@Anonymous wrote:
Just completing an app spree with about a dozen new CC's approved over the last two weeks.
I have three questions:
1) Approximately how far will my scores drop once all these new accounts hit my reports ???
2) Approximately how long until I see my scores start to turn around and climb up ???
3) Approximately how long until my scores improve to their current numbers and actually climb higher ???
My EX is 790, TU & EQ around 720. My file is OLD (1990 oldest / 11 year's AAOA), but not alot of open account's (5). Do you think if I garden for 12 month's with all these new card's, keeping 0's reporting on all but 1 card each month and - 5% UTI, I'll be above my current scores or does it take 2+ year's now that I've lowered my AAOA ??? I'm hoping I didn't just ruin my 790 EX score for years to come. Thank you !!!
Hard to say but you cut your AAOA to 3 years; not abysmal but it's not 11.
If you wanted the cards in the spree (for whatever reason, I don't judge) then the short-term ramifications of it really don't matter. Yes your score will go down, if you have a mortgage in under a year then I would suggest the spree wasn't so smart; however, if you're not applying for anything then it doesn't matter. At all.
I wouldn't stress over it, a credit report is useless if it's not used, which is why I will likely never get to an 850. I may have trouble remaining over 800 in the future, if I'm not leveraging it for personal finances, will be taking inquiries for some business purpose or another by that point I expect.
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking at a mortgage probably in the 12 - 18 month range. Will I be OK after 1 year in the garden with all these new accounts ??? By adding these new accounts, in the long term, say 2 - 4 year's, does this help me or hurt my scores ??? In other words, I've given up AAOA, but added a huge increase in avail credit plus a few years of perfect payments and - 5% UTI. Does this get me higher scores in the long-term or would I have been better off with the very few accounts, and very low CL's I had ???
I truly felt I needed to significantly add credit lines as I hadn't used ANY credit the last 7+ year's. Therefore, while my AAOA may have been old, I never used these accounts, many were closed, and the rest had very low CL's. So my logic was: apply for a bunch of new accounts, take the hit/INQ's, but hope after 2 year's of gardening mostly, my FICO score's should be higher than current and if I apply for credit, I won't be offered 1K - 2K CL's. Yea or nay ??? Thank you!!!
If those were all closed cards, then I can see opening up a bunch of accounts - not certain 12 were needed right now but if you got quality approvals /shrug.
The wall you were facing was at the 3ish year mark, where those old accounts would fall off completely and you'd be left with virtually nothing. That would suck, hard, so establishing some amount of tradelines ASAP was absolutely the right thing to do as you ideally want a few years history established before that happens.
Limits are pretty irrelevant as balances can be managed to one's FICO score's benefit - if you've been living for 7 years sans CC's in a cash-based existence, you should be fine on that count. If it's limits you were worried about, it's about quality first, then quantity... namely picking up something like an Amex revolver with a consumer-friendly CLI policy while in the current easy credit market, getting that kicked up with a pair of CLI's over the first year, then opening the higher limit accounts elsewhere. Had I been planning your credit plan I would've probably gotten 2-3 cards now to cover spending categories and CLI chase, and worked my way up past mortgage, then got as many as I needed post closing but I'm admittedly more conservative than many on this forum. Plus a small secured installment loan or two in addition to the cards.
Why was your TU/EQ so much lower than your EX assuming you pulled from here? With the way FICO 8 works, you'll probably be fine on EX and higher on EQ/TU would be my guess in 2 years. Mortgage trifecta possibly too, though I'd likely apply before those old accounts fall off entirely.
I would highly encourage you to utterly sit on your hands and refrain from further applications until you get your mortgage sorted.
@Anonymous wrote:
Revelation, thank you very much for your post. I appreciate it. I think I'll start spending alot more time over here, and less time on "Credit Cards, Applications, and Approvals". I lost my business in 2007 and filed CH7. Afterwards, instead of trying to rebuild my credit, I avoided it altogether. I wanted nothing to do with it, learning to pay cash and prepaid for EVERYTHING. This Jan, my wife, knowing we would be looking for a mortgage in about 2 year's, advised me to order my CR's. I did, and expected the worst. While my scores were all mid 500's, I had very few derogs left, namely my CH 7, and 2 judgements. That's where my TU & EQ score came in. While they had my public records, EX did not. I opened 2 secured CC's in Feb (2K Wells Fargo & 1k US Bank) and stupid Credit One. By May, my scores were across 700, with EX flying up to 790. I've got - 1% UTI, with a 20K BOA card and 20 years of on time payments listed as an AU. So I choose to open account's with Chase Slate 5500, Cap One 5K, Wells Fargo Propel Amex 2500, SDFCU 2K, AMEX PRG, AMEX Delta PLAT, AMEX BCP, and lastly USAA Secured Amex 1K. USAA had already done a HP, got declined and offered secured. I figured I might as well get something for the HP. I also took out a 1 year secured 3K personal loan with Wells Fargo to have an installment loan listed on my CR's. So I will have these 9 new account's hitting my CR's next month. I won't carry any balances, accept for 1 card each month at - 5% UTI. By the time I look for a mortgage it'll be mid 2017 and my CH 7, 2 judgements, will be gone and I should have 2 year's with all these new accounts and 0 INQ's, as I'm gardening. Hoping by mid 2017 to be back above 750 across the BD.
