You need to give us a better idea of what your credit profile looks like. Consider the FICO scoring factors.
http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx
How many accounts do you have and of what types? What's your Payment History like? Is the public record the only derog on your reports? You'll want to address all derogs that you can possibly address. 30% is the generally suggest max for revolving utilization but you'll want to be much lower -- especially if you have a public record. How is your AAoA? How many new (<2 years) accounts?
Don't count on new credit to decrease your revolving utilization. Get the balances down on your revolving accounts.
@Anonymous wrote:
or apply for PenFed to open a savings- like account and possible credit card and hope that will help the mortgage application later on or do nothing.
If you have a public record reporting on Equifax I wouldn't recommend relying on PenFed.
@Anonymous wrote:
Outside of the satisfied state tax baddie on EQ and 3 accounts reported late as a consigner no further baddies.
Hit Rebuilding and carefully research to see what you can do about these. Derogs tend to have significant impact and will hold you down as long as they are on your reports. You want clean reports with 100% positive Payment History.
@Anonymous wrote:
Amex PRG will have a few bucks on it.
Are you carrying a balance on a charge card? You'll want to get out of that if you are. Make sure you're addressing whatever the causes are for your carried balances or you will not be able to make long term progress.
