Precision's New Beginnings

[precision]

History:
 
In 2007 I was living a great life.  I had just gotten an awesome promotion at a Fortune 10 company and had been enjoying a six figure salary for a while.  I had my dream job.  Bills were no big deal.  I had the type of bank account where the tellers flirt with you when you come into the bank.  Then I lost my job when the economy tanked.  I can't blame them.  They were paying me an extraordinary amount of money and I might have worked half the year. Maybe. lol.  I was screwed.  I wiped out my savings trying to keep up.  Eventually everything fell into delinquency.  Repo, Eviction, CO, SL default, you name it.​  I ended up losing my fiancé and I found out that there were certain people that I thought were friends that were not friends.
 
I fell off of the grid and started living basically with no identity.  I had nothing in my name save for my cellphone bill.  I moved across the country a couple of times for jobs but usually ended up living with girlfriends of the time or crashing in spare rooms of family and friends.  I was essentially homeless and did spend some time sleeping in my first car (thank god I kept it).
 
Where I am at now:
 
I am currently living with a girlfriend.  But that is becoming untenable and I decided that it is time for me to get my life back and my stuff together to have my own place and my own things.  For the past few years I have been paying other people and helping their credit situation and not my own.  It is time to get my situation proper.
 
CRA Status:
 
All three credit reports are clean with no derogs at all.  Their is a Discover card that was closed in postive standing in 2015 on all three.  I was and AU and asked to be removed from the card.  I now know that was a mistake.
 
Employment status:
 
I am currently self employed and have 1099 income from a well known tech company.  It is steady and I can live off of it.  I am not sure how credit card companies deal with self employment.
 
Short Term Goals:
 
I am literally starting over.  It feels silly to be this age and just wanting the basics.   I am trying to formulate a plan to improve my score as soon as possible in order to qualify for an apartment and a low interest car loan.  As soon as possible is 3-6 months.  When came out of college in 1998 the world was my oyster.  Now I just want a bologna sandwich.
 
Long Term Goals:
 
Residential house ownership,  Investment property ownership,  0% apr car loan,  5/6 digit available credit.

[precision]

I have literally been reading these boards with all of my free time the past few weeks trying to see what I need to do in order to improve my situation as soon as possible.

I realize that since I essentially have no credit or a one page thin file that I am starting  over.

Based on what I have read I need to get three revolving credit lines and one installment loan line and work those for the next year.  My plan for that is as follows:

BOA secured card:

I have had a BOA checking and savings since 1996.  I can't even remember having a NSF.  But maybe I had one.  Does that play into my favor?   I am not sure which product to apply for.  Do I apply for the unsecured and hope for the 99/500 promotion or just put 500 on an secured app?  From my reading they pull from EX and I have nothing reporting positive or negative on EX.  What should my next move be here?

Discover secured card:

Since I have a favorable recent credit history with them I figured I should give it a shot?  Thoughts?

NFCU:

Should I do the American Consumer Council membership and get a NFCU secured card?

Installment Loan:

I kept a small bank in my back pocket to use with my Paypal accounts and eBay. I used to sell a lot on eBay.  I still have the checking account it is about 11 years old at this point.  It requires no minimum balance and has no fees so I just kept it.  After doing some research on installment loans I just happened upon this product:

https://www.bestbank.com/personal-banking/loans-credit/credit-builder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1eeUNTBEJE

1.       The first step is finding a nearby branch and stopping in for a consult. You tell us your goals, and we’ll help you start reaching them.
2.       After approval, we review your credit score together and lend you $1,000 in a secured CD. No money down. No crazy fees. Just straight up opportunity.
3.       All you have to do is make monthly, on-time payments, and Credit Builder reports your success to the credit bureaus. We’ll also meet regularly to review your score.
4.       At the end of the term, if you’ve made all your payments, you get to keep the $1,000. (And the higher credit score.) No strings attached.

Any thoughts on this program?

