Road to 800s..

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here. I cam across this community and decided to find our what you can recommend I should do. Here is my situation:

I opened my first CC ever in Sept 2016 - Cap1 Platinum Secured CC. Originally it was with $100 deposit and $251 CL. After 6 month (in March 2017) I got CLI for $300 and now it is $551. I use only 1-2% of it keeping my utilization really low. I also PIF every month.

I also have a car loan for $18,5k and paying it every month with autopay.

FAKO score is showing 683 TU with 6 inquiries (due to auto loan, I was set up for lease originally but then financial institution refused to approve lease and the dealership had to - without my consent though - send my loan to several other lenders and I got approved with Ally Financial). EQ or EX are not shown there.

FICO score is showing 710 EX and only 4 inquieries. Doesn't show EQ or TU though.

The ultimate goal is to be able to get mortgage with lowest rates, also to be able to lease good cars and to get and maintain score at 800s.

Want your advice on how to get to the goal fast and safe.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forum.  The first question is when do you plan for the mortgage?  And when do you plan for the Auto lease?  And how many cards do you have right now?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Welcome to the forum.  The first question is when do you plan for the mortgage?  And when do you plan for the Auto lease?  And how many cards do you have right now?

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Well, mortgage is no less than 3 years from now, more to 5 years I believe.

Auto loan - I want to refinance or (if that even possible) trade-in my current car and get a new one in November-December of 2017, so in 7-8 months.

Right now I have only one card - Cap1 Platinum Secured.

[Anonymous]

I would use this time to get a couple/few more cards.  You need at least 3 cards for optimal scoring.  Having an open loan also helps.  Then the trick is to let one card report a balance between 1-9% and the rest at zero.  Doing this with perfect payment history I believe it's been done that people have passed 800 in 2 years.  720 is all that is needed for best rates on auto lease, I'm not sure about the house but the rule there is no applications or new accounts within 12 months of house shopping.  I will let others here chime in on all of this.

[medicgrrl]

Looks like you are right on the cusp of the other two bureau's having scores.  I would wait just a bit longer until you have 3 scores before you apply for any new cards.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would use this time to get a couple/few more cards.  You need at least 3 cards for optimal scoring.  Having an open loan also helps.  Then the trick is to let one card report a balance between 1-9% and the rest at zero.  Doing this with perfect payment history I believe it's been done that people have passed 800 in 2 years.  720 is all that is needed for best rates on auto lease, I'm not sure about the house but the rule there is no applications or new accounts within 12 months of house shopping.  I will let others here chime in on all of this.

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Use time till Nov-Dec 2017 or till mortgage?

Need at least 3 cards - got it.  Which cards can you recommend in my situation?  Also, is it better to wait till pre-approved offers come or just go and apply?  I am a bit nervous because I already have 4 HP on my FICO report.

Thanks a lot for the info!

[Anonymous]

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@medicgrrl wrote:

Looks like you are right on the cusp of the other two bureau's having scores.  I would wait just a bit longer until you have 3 scores before you apply for any new cards.  

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Does Creditscorecard always shows only one bureau? It is wierd as both Creditscorecard and Ally Financial show Experian data (though 710 and 718 respectively, I think it is because Ally report was pulled several days after Creditscorecard).

Also, it is kind of strange that CreditKarma shows TU score but Creditscorecard doesn't.  Don't you think?

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of waiting another 10 days.  FICO bases its "age" calculation on the 1st of the month, and you need at least six months of credit history.  So it you were to wait until May 2 to pull your three FICO 8 scores, you might find that all three are appearing by then.

A good tool to use on May 2 would be Credit Check Total.  It will give you a 3B report with FICO 8 scores.  It only costs $1 for their trial offer.

Once you have true FICO 8 scores, you'll be better positioned to decide what cards you want.  You can also seek out pre-approvals yourself after then (that very day, if you like) that won't result in hard pulls.  The pre-approval won't I mean.  When you final choose one, there will be a hard inquiry then.

I like the advice to get two more cards in early May, assuming all three scores have materialized.  Make sure they are no annual fee major credit cards (not store cards).

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I like the idea of waiting another 10 days.  FICO bases its "age" calculation on the 1st of the month, and you need at least six months of credit history.  So it you were to wait until May 2 to pull your three FICO 8 scores, you might find that all three are appearing by then.

A good tool to use on May 2 would be Credit Check Total.  It will give you a 3B report with FICO 8 scores.  It only costs $1 for their trial offer.

Once you have true FICO 8 scores, you'll be better positioned to decide what cards you want.  You can also seek out pre-approvals yourself after then (that very day, if you like) that won't result in hard pulls.  The pre-approval won't I mean.  When you final choose one, there will be a hard inquiry then.

I like the advice to get two more cards in early May, assuming all three scores have materialized.  Make sure they are no annual fee major credit cards (not store cards).

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Sounds like a plan.  Will do as you recommended and will update here once I run the report on May 2nd.  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, wait until your scores hit.  Then whatever cards you want, get them asap.  Then they will age together and the longer you go without adding new accounts the faster your score will rise.   Don't worry about inquiries, they fall off after 2 years and only affect your score for 1 year.  I recommend Discover for sure since they are versatile, have excellent service, can grow large, and love thin files.  If you only planned on one more I would get in with a great credit union like Penfed or Navyfed.