no credit history = no good, how can i build it up??

[Anonymous]

I am 18 and have no credit history and have consistently been shot down for credit cards and personal loans.  I am just trying to build credit and don't even need the money.  I do have one credit card that I just got recently and have been on time with payments.  My fiance offered to cosign for a 2k personal loan but he just took out a 12k auto loan and we plan on buying a home before the end of the year.  Would this do more damage than good?  If so, what suggestions do you have for me?  Any suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Message Edited by Amor8089 on 05-21-2008 08:30 AM

[Anonymous]

Visit your local credit union.

[marty56]

Credit Unions are great.

I would also check out Sams/Walmart too.  Great starter card that could lead to other things down the road.  Building credit takes time and since you are just  starting out, just keep on reading here and you'll do great.

Always pay on time, never, ever late.  Never. Ever.

Dont go on "app sprees".  You can do a lot with 1 or 2 credit cards.

Master your Mastercard, dont let it master you.  Keep util low and if you need to buy big ticket ietems, look ate store cards that have fixed term payments.  No Interest for 2 or 3 years is great as long as you PIF before the term date.

[TheArcher]

You could always get a secured card and build that way too. A lot of people have had success with the Bank of America 99/500 card.

[Anonymous]

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Amor8089 wrote:

My fiance offered to cosign for a 2k personal loan but he just took out a 12k auto loan and we plan on buying a home before the end of the year.

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I vote against the personal loan.  I have a huge bias AGAINST cosigning.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to be a contrarian and devil's advocate, and say if you're young with at least decent credit, app sprees are a good thing. Here's my justification for this opinion:

Let's say you turn 18 this year. You get a couple starter cards. By 19, your credit score passes 700.

Let's say you apply for five credit cards and a car loan. Because you have a respectable FICO score, you'll be able to get credit cards from major banks that have expandability, not Orchard or First Premier cards. You manage them well. That's a total of eight accounts. You graduate from college at 25 (master's degree) and go to buy a home and another car. Right now, your average age of accounts is about 6.75 or so. Getting two more accounts won't alter it much, since the average already calculates eight existing accounts. You might drop to 5.5 or so--no big deal.

On the other hand, let's say you take a minimalist approach, and at 18 you just get one card. Maybe later sometime you get a car loan. When you're 25, you have an average age around 6. However, that average is a lot "lighter" because there are only two accounts factored in. Get two more, and you're whacked all the way down to 3. That's gonna hurt.

Now it's true that an app spree like I'm describing will probably cost around 50 FICO points...in the short run. But inquiries die a rather quick death...a year down the road, they'll be gone, but the accounts will remain.

[marty56]

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TheNewWorldMan wrote:
I'm going to be a contrarian and devil's advocate, and say if you're young with at least decent credit, app sprees are a good thing. Here's my justification for this opinion:

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As long is you can mange having that much available credit, I would say the TNWM plan makes sense.

[RobertEG]

NewWorld, as the grand contrarian, has raised a great point.

Plant your seeds in the early season, and harvest them later, for they will most assuredyly bloom in their fruition with a worth more than the planted seeds!