@FICONewbie62I'll just give you an example. BK filed 8/15. I had no cards. None. Lawyer said you need credit. Come to this place and learn. So 1 by 1 I got a card. I put 6 months in between apps. Started at 560's. As time went on I played a game. Once I hit 700 after the 3rd card. I applied. Approved. Waited after the new card hits rebounded. Here came 700 again. Rinse and repeat. I used to have a badge below. Doing this method I was approved 19 times with 1 denial in 7 yrs. Then the base score was 710's then 720's and after a while 740's. Your starting point is way above most. Get your 3rd card. Set a score. Once you bounce back. Next card. Higher the score and age kicks in as your file grows. HP's will be no hits. AAoA's will hardly move. It only gets better in time.
@FICONewbie62 wrote:Thanks for that suggestion FireMedic. An additional question I have, after seeing folks with so many cards - how often are you applying for new cards, and doesn't that large number drag down your AAoA to almost nothing??
I applied frequently when I felt I was in a building phase.
Yes it took a heavy toll on my scores especially my mortgage scores.
Once I had plenty of cards, I slowed down.
@FICONewbie62 wrote:Ok, well I will start adding accounts and wait between each for the score to recover. I am thinking about adding 3 cards over the next couple of years - so that will work out I think.
I really appreciate all of the comments and advice.
Looking at your scores in the opening post. Set 750 as your base. Adding a 3rd card will help also. FICO likes at least 3 with 1 reporting.
@FICONewbie62 wrote:Well - here is an update. I applied for a Apple card and was approved for a $7,000.00 limit! I do have a hard inquiry - so that means just two showing on my 3B reports now. An earlier inquiry will drop off in August - leaving me with just the one.
Thanks again for all of the help on this!
Congratulations on your approval.
Thanks SouthJamaica. That is an impressive amount of credit you have built up there! Thanks for helping out a bottom feeder!!!!
@FICONewbie62 wrote:Thanks SouthJamaica. That is an impressive amount of credit you have built up there! Thanks for helping out a bottom feeder!!!!
You're not a bottom feeder.
A bottom feeder is Credit Karma, which --- for financial gain --- falsely implies to its readers that the more cards they have, the better their scores will be. I was totally misled by CK when I started out in this process, and acquired a lot of cards under a total misconception. They had a pyramid graphic, which implied that 5 cards was fair, 10 was good, and 15 was excellent. Only after I'd acquired 15 credit cards did I learn that this was a complete crock. By then, though, I was hooked on the endorphin rush that accompanies approvals.
The truth of course is that one can easily get perfect credit scores with 3 to 5 credit cards.
@FICONewbie62 wrote:Well, I thought it would be helpful to others to begin reporting back on the hits my scores have taken as a result of the new card.
The first impacts were notices about the hard inquiry from Apple Card. Then, once the approval was granted, the additional card hits began.
Here are the current score hits:
EQ 778 down 8 to 770
EX 758 down 39 to 719
TU 792 down 10 to 782
Experian seems quick to drop, and very slow to recover - even on minor changes.Another interesting observation from the past few months is that even slight balance increases (though still well below 6% cumulative and individual) will sometimes cause a score decrease. I don't understand those changes - as they seem to contradict the max point guideline for 1-6% utilization.
Oh well, "Onward and Upward"😀
Trying to measure cause and effect relationships between score changes and minor balance changes is an impossible task, unless you were to have daily updates of your reports and scores.