cards. Since you'll obviously be paying in full, Citi Double Cash. Fidelity Visa gives a straight 2% cash back on everything. Cap One Venture gives 2% back on everything if you redeem it for travel, otherwise 1%. There are other 2% cards that would be better deals for you. CSR/CSP is a poor choice for your situation.

Message 7 of 18
Skymogul
New Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help


@jamie123 wrote:

Charge all your house upgrades to the cards and pay the minimum amount each month for the next 12 months.

 

After 12 months, sell your shares of AMD and ENPH, pocket the 30% profit or $15,000 that you made and pay off the AMEX and Discover cards.

 

Take your wife on the Hawaiian vacation that she always wanted to go on with the $15K profit and relax!


Or scrape around and eat Ramen if there's a significant correction in the next 12 months. Never borrow to invest, which is what you're suggesting doing.

Message 8 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help


@Skymogul wrote:

@jamie123 wrote:

Charge all your house upgrades to the cards and pay the minimum amount each month for the next 12 months.

 

After 12 months, sell your shares of AMD and ENPH, pocket the 30% profit or $15,000 that you made and pay off the AMEX and Discover cards.

 

Take your wife on the Hawaiian vacation that she always wanted to go on with the $15K profit and relax!


Or scrape around and eat Ramen if there's a significant correction in the next 12 months. Never borrow to invest, which is what you're suggesting doing.


This. Investing on margin is scary. That is a quick way to end up with insurmountable debt if the stocks decline. I would advise against this, as it is terrible personal finance advice.

Message 9 of 18
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Making big purchases, need the right card. Please help


@Anonymous wrote:

@Skymogul wrote:

@jamie123 wrote:

Charge all your house upgrades to the cards and pay the minimum amount each month for the next 12 months.

 

After 12 months, sell your shares of AMD and ENPH, pocket the 30% profit or $15,000 that you made and pay off the AMEX and Discover cards.

 

Take your wife on the Hawaiian vacation that she always wanted to go on with the $15K profit and relax!


Or scrape around and eat Ramen if there's a significant correction in the next 12 months. Never borrow to invest, which is what you're suggesting doing.


This. Investing on margin is scary. That is a quick way to end up with insurmountable debt if the stocks decline. I would advise against this, as it is terrible personal finance advice.


ENPH has a $600M market cap, declining revenues, and has lost money in each of the last five years.

 

Sure, it could rise 30%. But there is very, very significant risk here.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 10 of 18
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