When to apply and what to apply for?

[Anonymous]

Like most on here, I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit and know that I need more cc's to help the building process. I currently have only one cc orchard/HSBC mc with $500 cl. When I pulled my fico score in may it was 667. However I know it has gone up since then but not sure how much. (fakes have increased 25-50 pts). In a couple days all but one inq will be aged to a year. ( the one remaining inq is from orchard which I just opened in march). Ultimately I'd like both a mc and a visa with significant cl (5-10k$) with super-low intl transaction fees and possibly some sort of travel awards as I intend to do some extensive travel in the next few years (I.e. traveling near continuously for 3-10 years). Depending on the cra my AAoA is 2-8 yrs. We also intend on applying for a mortgage in the next 1-2 yrs. I have 6 derogs on my cr. however all but one will fall off by jan 2013. The remaining baddiy is the worst though (co in oct 2010). Ok sorry to ramble but now that you have my credit history, my question is what card should I apply for? ( I prefer it to be a visa) and when should I apply? I'd like to apply now as all but one inq has fallen off but would I be better to wait until sep when my existing cc is 6 months old? I don't want to wait much beyond sep as I want my youngest card to be a year-ish old when we apply for a mortgage. Btw I am eligible for nfcu and usaa, though I currently don't bank with nfcu, just usaa. Btw my util is < 10% and I currently have 2 installment loans with a ttl of approx $16k, but one will be paid off within 6 months or so.

[jamie123]

I would try NFCU, USAA and Walmart all on the same day. Make sure it is a weekday so you can recon if you are denied. The Walmart will give you a free TU score every month so you can more accurately track your progress.

Your CL with NFCU and USAA will probably be much higher than you could receive with any prime card at the moment. I think you might want to wait on a prime card until after you get your house. Perhaps you could go for a prime card after the NFCU, USAA and Walmart cards are aged for 6 months.

I think you should pull your scores after the inquiries are aged a year and if it is above 680 I would go for the app spree then.

[jamie123]

Prime cards USUALLY won't give you 5K CL right off the bat. They want to see a couple of years of good CC usage first.

[Revelate]

+1, you're not in prime territory yet, and a 5K CL from what you stated unless you have a much higher than average income is simply out of reach to you with the exception of NFCU, possibly USAA (as a full member), or a secured card route which is probably suboptimal as that money would be better spent on downpayment for eventual mortgage.

I'd certainly open up the NFCU account now and apply for a credit card at the same time, USAA is probably also worthwhile, but you're not going to get 5K CL with no forex associated with it from anyone, and there's not many non-forex cards period around a 670 can get approved for:  Cap One Venture maybe, but I wouldn't expect an astonishing CL from them to start, certainly not in the 5K range.  Amex platinum would be another but that has a non-trivial AF.  Also that CO from 2010 is still going to be a problem for prime lenders / cards.

Rebuilding is a multi-step procress, and there's usually at least one between rebuilder cards (like you have now and what I have), and prime cards with 5K limits.  NFCU and USAA can bridge that gap and cut it down to one in your case, and possibly in mine too (with USAA at least), but they don't obviate those completely. The only possible exception is with secured cards, and even then I don't see them immediately obtaining something like a CSP directly.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Based on your input I applied for a usaa rewards visa and was approved for a $4k CL! I was soooo happy I could barely focus on the other good news we had (dh is applying for more jobs and just got invited back for another round of interviews with job that will be a 10-20% pat raise). I haven't applied yet with nfcu and am unsure if I will. And although it comes with a free monthly TU report, I'm not going to apply for the wal-mart card as I never shop there. I was thinking of getting a target and/ or old navy card but I may wait until I have large purchases to make from them for the 5-10% off you get when applying. Plus from the big buzz i got from being approved for a $4k cl, I'm afraid I may go on an app spree if I don't exercise some restraint now. (I suspect that buzz will get killed when I see my scores take a small hit from a new card and new inquiry but at least I know it's just temporary).

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your new CL...

[webhopper]

Go for nfcu flagship visa. It has no foreign transaction fees.

[jk26978]

Congratulations!!!!  It is always great to hear these types of stories - and.....good luck for DH on that interview - I know how that can feel

K

[Revelate]

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@webhopper wrote:
Go for nfcu flagship visa. It has no foreign transaction fees.

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Oh good to know.  I had looked and I thought it was all 1% still for NFCU.  Thanks!

Anyway ASailorShort: Apply for NFCU membership anyway, ASAP even .  Regardless of whether you apply for the card or not, you want that relationship established and NFCU is an excellent lender in terms of their customer focus... probably the best period right now.  The Flagship Rewards card that Webby mentioned absolutely is what you're looking for from the sounds of it.

Congrats on the nice USAA card too.

[Anonymous]

Hmm no forex fee on nfcu? I'm intrigued. (usaa has 1% forex fee which i felt was pretty good). Am not an nfcu member but am eligible. Will having a regular banking acct with them help my app any? I may set up a savings acct with them anyway as they have good interest rate offers for auto and mortgage loans. May apply for old navy too for back to school shopping savings. Want a target card too but will be moving in a couple months which is when I would anticipate larger purchases from them. Am anxious to be done with credit hunting and move on to gardening. Although we don't have an exact month pegged, we want to buy a home in Vegas before prices and interest rates increase too much but ideally all my inqs would be over a year before we start the mortgage process.