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@Anonymous wrote:
So I am trying to get my ducks in a row to purchase a house. I recently got a discover secured card at the end of last month. I checked my Fico on my discover app after getting my card and was made aware that I have no FICO and won’t have one for 6 months. Is there anything else besides keeping my utilization below 30% and making my payments on time that I should be doing in the mean time? Besides the one secured card is there any other lines of credit I can take out with no Fico to help add some extra open accounts to my report? I am planning on applying for a FHA loan and was hoping to be ready to do so in 8-10 months.
Hi and welcome to the forums
I'd grab a couple more secured cards, let them age together. When you're ready to start the mortgage process, you'll want only one card reporting a balance under 9%.
Additional cards are not necessary but because you're planning on buying a home, it might be for the best if you are able to snag a couple more.
Another thing, in most cases, recommendation is to not apply for anything in a year preceding mortgage application, and you did not specify when exactly you're looking to start.
8-10 months is relatively soon as a target time to be going for a mortgage if you're still "building" your profile by adding accounts now. I would proceed with caution.
@Anonymous wrote:
So I am trying to get my ducks in a row to purchase a house. I recently got a discover secured card at the end of last month. I checked my Fico on my discover app after getting my card and was made aware that I have no FICO and won’t have one for 6 months. Is there anything else besides keeping my utilization below 30% and making my payments on time that I should be doing in the mean time? Besides the one secured card is there any other lines of credit I can take out with no Fico to help add some extra open accounts to my report? I am planning on applying for a FHA loan and was hoping to be ready to do so in 8-10 months.
It's better for you to make no new applications at this time, until after the house closing. If you want, you could add some money to the secured card deposit account, so you can increase the credit limit.
@Anonymous wrote:
What exactly should I be cautious of? I don’t know a lot about mortgages. What do you consider a reasonable amount of time before applying for a FHA?
The typical recommendation around these parts is to not apply for credit in the 12 months leading up to a mortgage application. Not only will this help your scores, but it's a much better look upon a manual review as well.