Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

[WolfChild1]

Hi All,

Not sure this is in the correct section but here goes - Many questions if anyone has time to answer one or all it would be most appreciated:

Background Info:

So I added three new cards after browsing around here a couple weekends ago...dawned on me I needed to add few more cards because I only had two low CL cards at 500 each.  New cards are Barclay Business aviator with 5,000 CL, Delta AMEX Gold with a 1000 CL and a Credit One with a 500 CL.  Current scores are EQ 671, TU 695 and EX 632, which reflects an 80-88% utilization and i've just PIF and going to wait for reporting.  I am planning on leasing a car at the end of the month and would like to have the best interest rate possible so hoping for a bump in scores.

Question 1:

Going from 88% to zero UTI do you know approximately how much my FICOs might increase?

Question 2:

Should I PIF the new cards before they hit my CR or wait until the statement comes?  

Question 3:  When the new accounts report will they report with the current balance?

Question 4: Should I use my new Business CC to pay my car downpayment/fees and PIF immediately ?  Is this a normal thing to do or would Barclays even allow such a large charge on a new account - (will be about 3500-4000 down for a lease)?

Question 5:  I got the Credit One card, it was a pre-approval from the mail at 1500 CL if I recall, however they only issued a CL for 500.  Should I recon call?  I hear on this forum its a lame card.  **Intereresting factoid is they sent me a letter indicating my EXPERIAN score is 715, which isn't true.  So I am not sure where they are gathering their info.

Question 6:

Should I continue to APP ?  If so who else should I try?  I don't have any store cards, but had a great history with Nordstrom 10 years ago but closed the account during my divorce.

Thank you so much for this forum.  Its helped me tremendously with improving on financial descisions.  

[AppHappyTog]

My vote is no... especially if you are looking into leasing a vehicle soon. Generally you want to stay away from app'ing for new lines of credit 6 months before a large purchase. You keep going, you may do more harm than good if all these accounts report before you go to apply for financing. You've already got the inquiries so I would just give it a rest- you have more than enough accounts to help improve yours scores if you garden for a bit.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely PIF the smaller lines before the statement cuts. It would be easy to get high utilization on those.

[Anonymous]

No, I would not suggest continuing to app.

[WolfChild1]

Oh shoot. Will the three new CLs negatively impact score when they report? Also when they report do they do so with the current real time balance or do I have until the next statement? I was thinking they would improve scores but sounds like it may take 6 mos. appreciate your time!

[WolfChild1]

I PIF two of the existing CL, but haven’t received the statement in the new ones. Should I pay the new ones down prior to receiving statement?

Thank you!

[WolfChild1]

Ok that’s what I was thinking too. Would you suggest my chances are better if I apply now for the car lease or wait til months end OR wait six months? My current car will be paid off in 14 mos.
Super appreciate your input!

[Anonymous]

If I understand your situation right, you have a total of five cards now.  Is that right?

The best thing for your score is:

      * No new applications for credit

      * Pay all cards to zero except one, with the remaining card at a small positive balance.

Is that doable?  If so, do that, use some free tools to pull your credit reports every week, and when all your cards are reporting the way you want, you can pull your three FICO 8 scores at Credit Check Total for a buck, to see where your scores are.

Assuming they get to where you want, then go for your car lease then.

[WolfChild1]

Yes that is correct.  Five cards now.  I am a myfico member so I get one report per month and alerts for scores anytime there is activity!

Two have 0 Balance.  New:  Amex has statement bal of 185 and full balance of 536 (CL of 1000).  Barclay card bal: $879 (CL of 5000). 

Credit One: Bal: 39 (CL of 500).  

Would anyone recommend paying the two new ones off prior to them hitting my CR?

Thanks again,

[Anonymous]

Does the Credit One account have an annual fee?  If so, you may as well close it down now, as you'd still have 4 revolvers remaining.  You're going to want to close it eventually anyway, so it may be in your best interest to address that sooner rather than later.

If you're looking to maximize your scores, you want only 1 card to have a balance reported... so yes, you'd want to pay those 2 cards down to $0 before they report since you already have one with a reported balance.