Gardening, but how long?

[Late2theGame]

Almost 2 years ago I had a 30 and 60 day late report. These are the only derive I have on my account, but at that time I paid and closed the only CC I had opened. This left me with 7 closed accounts and no opened accounts (5 installments and 2 Revolving). 6 of these accounts were in good standing and I am presuming will report for around 3 more years for a total of 10 years from dola, the other one is the CC I had the 30 and 60 day late on (1y 10m ago).

This year I opened 3CC (2 unsecured, 1 secured), 1 revolving store account, and 2 SSL. I have 7 inquiries on experion, 2 on transition, and 2 on Equifax. I don't know if it's because of where I live primarily or who I have applied with, but every creditor has pulled from experion.

So I know people have a lot more HP than that, but I also know it is affecting my score some and that with only 1-2 months of recent credit history, I probably need to garden. My Fico scores are not horrendous, but I was frivolously denied on my last 3 apps.

The one will fall off in 24 months, not count against my score in 12, and be slightly distanced in 6 months. I have no immediate credit needs, but as my name suggests, I am late to the game, and need to be planning to buy a home in 7-10 years if it will ever happen, and a car in 1 or 2 (though if I had to I could pay cash for a car, not a new one, but a decent one).
I want to thicken my file, I need to garden, but how long? 6 months, 12 months, the full 24?

All inquiries are tightly grouped within a 45 day app period and are all for revolving credit.

[Late2theGame]

Add: I am currently enjoying the AAoA affects and AoOA from the accounts I closed, but (if for no other reason than assuming the worst case scenario) I have to assume those accounts will mostly be gone in 3 years.

I currently have a:
Cap1 Platinum Unsecured $300
USAA Mil Affiliate Unsecured: $1000
Alaska USA Secured:$2500
Fingerhut Revolving: $400
And 2 new SSL, 1 closed, 1 at under 30%

My utilization is always AZEO <5%

I would like to get more revolving accounts (6 or 7 total) that I won't close to aid my AAoA later, have an emergency credit source on top of my savings so I can still keep utilization low with in the event of a moderate emergency.

I would like to upgrade my cap1 platinum next app round, and get another cap1 card and another USAA card. Both Cap 1 and USAA have been good to me. I would also like to unsecure my Alaska USA Secured CC after I have demonstrated I can handle reasonable limits responsibly, they will do a HP. I have many HP in my future if I meet these goals. But I would like my AAoA and AoOA to be 7+ yrs when I actually seek a home loan.


These goals seem to be at odds, I need a thicker file, but calling too soon can cause even more HP in the future. I need to find the balance, so I am open to suggestions. Thank you.

[RonM21]

Generally speaking, I would say that you are thinking correctly about gardening. Not sure it needs to be 24 months, but I would at least wait maybe 6, and keep your profile in order to let it grow. Now if any of your accounts involve Soft Pull actions for their CLI's or Upgrades, I don't think it hurts to try those while you are gardening. The worse they say is no, and you don't get a HP. But if you do decide to try for a SP anything, be sure to do your research on here to confirm it will definitely be a hard pull.

Other then that, sit back and allow your profile to grow a little. It takes some time, but you will be better off in the long run. All of this is my opinion only, and you are likely to get different view points on this.

[Anonymous]

You are projecting that the closed accounts will fall off your reports 10 years from the DOLA.  Just for clarity, the correct date to use is not the DOLA but the Date Closed.  And of course, as you likely know, it is possible for accounts to fall off before that ten year mark (e.g. 9 years) though I think it is reasonable to assume they will fall off at ten years (or possibly a month earlier).

You have created two unnecessary constraints for yourself, i.e....

(a)  To have an AAoA of 7.0 before you buy a house

(b)  To have more open accounts than you do now when you buy a house

A huge number of people buy a house at best rates with an AAoA of a little over 4.0.  Some may get best rates with an even lower AAoA, like 2.1.

And as far as number of accounts, you currently have four open cards (three major cards and one store card) which will be open when you buy the house.  Your SSLs will be closed, but closed accounts also have value.  You will also likely have an open auto loan at that time.  That's four open cards, one open loan, and two closed loans.  That's plenty of accounts for any mortgage lender.

That said, I can see why you might want to have 1-2 more cards.  (It won't help you with your auto or home loan, but I can imagine just feeling like you want 1-2 more.)  In that case I would recommend dropping the constraint of needing to have an AAoA > 7.0 at the time of home purchase.  I'd wait until all of your current accounts and inquiries are > 13 months old.  Then pull your three FICO 8 scores and use soft-pull tools to check pre-approval for the cards you are considering.

[Kforce]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You are projecting that the closed accounts will fall off your reports 10 years from the DOLA.  Just for clarity, the correct date to use is not the DOLA but the Date Closed.  And of course, as you likely know, it is possible for accounts to fall off before that ten year mark (e.g. 9 years) though I think it is reasonable to assume they will fall off at ten years (or possibly a month earlier).

