Need help improving my revolving limits

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone. I am new to posting on this forum. First of all thank you!  to all of you for a fantastic forum. I need help taking the next step to improve my credit profile for manual reviews. I have been using cash and debit cards for many years and realized that was a mistake. I have good scores but I am told that a manual review by a lender will show I don't have enough credit experience. Revolving credit limits too low. I am planning on buying a house next year. Here is my history:

As of May 2008 my Fico scores were: 798 Trans / 795 Equifax / 812 EX - utilization 2%

1FNBO MC card secured 700 CL since 1998 - they won't upgrade to unsecured without new app

1 Auto loan paid off but still reporting open and paid as agreed

1 Dell Financial $1500 paid off - shows open paid as agreed

1 Citi Mc $5000 CL - opened 95 - closed due to inactivity 03 - paid as agreed

1 Citi Visa $3000 CL - opend 95 - closed 03 due to inactivity - paid as agreed

1 Corporate Amex opened in 95 - closed in 01 - paid as agreed

no lates - no badies - no debts - clean history - very low utilization

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in July applied for Amex green rewards and got it. Also applied for Discover More and got $3000 CL.  Discover is already reporting. Amex still not reporting. Now I have a combined credit limit of $3700 in revolving accts.

My fico scores as of 9/05/08 are 792 Trans/ 804 Equifax / 816 Experian (the new acct hurt me on Trans but helped me on Equifax and Experian) don't know what the damage would be once amex reports - but they did give me open date of 95. I SD the secured card and been using amex green and pay in full before statement closing date.

My questions are:

1) Should I try to upgrade the fnbo secured card through a new App? it will be a new acct with a hard inquiry but will give me the age of the secured card. won't know what kind of limit they would give until after the hard inq.

2) should I try for a different bank like BOA an maybe end up with a higher limit? and lose the age. The goal is to increase my revolving limits

3) would CITI re-open an account that was closed in 03?

4) OR should I just stay put for a while and hope when I apply for a mortgage next year won't get denied because manual review of my report will show not enough experience with high credit limits

Any suggestions? sorry for the long post

Thanks

[jmbfl]

I would take a serious shot at PenFed before doing anything else. Ask for at least $5K and possibly more depending on your income. They don't like new credit - but it is not as if you've gotten much. The Platinum Cash Rewards Visa is a great card and they will give out some high limits. You have nothing to lose.

Message Edited by jmbfl on 09-09-2008 01:15 PM

[cw81]

Welcome,

If you will get the age of the secured card when they give you the new card  I would  take the hit  to keep the age  I believe  the age counts waaaay  more to your scores than the  inq.  I don't know what sort of limit they will give you but with your scores and your already obtained limits I think  it will be more that the 700 cl you have currently. Also you get your  700 bucks back or whatever security deposit you gave them.

I would also try to see if Citi would open your accounts if possible. You have excellent credit so it shouldn't be too hard to  convince an underwriter or someone with the authority  to help you out. The ordinary  CSRs will probably not be able to do anything for you.  I am sure the backdoor numbers on the site should point you in the right direction.

With your scores and  the age of your accounts I don't think you will be denied for lack of credit and as long as your DTI is good  you won't have a problem getting approved and a great rate for your house  when you are ready.

Good luck

[jmbfl]

Do what i said before you do one more thing! No more inquiries until you have an answer.

[Anonymous]

We offer advice here - not authoritarianism.

I agree with other posters and recommend you try to convert to unsecured first - it is worth the hard inquiry if they keep your age. If you are not satisfied with your lines at that point you could try BoA or a credit union....your scores are excellent but with 3 new accounts (after going unsecured) you might be better off waiting 6 months for your inquiries to chill. A lot of new credit might make Amex nervous.

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jmbfl wrote:

Do what i said before you do one more thing! No more inquiries until you have an answer.

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[Anonymous]

I only have on inquiry per CB.  discover pulled transunion (july08), amex pulled experian (july08) and I have an AT&T wireless on equifax (december 07).  I should be able to take one more inq without too much damage.  Do you think the think the FNBO secured card once upgraded with age will still count as a new account on my CR?

[Anonymous]

I'd start with Citi and see if they'll reopen the card. It's worth an inquiry if they will. Then I'd get the other secured card unsecured and lastly, if I felt I needed more credit, I'd apply for a BOA card and ask for a CLI right away. (that's just what I'd do , and I'll forgive you if you do something else)