More CCs now or later

[ficus]

I'm shooting towards having 3-4 CCs max and then just let them ripen to old age till the very end. The fewer the better, but not too few seems to be the ideal as far as how many revolving accounts one should have to have an optimal effect on the FICOs. I understand how hard-inqs hurt your scores in their own small ways. I have 2-3 inq on my reports right now. I don't plan to get any auto, personal, business nor mortgage loans until 2009-2010. So the important thing is that right now my scores aren't as useful to me as they will be 2+ years from now. My first CC is over a decade old. Any card I get now is going to have a huge gap between the first one. I can't do anything about that. However, would it be a good idea to get all the additional cards I'll ever need within the next few months instead of over the next 2 years, so they'd already have good established 2year+ histories by 2010? I keep thinking that having them all spaced out in time would be worse than having most of them closer in age. This may very well fall under the category of "time is money." Any suggestions?

Ficus
Seattle, WA

Message Edited by ficus on 09-18-2007 11:43 AM

[fused]

So you have just one CC? What's the CL/balance on it? I see your scores, which ones is EQ, EX and TU?

[ficus]

Well, I actually have 2: Chase CC $9K CL and 1ST Premier CC $200 CL.
It was a mistake to have gotten the Premier card 3 month ago, so I'll be dumping it soon. It doesn't contribute to my score in any significant way, and is pretty much a drag. I want to eventually get up to having 3-4 CCs with CCCs that specialize in high-CL cards.

My FICOs: EQ 701, TU 730, EX 671. However, when I took a snapshot of these scores this Saturday, my util was very high, and by next month I'm bringing it down to 1-10% level (and will be keeping it down). This should increase my scores in the next few months for sure.

So, the only outstanding issue is to one way or another increase the number of high-CL revolving accounts even if they must start out with low-CL at first. The Premier card would otherwise always be a drag, for they don't specialize in cards of over $1K CL, they said. AND it's costing me money.

[Anonymous]

those scoes and fp card. man you are correct you can do MUCH better. if i were you i'd hit amex.

[fused]

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ficus wrote:
Well, I actually have 2: Chase CC $9K CL and 1ST Premier CC $200 CL.
It was a mistake to have gotten the Premier card 3 month ago, so I'll be dumping it soon. It doesn't contribute to my score in any significant way, and is pretty much a drag. I want to eventually get up to having 3-4 CCs with CCCs that specialize in high-CL cards.

My FICOs: EQ 701, TU 730, EX 671. However, when I took a snapshot of these scores this Saturday, my util was very high, and by next month I'm bringing it down to 1-10% level (and will be keeping it down). This should increase my scores in the next few months for sure.

So, the only outstanding issue is to one way or another increase the number of high-CL revolving accounts even if they must start out with low-CL at first. The Premier card would otherwise always be a drag, for they don't specialize in cards of over $1K CL, they said. AND it's costing me money.

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Your EQ and TU scores are very good and your EX isn't bad either. Adding new cards might drop your scores some but this might be ok as your not looking at any new purchases for 2-3 years. IMO, I would wait until your util of 1-10% reports especially on EX. What is the balance reporting on this Chase CC.

[ficus]

I work for a credit card processing services company and someone at work did suggest that I try to apply for Amex a few weeks ago. My plan is to, by October, dump the FP card, bring down the util on my first card, wait a month or so (or however long necessary) for all this to hit affect the scores, and...... Well, that's where I am still unsure as to what to do, which is why I started this thread in the first place. I really don't need any more cards to buy things, but I need a total of 3-4 revolving accounts. Once I have them I won't apply for more CCs ever. So my question is should I go for 2-3 cards within a short period of time so that they'd come into existence sooner rather than later? I'm not afraid of hard inqs, as long as I get major CCs. I have also seen some people complain about Amex on various issues. Thanks to everyone for answering.

[ficus]

Exactly what I was thinking of doing. The Chase CC was reported with about 60% of util when I took down the scores, but that's because I had just gone on a cruise. It will all be paid down to 1-10% by October. So, you're recommending getting the cards now then. In 2 years they'll have high CLs and payment history.

I have already applied for another Chase CC, and 2 weeks later it's still pending, but Chase says that I would've heard from them by now if they had denied me. So, I'm pretty sure I'm getting it, especially since it's with Chase that I have a long-standing record of excellent payment history. Even if they give me an low initial CL, it's fine. It'll go up nicely in time. I debated between asking for an increase on the original CC and getting a second card. Either approach would've left me with a hard inq anyway. But with a second card, I get a second revolving account. Actually, speaking of getting an initial low CL on the second CC. I have another thread on the board where I ask how people get a CLI on Activation. If it's doable, I want to take advantage.

[fused]

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ficus wrote:
Exactly what I was thinking of doing. The Chase CC was reported with about 60% of util when I took down the scores, but that's because I had just gone on a cruise. It will all be paid down to 1-10% by October. So, you're recommending getting the cards now then. In 2 years they'll have high CLs and payment history.

I have already applied for another Chase CC, and 2 weeks later it's still pending, but Chase says that I would've heard from them by now if they had denied me. So, I'm pretty sure I'm getting it, especially since it's with Chase that I have a long-standing record of excellent payment history. Even if they give me an low initial CL, it's fine. It'll go up nicely in time. I debated between asking for an increase on the original CC and getting a second card. Either approach would've left me with a hard inq anyway. But with a second card, I get a second revolving account. Actually, speaking of getting an initial low CL on the second CC. I have another thread on the board where I ask how people get a CLI on Activation. If it's doable, I want to take advantage.

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I think you will see a nice bump in your scores once the util reports between 1-9%. At that point and as long as nothing bad suddenly reports you should be able to get approved for a number of prime CCs. I would apply for two new CCs at about the same time. If approved, you will have three CCs and that is more than sufficient to establish a credit card history. Your scores alone should give you many options with Amex, BoA, CITI and etc. What's more important to you, more available credit or rewards (cash back, miles, gas, savings, etc.)? 

[ficus]

OK, so it's decided. Thanks for all your suggestions.

Speaking of bad things... I have a lien that, when I pull my FICOs here, shows up on the EX report only. It also shows up on EQ report when I pulled it from Experian.com. The lien has been paid off already, but I'm yet to file for a release with the court, so these current FICOs are WITH the lien listed as still unpaid. Once the lien status changes, EX score should be affected by that too. I don't have any other negatives on my record whatsoever.

I'm very new to this whole frenzie of taking care of my credit scores, and getting CC accounts is about establishing a more involved CC history in general. But now that you bring up these "rewards" cards, I am ashamed to say that though I understand how miles and gas rewards work in general I don't know how cash back or savings rewards work. I don't fly, nor do I drive long distances, so those are of no importance to me. However, where can I find more info on other types of rewards cards. Since I'll have some time before I apply for more cards, I want to be able to research and make more informed decisions.

All these companies offering so many different cards, but I've never given it any thought, thinking that a CC is just a CC to borrow from. Any info or links would be appreciated.