Too Many New Accounts!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I use a rule to not to take you avg age back to the previous year.

I say take it slow and be PICKY

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Timothy, I like your guideline there, it just convinced me to stop app'ing. I got 3 new personal and 1 new business CC this year, and I see that my average age of CC accounts (personal only) have dropped from 12.5 to 10 years.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

There's no easy answer for that.

If your credit history is currently short (say, less than three years), I could make a case for applying for several cards at once. You don't have that much to lose in terms of average age of accounts. Yes, you will take a hit on inqs...possibly as much as 30 or 40 points. However, the damage will be very temporary...in a matter of months your score will recover. After a year, inqs don't even count against you.

Going forward, you'll have 6 or 7 accounts in good standing, reporting regularly. When you do add an account (say, a mortgage or car note), your average age won't take that big a hit...you might lose half a year or so.

[haulingthescoreup]

And of course, asking us here on this forum what the "normal amount" of accounts to apply for ...! We might not exactly be normal credit applicants.