Go and give your wife a hug 
Smart lady.
As mentioned earlier damage in short term, meh. Mid 750 on FICO 8 no problem, mortgage trifecta not as sure on, that's a big tradeoff and if those acocunts were IIB I'm guessing they were all closed at the time of the CH 7 and will be coming off at the same time? Actually, you mentioned 7 years previously you'd been w/o credit, CH 7 is a 10 year penalty, when did you file?
I can't fault what you did in terms of spreeing for a bunch of accounts several of which pulled EX pretty much exclusively; end of the day you have to roll with what's on your credit report (unless you manage to get it off, I'm likewise stuck with a tax lien till 11/2017) and I qualified at 720+ for a mortgage and my AAOA is 2 years so that's not an unreasonable target at as a minimum probably even with the BK on there. Clean sheet, you'll probably be where you'll be happy on a mortgage pull in 2017.
Anyway your plan forward is spot on, stick with that, you'll be OK.
Mine is still raising from the exact same spree. However my average age was only two years and will drop to 6 months. Usage is hitting all cards at 6-10% and pay down over 6 months to show recent usage. I was not expecting what I saw this morning at all. Rose to 737! Completely threw me and my stupid spreadsheet out the door.
However, I will admit I was at a high 53% usage before and not sure if all the affect of on that sole event. Only had one card before last month and paid in full plus a little each month to begin balance lower plus recent usage.
@Revelate wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Revelation, thank you very much for your post. I appreciate it. I think I'll start spending alot more time over here, and less time on "Credit Cards, Applications, and Approvals". I lost my business in 2007 and filed CH7. Afterwards, instead of trying to rebuild my credit, I avoided it altogether. I wanted nothing to do with it, learning to pay cash and prepaid for EVERYTHING. This Jan, my wife, knowing we would be looking for a mortgage in about 2 year's, advised me to order my CR's. I did, and expected the worst. While my scores were all mid 500's, I had very few derogs left, namely my CH 7, and 2 judgements. That's where my TU & EQ score came in. While they had my public records, EX did not. I opened 2 secured CC's in Feb (2K Wells Fargo & 1k US Bank) and stupid Credit One. By May, my scores were across 700, with EX flying up to 790. I've got - 1% UTI, with a 20K BOA card and 20 years of on time payments listed as an AU. So I choose to open account's with Chase Slate 5500, Cap One 5K, Wells Fargo Propel Amex 2500, SDFCU 2K, AMEX PRG, AMEX Delta PLAT, AMEX BCP, and lastly USAA Secured Amex 1K. USAA had already done a HP, got declined and offered secured. I figured I might as well get something for the HP. I also took out a 1 year secured 3K personal loan with Wells Fargo to have an installment loan listed on my CR's. So I will have these 9 new account's hitting my CR's next month. I won't carry any balances, accept for 1 card each month at - 5% UTI. By the time I look for a mortgage it'll be mid 2017 and my CH 7, 2 judgements, will be gone and I should have 2 year's with all these new accounts and 0 INQ's, as I'm gardening. Hoping by mid 2017 to be back above 750 across the BD.Go and give your wife a hug
As mentioned earlier damage in short term, meh. Mid 750 on FICO 8 no problem, mortgage trifecta not as sure on, that's a big tradeoff and if those acocunts were IIB I'm guessing they were all closed at the time of the CH 7 and will be coming off at the same time? Actually, you mentioned 7 years previously you'd been w/o credit, CH 7 is a 10 year penalty, when did you file?
I can't fault what you did in terms of spreeing for a bunch of accounts several of which pulled EX pretty much exclusively; end of the day you have to roll with what's on your credit report (unless you manage to get it off, I'm likewise stuck with a tax lien till 11/2017) and I qualified at 720+ for a mortgage and my AAOA is 2 years so that's not an unreasonable target at as a minimum probably even with the BK on there. Clean sheet, you'll probably be where you'll be happy on a mortgage pull in 2017.
Anyway your plan forward is spot on, stick with that, you'll be OK.
Revelate, my wife is a loan officer and specializes in the mortgage end primarily. She obviously knew, correctly, and pushed me---hard. Basically to the point where we were talking divorce. This forced me to order my CR's and make a serious change 6 month's ago. I've thanked her a million times and our relationship has grown so much stronger because of this. My personal self esteem has grown significantly since Jan. Prior to that, since I filed in early 2007, I felt I would never be credit worthy. For 8+ year's now, I've lived on cash and prepaid, never applying once for any credit. My CH 7 is planned to be deleted in 7/2017, that'll be 10 year's from my closing, and once removed, I'll go mortgage shopping. Not sure if they'll early delete by up to 6 months, but I'll start trying in Jan 2017. In the meantime, I'll garden and nurture all the new account's I've just recently received. Maybe one of the good things to come out of my non-use of credit for so long is, that I'm so in tune to every dollar I spend, and I'm in the habit of not buying anything I cannot pay for. Luckily I've got a great job that pays well and allows me most of the things I want, and definitely all the essential's I need. Thank you for your very informative posts, both with regard to my situation, and in the many other's I'm now reading here in this section of MYFICO.