@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes I do have an opinion. Your proposed plan would not hurt your scores because you would have old enough cards that you would stay in the same scorecard.
Closing a card does not affect your AoYR and it doesn’t affect your AAoA immediately. An account can stay on your record for 10 years or more and therefore continue to contribute to your AAOA for 10 years or more.
The error in your plan is waiting now. When you open those cards years from now, they will negatively affect your AAOA. If you open them now you take the hit now and every year will add a year to your AAOA. So when the future comes, you will have a strong AAOA and a strong buffer for your AAOA.
Plus there is no advantage to having at AOYR over 12 months. At 12 months you get points, under 12 months you lose points, because you’re placed in a riskier scorecard because you have new credit. The point is get these things out-of-the-way now, then let your profile sit all these years, so that everything can age. If you wait till later to do it you will destroy your AAOA then that you waited so long to build.
It is an average, would you rather have an opening date close to now to be averaged in or 10 years from now? The answer is obvious, the older the account, the better it helps your average age, so you want to get the cards now not later when they will hurt you worse.
It’s simple math, if you wait years to get these cards, they will hurt your average age much worse, can you not see that? With all due respect, I’m trying to help you.
Just to clarify, 5 of those credit cards are already open. So I'd only be opening the WF Propel Amex card after I apply & get approved for the mortgage 3-5 years from now. The overall plan was to get the highest FICO Scores possible by postponing any inquiries & accounts until I apply for a mortgage. Then after I get approved for the mortgage, I'd immediately apply for the WF Propel Amex card. Then after about 8 years, to close the Elan Fin. Visa Sig card + the Amazon Store Card to simplify my life.
Do you still see any error after this clarification?
Also, you mention to keep 5 open credit cards if possible "so you can reach the lowest threshold" to get a mortgage. Is 5 open credit cards the minimum to get the lowest threshold? In my scenario, I'd have 5 credit cards at the time of applying for the mortgage and I do not see myself getting another mortgage later on, but if 5 is an actual minimum needed, I might have to make a change to my plan (although, I might just add myself as an AU to my wife's Amazon Chase Visa Sig card which would give me the 5 cards needed).
@Anonymous If you already have 5 cards open you are good! If you want the WF and your scores are good enough, get it now because it will be better on your average age to get it now than later, although I must admit one card down the line is not gonna kill you because you've got a nice buffer. You're probably talking a 3 to 5 point difference if you didn't get it now versus getting it now, if that.
As long as you keep perfect payment history you're gonna be golden no matter what, you're going to be way higher than you need to be, anyway. So my advice is if you want it and you qualify go ahead and get it now. then you can start your no new account or inquiry phase and garden which for best results needs to be at least 24 months.
no now that you've clarified, I don't see an error, but I still advise you to get it now due to the minimal impact and the benefit it will give you later on. Rather than negatively affect your average age then, it will positively affect it by being so many years old.
Yes despite the common wisdom of 3 cards being enough to reach the maximum scores, it's simply not true, respectfully. as a matter of fact I started a thread looking for anyone with top scores with three cards and I haven't found one person yet who can claim top scores with 3 cards. Best we got was 835. Unknown mortgage.
There's a 20% threshold on EX2 and you're not gonna hit it without five cards. Yes you could do it as an AU.
For proof of the threshold, I'll try to go find the link to the thread that shows conclusively there is a threshold under 25%. My records are too much of a mess to pull together to try to show you.
Excellent advise from @Anonymous Since your mortgage application is a ways out, if credit seeking, get your new accounts now and deal with new account penalty now. Then, let your accounts age by the time you are ready to apply for mortgage, your profile will have matured.
As mentioned, minimum 3 revolvers is required. However, if one is trying to optimize and squeeze out every last available point doing AZEO, you may be penalized having only 3 revolvers at ~33% of accounts reporting a balance on EX2 versus 20%. The older scoring models appear to be very sensitive to that.
Since you have high FICO8 scores that might not be a concern (not sure on your EX2, TU4, EQ5 scores). If your wife was to be on the mortgage application, it could be meaningful to cross that threshold to get better rates e.g. 720 vs 740 vs 760, etc. MMS.
@jamie123 wrote:If you are married and try and get a mortgage by yourself you might have a tough time. Some States have marital rights laws that would make getting a mortgage without your wife immpossible because she would have rights to the house but didn't sign the mortgage.
Yeah, I wouldn't get the mortgage by myself. I was just curious how it deals with 2 different FICO Scores when applying for a mortgage together, particularly if one is much lower than the other. In the end, I just need to let everything age and request CLI's over time. I guess we call this 'gardening' for the next 3-5 years until we're ready to move onto our next phase in life. 
