Balance Transfer or continue to pay off? Please advise

[Anonymous]

I have two credit cards with chase.

Card #1- 18% - 3700.00 balance with 5000.00 limit

Card #2 - 19.5% - 8700.00 balance with 10K limit

I've been paying things off & started with Credit Karma, moved over to MyFico and I've become a stickler (obsessed) with my credit score.  Went from 500's to now breaking over 700 in all three!!  

I've learned that those interest rates above are NOT GOOD! 

I do NOT use these cards any more and will NOT use these cards. 

My question/s 

1. SHOULD I do a blance tranfer? There are many for 0% for 18 months

2. If I do a blance transfer,  will my credit take a hit due to a hard inqury? If so, is that hit negligable?

3. If I do a blanace transfer can I request a higher limit on the new card to show more available credit thereby reducing my "usage" percentage thereby increasing the score more?

I have requested a lower interest rate on each card... that's like tyring to get a ride on the space shuttle.  

You're thoughts and advice would be very welcomed. Thank you!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have two credit cards with chase.

Card #1- 18% - 3700.00 balance with 5000.00 limit

Card #2 - 19.5% - 8700.00 balance with 10K limit

I've been paying things off & started with Credit Karma, moved over to MyFico and I've become a stickler (obsessed) with my credit score.  Went from 500's to now breaking over 700 in all three!!  

Congratulations

I've learned that those interest rates above are NOT GOOD! 

I do NOT use these cards any more and will NOT use these cards. 

Well don't pay interest on them. But once you get them paid off, no reason

not to use them, so long as you pay in full each month.

My question/s 

1. SHOULD I do a blance tranfer? There are many for 0% for 18 months

It would certainly make economic sense, if you can get one

2. If I do a blance transfer,  will my credit take a hit due to a hard inqury? If so, is that hit negligable?

Yes but nothing to worry about, and you will recover

3. If I do a blanace transfer can I request a higher limit on the new card to show more available credit thereby reducing my "usage" percentage thereby increasing the score more?

You can request any limit you want, if the application provides for a requested credit limit

I have requested a lower interest rate on each card... that's like tyring to get a ride on the space shuttle.  

Yes but less expensive

You're thoughts and advice would be very welcomed. Thank you!

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[Anonymous]

Awesome!   Also, what about those "loans" that will pay off the credit cards??

I could get one large loan at around 4-5% APR and pay off both cards.  

Would this be beneficial?

[Gmood1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Awesome!   Also, what about those "loans" that will pay off the credit cards??

I could get one large loan at around 4-5% APR and pay off both cards.  

Would this be beneficial?

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Sure it would. It depends on how long you think it will take to pay them off. You could peel away some of the balance with 0% BTs.

As long as you have decent scores and credit file. You have options!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Awesome!   Also, what about those "loans" that will pay off the credit cards??

I could get one large loan at around 4-5% APR and pay off both cards.  

Would this be beneficial?

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I don't think you could get one at such a low rate.

For both credit cards and loans, you should probably look to credit unions, for a number of reasons.

If you take out a loan from an internet lender it often gets characterized as a "consumer finance" loan, which is something of a negative.

[Anonymous]

Well, I do NOT want anything negative at all.  So, the "consumer finance loan" is not a good option for me if it is a "negative."

So, can you please help me learn why a loan from a credit union is different?

I'm pretty fixed on a good 0% card/s for now, but want to explore all options and go with the most positive impactd on my credit.

[Anonymous]

South Jamacia,

Just curious; in your signature, are those all the credit cards you currently have?????  OMG!!!!  Is that for real?  HOW does THAT happen?  LOL!

I'm new here obviously!  LOL!  

[Anonymous]

Bank of America has their Bankamericard that has 0% APR for all new purchases

(Great, but not until you pay off your balance transfers!)

BUT also for BALANCE TRANSFERS. and NO FEE for first 60 days,

which is normally 3% (kinda the average)

For 15 MONTHS

Could try to app for that.

That is the only card that I personally have got that is best band for buck, literally haha.

There are some other cards out there too, but remmeber most have the 3% fee, which is still tons of savings.

As for a loan to pay off your cards, lowest I have seen recently is mayb 6.9% but that would be

for perfect credit, so you may be pushing the double digit mark or close to it depending on your credit profile.

Balance transfers are once excellent to get your credit history working for you.

Just stay on top of everything and always check those BT fees and fine print in the large grid boxes

on the checks that come in the mail or when apping for new card.

I use them all the time and normally wait until 0% offers.

Just took a NFCU BT for 17000, yes 17k for 0% fee and 0% for 12 months, will be paid off.

I first used a cash back card and got 1.5% back(over $250 cb went to mortgage principle) then transfered 

so I can pay no interest. This is what a good credit profile can do for you!

Good luck!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

South Jamacia,

Just curious; in your signature, are those all the credit cards you currently have?????  OMG!!!!  Is that for real?  HOW does THAT happen?  LOL!

I'm new here obviously!  LOL!  

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1. The credit unions are better because they have better rates, better customer service, better websites, and lower fees.

2.  The way it happened with me getting so many credit cards is that I was initially misled by Credit Karma into thinking that I needed at least 15 credit cards to be considered "excellent".  By the time I'd learned that that was complete baloney, mostly through MyFICO, this forum had gotten me hooked on improving my credit portfolio, bringing good offerings to my attention. So I kept trying for better cards, and ditching some that were less useful. Right now I have 4 or 5 that are on the chopping block. Not everyone enjoys managing that many accounts; I happen to enjoy it. If I didn't I'd definitely shrink it.  At this point the best thing I could do for my scores would be to NOT apply for anything for a long long time.

[Anonymous]

Wow... a lot of great information here.  Thank you all for your time and contributions here.  It helps a lot.

My apologies to SouthJamaica as I spelled your user name wrong... my bad there.  

I will be checking into things and will keep you all posted here.  Thank you again!