Hard pulls and credit damage

[Anonymous]

HI I am hoping the people here can give me advice I just started my first real job and moved into my own place but credit issues are driving me insane.Basically I haven't used much credit.  I have one main credit card that I've had for 4 years that I pay in full every month and a gas card I scarcely use.  There are no negatives on my credit info just not much period. I had to open several accounts cable, cell phone, checking that resulted in several hard pulls.  When I opened the checking the banker told me I had a 767 FICO score which was very good. Then my car died in Jan and I tried getting a car loan.  After 4 attempts, I gave up and paid cash for the car taking comfort in the fact I screwed the banks out of $2500 in interest they would have gotten. Then I decided I should open up another credit card to help build more credit and keep my balances farther away from the maximum on my one card which is kind of low.  They denied me based on too many inquiries. Now I got an offer from a different credit card company (Discover) based on a soft pull that I would like to accept but am worried it will result in yet another hard pull and more damage. Can anyone offer any suggestions how I can build credit and repair the damage?  I have accounts like a cell phone but they only report bad stuff not good.  Should I accept the card invitation?  I would really like to buy a place later in the year meaning mortgage and this situation is really worrying me.

[llecs]

IMO, you are in good shape. Just keep your reported balances 9% or below. You can't do anything at all about the inquiries. They disappear usually within 2 yrs and FICO stops considering them by the 1 yr mark. Most lenders don't even care past 6 months.

I'd probably accept the offer if I needed a CC. You may want to snoop around over in the CC board to see if there's any possibility of a hard inquiry. I don't think it is likely. Make sure there is a lapse of at least 6 months in between the time you app for a home and the day the new Discover reports.