@AllZero wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes I do have an opinion. Your proposed plan would not hurt your scores because you would have old enough cards that you would stay in the same scorecard.
Closing a card does not affect your AoYR and it doesn’t affect your AAoA immediately. An account can stay on your record for 10 years or more and therefore continue to contribute to your AAOA for 10 years or more.
The error in your plan is waiting now. When you open those cards years from now, they will negatively affect your AAOA. If you open them now you take the hit now and every year will add a year to your AAOA. So when the future comes, you will have a strong AAOA and a strong buffer for your AAOA.
Plus there is no advantage to having at AOYR over 12 months. At 12 months you get points, under 12 months you lose points, because you’re placed in a riskier scorecard because you have new credit. The point is get these things out-of-the-way now, then let your profile sit all these years, so that everything can age. If you wait till later to do it you will destroy your AAOA then that you waited so long to build.
It is an average, would you rather have an opening date close to now to be averaged in or 10 years from now? The answer is obvious, the older the account, the better it helps your average age, so you want to get the cards now not later when they will hurt you worse.
It’s simple math, if you wait years to get these cards, they will hurt your average age much worse, can you not see that? With all due respect, I’m trying to help you.
Just to clarify, 5 of those credit cards are already open. So I'd only be opening the WF Propel Amex card after I apply & get approved for the mortgage 3-5 years from now. The overall plan was to get the highest FICO Scores possible by postponing any inquiries & accounts until I apply for a mortgage. Then after I get approved for the mortgage, I'd immediately apply for the WF Propel Amex card. Then after about 8 years, to close the Elan Fin. Visa Sig card + the Amazon Store Card to simplify my life.
Do you still see any error after this clarification?
Also, you mention to keep 5 open credit cards if possible "so you can reach the lowest threshold" to get a mortgage. Is 5 open credit cards the minimum to get the lowest threshold? In my scenario, I'd have 5 credit cards at the time of applying for the mortgage and I do not see myself getting another mortgage later on, but if 5 is an actual minimum needed, I might have to make a change to my plan (although, I might just add myself as an AU to my wife's Amazon Chase Visa Sig card which would give me the 5 cards needed).
@Anonymous If you already have 5 cards open you are good! If you want the WF and your scores are good enough, get it now because it will be better on your average age to get it now than later, although I must admit one card down the line is not gonna kill you because you've got a nice buffer. You're probably talking a 3 to 5 point difference if you didn't get it now versus getting it now, if that.
As long as you keep perfect payment history you're gonna be golden no matter what, you're going to be way higher than you need to be, anyway. So my advice is if you want it and you qualify go ahead and get it now. then you can start your no new account or inquiry phase and garden which for best results needs to be at least 24 months.
no now that you've clarified, I don't see an error, but I still advise you to get it now due to the minimal impact and the benefit it will give you later on. Rather than negatively affect your average age then, it will positively affect it by being so many years old.
Yes despite the common wisdom of 3 cards being enough to reach the maximum scores, it's simply not true, respectfully. as a matter of fact I started a thread looking for anyone with top scores with three cards and I haven't found one person yet who can claim top scores with 3 cards. Best we got was 835. Unknown mortgage.
There's a 20% threshold on EX2 and you're not gonna hit it without five cards. Yes you could do it as an AU.
For proof of the threshold, I'll try to go find the link to the thread that shows conclusively there is a threshold under 25%. My records are too much of a mess to pull together to try to show you.
Excellent advise from @Anonymous Since your mortgage application is a ways out, if credit seeking, get your new accounts now and deal with new account penalty now. Then, let your accounts age by the time you are ready to apply for mortgage, your profile will have matured.
As mentioned, minimum 3 revolvers is required. However, if one is trying to optimize and squeeze out every last available point doing AZEO, you may be penalized having only 3 revolvers at ~33% of accounts reporting a balance on EX2 versus 20%. The older scoring models appear to be very sensitive to that.
Since you have high FICO8 scores that might not be a concern (not sure on your EX2, TU4, EQ5 scores). If your wife was to be on the mortgage application, it could be meaningful to cross that threshold to get better rates e.g. 720 vs 740 vs 760, etc. MMS.
Yeah, everyone is giving excellent advice for specific cases. Thank you. 
The way I see things now after thinking it over (and I'll probably have to review everyones input again at a later time to make sure I didn't overlook anything), I want to maximize my FICO Score particularly for the moment my wife and I applies for a mortgage since that is when the FICO Score will benefit us the most. Maximizing for the long run I think is better suited for young adults with plenty of time on their hands and not looking to purchase a home anytime soon. For me, once I buy the 'dream house', having a super high FICO Score benefits me less as time goes on since I'm not looking to take out any other large loans. And the more I think about it, I may just very well keep the Elan Fin. Visa Sig Joint Account since it has the $13,000 Credit Limit (our current highest) and it's our oldest open credit card. And I'll just close the Amazon Store Card since it is just a Store Card and is not needed due to my wife having that Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Sig card that gives us the 5% towards Amazon purchases.