So this is my short term plan to get on the board.  Anyone have any insight or suggestions?  Should I even try for unsecured cards at this point?

[Anonymous]

First off I would like to say welcome. Secondly your story is one that I relate to and I would like to say good for you for making it through it and for not giving up. I cannot give you any advice on your questions because I am too new at this but I can say that you are in the right place for the information and guidance that you seek. Good luck and again welcome.

[precision]

Thank you for the welcome and the support.

We are all just trying to navigate this complex system as best we can.  I hope we all become great navigators.

[precision]

While doing my daily reading here I came across this thread:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Discover-it-secured-and-BofA-secured-both-den...

It is spooking me for both BOA and Discover.  I realize that both of these people had a BK, but still. 

Can anyone point me in the direction of what qualifies for a secured card with BOA and Discover?

[Anonymous]

I was denied for the discover secured card and I have no bankruptcy or judgments on my credit reports but I do have a student loan in default and 6 collections and at the time but no active positive credit history. It's a relative to the individual at the time. There is a credit pulls data base just Google it if you're really concerned. The worst thing that can happen is that you apply and get denied and if that happens so be it you'll survive. Go for the capital one secured instead and build up your credit a bit more. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say it's all relative to the individual and their credit file at the time. No two situations are the same. Two people can have the same scores and the same incomes and apply for the same card, one can get approved and the other can get denied because their files are completely different. So sometime the advice here cannot be one size fits all be it can come close. I made some horrible grammatical errors in the last post I wish I could edit it. That's why I added this one.

[Anonymous]

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@precision wrote:

I have literally been reading these boards with all of my free time the past few weeks trying to see what I need to do in order to improve my situation as soon as possible.

I realize that since I essentially have no credit or a one page thin file that I am starting  over.

Based on what I have read I need to get three revolving credit lines and one installment loan line and work those for the next year.  My plan for that is as follows:

BOA secured card:

I have had a BOA checking and savings since 1996.  I can't even remember having a NSF.  But maybe I had one.  Does that play into my favor?   I am not sure which product to apply for.  Do I apply for the unsecured and hope for the 99/500 promotion or just put 500 on an secured app?  From my reading they pull from EX and I have nothing reporting positive or negative on EX.  What should my next move be here?

Discover secured card:

Since I have a favorable recent credit history with them I figured I should give it a shot?  Thoughts?

NFCU:

Should I do the American Consumer Council membership and get a NFCU secured card?

Installment Loan:

I kept a small bank in my back pocket to use with my Paypal accounts and eBay. I used to sell a lot on eBay.  I still have the checking account it is about 11 years old at this point.  It requires no minimum balance and has no fees so I just kept it.  After doing some research on installment loans I just happened upon this product:

https://www.bestbank.com/personal-banking/loans-credit/credit-builder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1eeUNTBEJE

1.       The first step is finding a nearby branch and stopping in for a consult. You tell us your goals, and we’ll help you start reaching them.
2.       After approval, we review your credit score together and lend you $1,000 in a secured CD. No money down. No crazy fees. Just straight up opportunity.
3.       All you have to do is make monthly, on-time payments, and Credit Builder reports your success to the credit bureaus. We’ll also meet regularly to review your score.
4.       At the end of the term, if you’ve made all your payments, you get to keep the $1,000. (And the higher credit score.) No strings attached.

Any thoughts on this program?

So this is my short term plan to get on the board.  Anyone have any insight or suggestions?  Should I even try for unsecured cards at this point?

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ACC membership does not qualify you for NFCU (god, I wish), but it does qualify you for SDFCU - which I would suggest doing. I would do a secured loan and card throught SDFCU first, then once those show up on your reports, apply for an unsecured Capital One card, then go from there.

[Anonymous]

Norman does the SDFCU card graduate?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Norman does the SDFCU card graduate?

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No, it does not. But has no fees and ultra low rate, like 7% - plus rewards.