I have no choice though to apply before May or else I am hit with the $450 annual fee 
@MattieNumNums wrote:I have no choice though to apply before May or else I am hit with the $450 annual fee
I appreciate that but $450 pales in comparison to a hold up on your settlement for your new house. I'd talk to your loan officer and see what he/she has to say. Most mortgage companies don't want to see any new inquiries or accounts immediately proceeding final settlement
@MattieNumNums wrote:I have no choice though to apply before May or else I am hit with the $450 annual fee
+1 to the above but have you attempted a product change?
Maybe, the underwriter will ask for a letter of expalantion regarding the INQ , they basically want to know if any new debt was obtained, once you provide the letter saying yes, they are gonna add that new card to your DTI . if you have no debt to income ratio problems you are good! and I would say go for it. especially if you are closing to other cards.
I am a mortgage processor and I do this all day 
@MattieNumNums wrote:Hey everyone. I currently have a Black Executive Citi card with a $10,000 limit and I have had some issues recently with American Airlines, so I am going to switch cards. I am currently in the process of purchasing a Home and my loan was approved but it is a new build and my credit will be pulled again when the house is finished because 90 days will have passed since my loan was approved.
My question os this, I recently applied for a Barclayscard and was approved (I work or Barclaycard and wanted a card for work purposes), but I wanted to keep my large credit limit with Citi. They told me I needed to reapply for a new card (Thank You Rewards I am thinking) and they would apply my credit limit to the new card. I also wanted to apply for a Virgin America card since that is the Airline I am currently using.
With one mortgage applied and approved, a credit card approved, and knowing I need to apply for a new credit card (May), would I be making a mistake applying for the Virgin America card? I have two small Capital One cards I want to cancel so I want to replace them with the single Virgin card. Would canceling the cards hurt me? They have annual fee's and I never use the cards.
Kind of confusing but I really appreciate the help.
@Anonymous wrote:Maybe, the underwriter will ask for a letter of expalantion regarding the INQ , they basically want to know if any new debt was obtained, once you provide the letter saying yes, they are gonna add that new card to your DTI . if you have no debt to income ratio problems you are good! and I would say go for it. especially if you are closing to other cards.
I am a mortgage processor and I do this all day
@MattieNumNums wrote:Hey everyone. I currently have a Black Executive Citi card with a $10,000 limit and I have had some issues recently with American Airlines, so I am going to switch cards. I am currently in the process of purchasing a Home and my loan was approved but it is a new build and my credit will be pulled again when the house is finished because 90 days will have passed since my loan was approved.
My question os this, I recently applied for a Barclayscard and was approved (I work or Barclaycard and wanted a card for work purposes), but I wanted to keep my large credit limit with Citi. They told me I needed to reapply for a new card (Thank You Rewards I am thinking) and they would apply my credit limit to the new card. I also wanted to apply for a Virgin America card since that is the Airline I am currently using.
With one mortgage applied and approved, a credit card approved, and knowing I need to apply for a new credit card (May), would I be making a mistake applying for the Virgin America card? I have two small Capital One cards I want to cancel so I want to replace them with the single Virgin card. Would canceling the cards hurt me? They have annual fee's and I never use the cards.
Kind of confusing but I really appreciate the help.
I respect and appreciate your perspective as a mortgage underwriter. I think you would probably agree that, conventional wisdom is to not do anything prior to the closing on a new mortgage. That is frequently the advice around here, and it becomes even more appropo for the OP, since we don't know OP's complete credit picture. Taking the action that OP is suggesting, if s/he is on the cusp of a good rate vs a not-so-good rate, or even a denial of the mortgage could be devastating. If the scenario detailed is followed, the OP could see a point drop that could disqualify the OP from a prime mortgage rate, or even getting the mortgage, regardless of an explanation letter. Better safe than sorry.