Score with CL increase

[Mn_Vikes]

Greetings,  in my trial mode and have found it iteresting to learn abuot the FICO system.

I started the trial since i wasn't sure what my score was and i had a BK 12 years ago and am looking to upgrade house this spring.  I was happy to see my score at 781.  The only two things on my system showing balances is my mortgage and my one CC. 

The only area of concern on the report was my UTIL since i only have the one card CL of 6,000 which showed a balance of 2,106. so just over 35% UTIL.  I typically pay this off in full monthly.

Here is what i was thinking about doing.  calling my CU and having them increase my CL to 14,000.  I talked to them, said i would qualify but would have to do a hard inq since it's been over 2 years since my last transaction with them. 

To the question:   What kind of score change am i looking at a small hit with an inquiry but also better utilization? 

I have paid the CC off for this month and want to see what that does to the score.  Then I want to check either TU or EX too see if they have me in that same range.  

Again,  thanks for your input and it's been fun/interesting reading different peoples situation.

[Anonymous]

A hard inquiry really plays a small role in the over all health of your credit. If you aren't out shopping around, or haven't had a ton of inquiries over the year, you should be fine with this one.

If this is the only one that you will have, and it guarantees that your line will increase by a large amount, you should not see much of a/ANY negative impact.

Your scores should go up. The line increase may not be necessary if you are waiting for the $0 balance to report. The scores will more than likely go up just from that.

Obviously, in your situation, the bureaus will probably find something else to "ding" the score negatively. As you fix one of the primary negative factors, usually a new one shows up.

Hope this info helps.

[Anonymous]

A single INQ on your CR will not hurt a bit-

After a few INQ's 10-15 points - each

The gain is well worth it-

[Mn_Vikes]

Thanks for the input.

Followup ?

I see no reason to have two CC's with a sum CL of $14,000 vs one CC with the same CL.  Am I wrong here?   My CU CC is no annual fee, 9.9%, Grace period, Points and my CU has been awesome since my BK with getting me Credit Card, Car loans, HELOC's etc. 

[sh9730]

Really what it sounds like you need to do is make payments BEFORE your statement cuts each month.  This is a common problem for people that pay in full every month.  What REPORTS to the bureaus is whatever your balance is that day.  So for people that use the card alot but pay every month it looks like they have high utils all the time.  If you pay some or all of your bill BEFORE your statement date it will show much lower.  BUT you have to remember then to make a second payment AFTER the statement date or you will get a late!!!!  So basically you have to make payments twice a month....a pain, but keeps your utils down if you use cards alot.

[Anonymous]

I say don't have ALL of your eggs in one basket-

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Mn_Vikes wrote:

Thanks for the input.

Followup ?

I see no reason to have two CC's with a sum CL of $14,000 vs one CC with the same CL.  Am I wrong here?   My CU CC is no annual fee, 9.9%, Grace period, Points and my CU has been awesome since my BK with getting me Credit Card, Car loans, HELOC's etc. 

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[Anonymous]

Must be nice paying off 2100+ monthly. Are you hiring?

[Mn_Vikes]

Well,  that was a bit on the high side due to Xmas which is why i didn't pay it all off in advance.  Think that is bad,   I saw one posting where a guy claimed to have high UTIL on $200,000 CL that he paid off monthly.  Now THAT is alot of buying    

UTIL is also why i'm thinking of upping my CL even though it is rarely an issue.  Sucks that i need to have more available credit that i should not be using to show i'm more credit worthy,  seems a bit backwards to me. 

We are all different,  other than my BK due to a divorce, i've always taken good care of my bills and live within my means with a decent income.  I just never worried about credit score but since i'm planning on a new house this summer, wanted to make sure my financials were in order.

[Anonymous]

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Timothy wrote:

I say don't have ALL of your eggs in one basket-

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I couldn't agree more with this statement.  A primary advantage to having multiple CCs from different issuers is that if one of them decides to get antsy for whatever reason, you always have others to fall back on.

I don't know (or don't remember) who you said is the issuer of your one CC, but there are a couple of issuers I would never keep as the only cards in my wallet without backup.

Amex (FRs), Juniper (closures/CLDs), and Chase (RJs) come to mind.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Mn_Vikes wrote:

We are all different, other than my BK due to a divorce, i've always taken good care of my bills and live within my means with a decent income. I just never worried about credit score but since i'm planning on a new house this summer, wanted to make sure my financials were in order.

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I agree with the others about diversifying your credit a bit, but as you are getting ready to apply for a mortgage, I would just stick with what you have for now. The general advice is no new apps within 6 months of a mortgage app.

So as PP said, fine-tune your scores by playing the util game, paying down or off your balance online 4-5 days before the statement is due to pop up. Be sure not to use the card once you've done that until the statement drops. Then you can start up again. If you do this, you don't have to worry about getting a CLI. It just means paying the same amount that you always do, but sooner in the month.

Once the mortgage is safely tucked away, it would be a good idea to get a second card from a different issuer anyway, even if it mostly lives in your sock drawer. MidnightVoice uses one of his for a regular monthly charitable donation, so you could set it up the same way if you like --church offering, Save the Children, your local animal shelter, or whatever. I love my CU cards, but if I were you, I would look at getting one from one of the big national banks. For no-drama cards, Citi comes to mind.