If you are applying for a mortgage in 6 months, for a multitude of reasons do NOT open any new accounts. Once you have keys in hand, go as crazy as you want. Having an extra credit card or two now is not worth paying possibly tens of thousands of dollars more for your mortgage.
You can ask for a CLI at any time on CapOne's website, and yes it is a soft pull.
In addition to the inquiries (which will show credit-seeking, and your mortgage application is going to be manually reviewed by underwriting) which may or may not cause any harm to your scores, you need to be careful of reducing your average age of accounts, and the time since your most recently opened account, both of which will cause harm to your scores.
It may also be a good time to check to see what your actual FICO scores are so that you really know where you stand. Even if you just want your Experian FICO 08 score, you can get that free at creditscorecard.com which Discover provides for free for anyone monthly. VantageScore scores can vary wildly from actual credit scores used by lenders. Mine have often been as far down as the low 600s (and nearly every card in my signature shows Poor or Fair approval odds at Credit Karma), while it's common for us to see the "my scores are in the 700s why can't I get approved?" threads, where upon pulling actual FICO scores, someone might be in the high 500s or low 600s in reality. For some people, the scores are around the same, but it's not common.
Spot on with your reply! +1
@ToxikPH wrote:
With a mortgage app so soon I would recommend doing absolutely nothing in terms of new cards. They won't want to see inq. but they also really don't want to see new accounts. The second closing on the house is done though you can go on an app spree if you wanted to.
@CreditInspired wrote:
wrote:
With a mortgage app so soon I would recommend doing absolutely nothing in terms of new cards. They won't want to see inq. but they also really don't want to see new accounts. The second closing on the house is done though you can go on an app spree if you wanted to.
+1
Took the words right out of my mouth.
I would like to expand on this. You should wait a cycle after the closing to apply for any new cards. After closing you should be updating your banks about your new address so that they can report it to your records.Also you will need to update your state ID(Drivers Licence usually) with your new address. This way you will not need to have all of your cards arrive at your old address after you moved.
Otherwise Mortgage companies want to see few new accounts,preferably none, and lots of old ones. Remember they are offering up a 30yr loan. A lot can happen during that time. Remember in a mortgage you are trying to get the best terms you can and something as simple as applying for something new can set you back over a cutoff point for some companies. Asking Capital One is ok thanks to the SP. You can list others that you have and we can tell you who also does SP CLi's. For now though you do not want to add any negative info or lower any numbers other than utilisation.