You have created two unnecessary constraints for yourself, i.e....

(a)  To have an AAoA of 7.0 before you buy a house

(b)  To have more open accounts than you do now when you buy a house

A huge number of people buy a house at best rates with an AAoA of a little over 4.0.  Some may get best rates with an even lower AAoA, like 2.1.

And as far as number of accounts, you currently have four open cards (three major cards and one store card) which will be open when you buy the house.  Your SSLs will be closed, but closed accounts also have value.  You will also likely have an open auto loan at that time.  That's four open cards, one open loan, and two closed loans.  That's plenty of accounts for any mortgage lender.

That said, I can see why you might want to have 1-2 more cards.  (It won't help you with your auto or home loan, but I can imagine just feeling like you want 1-2 more.)  In that case I would recommend dropping the constraint of needing to have an AAoA > 7.0 at the time of home purchase.  I'd wait until all of your current accounts and inquiries are > 13 months old.  Then pull your three FICO 8 scores and use soft-pull tools to check pre-approval for the cards you are considering.

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+ 1

I purchased my first house with 2 credit cards, a car loan, and about 4 years of history.

( Got an excellent interest rate also)

No need for new cards at this time.

If you want new cards for better rewards, etc, I would wait at least a year maybe two.

You will be able to get better starting limits and better cards the longer you wait.

This far out you have plenty of time.

[Late2theGame]

Thanks CreditGuyinDixie,
I am not sure exactly what traits I will need to get the best rates in a home loan, but I figure a thicker file, good payment history, and length of experience will be key things an UW will look for. My specific goals of 7 yrs AAoA andnumber of accounts are admittedly arbitrary, but goals I set to help get those best rates. It is good to hear they may not be as crucial.
Your right I know accounts can fall off before 10 years, so I suppose worst case scenario was a poor choice of words, but it is a safe assumption. DoLA may also have been a poor use of terms on my part, though the DoLA in this case is the same, as the day I paid it I also closed it.

Thanks for the advice, 13+ Mo old, it seems soooo long away lol. Still, at least it's not a recommendation to wait for the entire cluster of Inquiries to fall off in the full 24.

[Late2theGame]

Thanks RonM21,

I do need to look into who does HP and so for CLI for my account. Currently I am honestly not sure, though should be easy to find out.

Thanks for the advice on the 6 months+

I figured this might not be a question that has a definitive one size fits all answer, but eager to hear what the community has to say on it. Find a high range, a low range and evaluate other input they give me to make the best decision I can.

[Late2theGame]

Thanks Kforce,

Getting the best possible rates is a necessity for me, not just because I don't like throwing money away (though inbound sight I have done plenty of that), but also because I don't make a whole lot and you can't buy a home around here for under 350k unless it's falling apart or even a 900sqft condo for under 200k.

It's promising to hear I may not need to shoot for the goals I thought I would. Though I do want to have a good well rounded credit file and a high score for the sake of having one ( and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing).

Add: One of the worst things I did that I felt hurt me a lot was close my accounts and decide to go cash only after the 30 andc60 day lates. It did teach me a lot about fiscal responsibility, but I had also resided to give up on my goal of owning a home st the time. It also cost me a lot of time and money and the teaching of fiscal responsibility came through the cost of foolish mistakes.

[Kforce]

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@Late2theGame wrote:
Thanks Kforce,

Getting the best possible rates is a necessity for me, not just because I don't like throwing money away (though inbound sight I have done plenty of that), but also because I don't make a whole lot and you can't buy a home around here for under 350k unless it's falling apart or even a 900sqft condo for under 200k.
What rate you get is determined by a lot of factors with # of credit cards not near the top.
Income, time with current employer, income to dept ratio, percent of down payment, etc are all considered.
750+ credit scores with 3 CC's and a loan will get you top tier.
675-749 credit scores with 2 CC's and a  loan will get you second level

It's promising to hear I may not need to shoot for the goals I thought I would. Though I do want to have a good well rounded credit file and a high score for the sake of having one ( and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing).
It is not a bad thing, but saving up more for a larger down payment , not changing jobs, and not lowering AAoA might be better than getting more cards. If you get a couple of cards, get them 1.5 --2 years from now and no more cards.

Add: One of the worst things I did that I felt hurt me a lot was close my accounts and decide to go cash only after the 30 andc60 day lates. It did teach me a lot about fiscal responsibility, but I had also resided to give up on my goal of owning a home st the time. It also cost me a lot of time and money and the teaching of fiscal responsibility came through the cost of foolish mistakes.

Yes, keeping the card's alive would have been better, but you did learn to live within your budget by cash spend. Many if not all will spend less with cash than using CC's. The rewards are off set by overspending. (My Opinion). I try but often fail, I would spend less if I had no CC's but it is a necessary evil. Yes "Fico" is evil!

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