What's good about listening to others' advice and opinions is that it really makes me think and question my logic, and I truly appreciate everyone's advice so far! The fact that you're making me rethink closing a legacy credit card is quite an achievement since I didn't think anyone could do that.
If you just sit on your hands for 10 months you have more like an EX FICO 8 of 830ish and that is without other changes.
3-5 years to a mortgage is an eternity.
If you are looking to get better credit cards and you certainly can from your list regardless of spend (other than that Chase Amazon Prime card which is really good) just go do it now.
Gold plated score wise, you want AAOA of 5 years and AOYRA of 2 years when you go for a mortgage in your case. Which really means you could add several cards and pull the SSL trick and be set. Hell you might even set a record in a year for lowest AAOA at an 850 ever recorded, I got to 827 with a mortgage and auto loan nowhere close to optimal, can't help but think I could have gotten higher if I didn't have those installment utilization issues (and a CFA, that drags down my scores a bit too).
End of the day having a high score matters: it wasn't running credit checks with no shame, it was running mortgage applications with no cares about where my balances were or the fact that I even had a 60D late on TU: my scores were just that solid.
You have about a year to improve your rewards structure, and regardless what anyone says do the SSL trick and pay it down to like $5 it does help at least one of the mortgage scores on my data which was gold standard level.
Sitting on your hands for 3-5 years is missing a credit market opportunity that may be gone by the time you close a mortgage.
@Anonymous wrote:@Birdman7 Listing your questions & answers below:
Are any of your accounts AUs? No, I'm not an Authorized User on any of my accounts.
If so what are the balances across your AUs? n/a
But, do you have a balance on any AU account? n/a
I was thinking one day in the far future that I might become an AU on my wife's Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card by Chase. What are the implications and drawbacks for that? Also, if I did become an AU on her card one day, would the age of the account be the actual age of the account, or from when I became the AU?
Thanks for the insight, it's good to know that 1 year is the milestone for youngest revolver. (Although I have 2 in my case that are both young and at about the same age). Yeah, I need to apply for the SSL this week since that will be our only loan (I will try to make it a joint savings account and see if we can both benefit from the SSL). And then I'll just let everything age until we're ready to do the mortgage. Any tips on how to find the best rates when applying for a mortgage? Which banks or mortgage brokers do you recommend when trying to find the best rate? Thank you! As for the AZEO method, I tend to do that by accident rather than on purpose. What happens if I had all zeroes for a month and I did AZEO the month before, do I take the hit right away the moment I am All Zeroes?
There's no reason to get an SSL; it usually does nothing or next to nothing for one's mortgage scores.
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:Don't get an SSL, it will hurt not help your mortgage scores.
So if I get a SSL this week, and in 3-5 years I apply for a mortgage, I actually potentially hurt myself more than helped? I hope others can also weigh in on this because a lower mortgage rate and higher chances of approval means more to me than a 800+ FICO Score 8 in this instance.
It won't help you AT ALL. It will just have lowered your average age of accounts.
@Anonymous wrote:
Sigh.. it keeps removing my posts, and I think it's because I like to edit it afterwards whenever I see a grammar error.. So, note to self, stop editing my posts after I post it! Anyways..
Thank you @Birdman7, @SouthJamaica, and everyone else for their input. I did some additional research and some soul searching and I think I came up with a long term plan... I'll dub it My Life Plan.
My current plan is...
- From Now to 3-5 years: Go Inquiry & Account Free (which should increase my AAoA and AoYR) + AZEO method thus increasing my FICO Scores in the process.
Good
- After applying for the Mortgage: Apply for the Wells Fargo Propel American Express Card since I would love a $0 AF Travel Card that also has 3% for Dining and Gas.
Wait until after you close on the mortgage
- Once my AoYR reaches 7 years 8 months (just to be safe), I will close one of my oldest Credit Cards and another CC that no longer benefits me since I have other CC's that offer better rewards.
No problem
Personally, I'd rather only maintain my favorite CC's rather than hold onto legacy CC's that I don't find value in which would free up the time spent monitoring these cards, charging onto them monthly (which wastes money since other cards may have higher rewards), and paying them off immediately (one less website I have to keep an eye on for fraudulent charges or balance posting). As long as my FICO Credit Scores don't take a hit, that's all that matters to me. Keep it simple and maximize benefits while doing no harm to your FICO Score.