First of all 'A BIG THANK YOU' to all the FW Community. I have learnt many life lessons on this forum for the last couple of months which I have not learnt in my dual Masters in Chemical and Computer Science.
And a special appreciation for 'SUCKISSTAPLES' and 'DAVE HANSON' for there 'PRICE LESS' threads which helped to increase my knowledge about finance in a great way.
Current Credit Cards 1.AMEX BLUE $2000 December 2000 2.AMEX COSTCO $10000 August 2006 3.BANK OF AMERICA PLATINUM $12500 February 2003 4.BANK OF AMERICA ( GOLD OPTION LINE OF CREDIT) $40,000 December 2005 - Current Balance $33000 5.BANK OF AMERICA (MBNA USTA PLATINUM PLUS) $400 April 2001 6.CHASE CONTINENTAL $9500 April 2003 7.CHASE $10500 December 2005 8.CHASE Amazon$4500 MAY 2006 9.CITI BANK DIVIDEND PLATINUM SELECT $5000 JULY 2000 10.CITI BANK (Philips CONOCO) $500 NOVEMBER 2000 11.DISCOVER GOLD $10000 Febuary 2003 - Current Balance $7000 12.DISCOVER PLATINUM $10100 December 2000 - Current Balance $7000
TOTAL CURRENT CREDIT LINE:$115,000 TOTAL BALANCE :$47,000
SIS(Finance Genius) and other Experts,
I want to Apply a Mega App O Rama and since I would be able to do another APP-O-RAMA for a long time.I am targetting for atleast $200,000 in new credit with 0% APR offers. I have the following question
1. Do I need to apply for 1 or 2 business cards and then move balance on 4. BOFA ($33000) and 11.DISCOVER ($7000) and 12. DISCOVER ($7000) to the business card and then apply a Mega App-O-Rama
2. Or do I need to goahead and plan for the App-O-Rama without bothering about the balances? I am just worried about 82.5 % utilization on the Bofa(MBNA LOC) and 70% utilization on 2 discover cards.
3. I can pay off at $5000 per month for the next 3 months. So is it better to wait for 3 months and bring the % utilization and then target the APP-O-RAMA in MAY 2006?
Your advice is very valuable to me. Please help me plan my App-O-Rama. Thanks in Advance for your valuable time.
Thank you. ~Bhupathi~ New Personal Credit Cards to Apply(Still researching):
New Business Credit Cards to Apply(Still researching): 1.American Express Platinum Business Credit Card - 12 Months, 0% APR 2.Amercan Express Blue - 12 Months, 0% APR 3.Discover Business Card - 12 Months, 0% APR
Questions I am researching on: 1. How many cards to Apply?. Personal and Business?. For this I am working on the Summary and Statistics of recent AOR's 2. Which Daily Credit Monitoring service to subsrcibe?. 3. At what time to HIT the APP-O-RAMA 4. Quantify the maximum BONUS from cardoffers,Introductory Offers?.. I need to read the http://suckisstaples.com blog and digest the information 5. Quantify the maximum amount on 0% APR BT.
2. Notes on Credit Score Drop: Fair Isaac has disclosed the following components and the approximate weighted contribution of each:
35%, punctuality of payment in the past (only includes payments later than 30 days past due) 30%, the amount of debt, expressed as the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits) 15%, length of credit history 10%, types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance) 10%, recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently
Important Threads to Check Out FAQ + discussion: GETTING, KEEPING high credit / FICO scores. Glossary, data points, utilization, etc. http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/634740/
So you want higher credit limits? Got questions about getting them? Then this thread's for you!! Updated 7/23/06 http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/636122/
Any other alternatives to Cardoffers.com? http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/718396/
Please post your specific suggestions for living frugally without hardship here UPDATED 8/1/03 http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/204681/
Credit Limit Increases: Strategies for CLI Without a Hard Pull http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/474865/
> $10,000 bank sign-up bonuses updated on 4/10/07 http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/341601/
Credit cards which allow you to move / shift / reallocate credit lines among various cards from that issuer http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/237296/
Credit cards that include "Primary" Rental Car Coverage http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/714928/
For anyone thinking of an MBA http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/719648/
Financial and Legal Record Storage Guidelines http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/709439/
Creative ideas on doing 0% BT with CCs that don't do transfer to checking... http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/522179/
A FWF estate planning thread... for those in the know and those who wish they were http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/697333/
Message edited by: Bhupathi on 2007-04-11 16:01:46 CDT
I'd say both numbers 1 and 3. Your utilzation is too high its depressing your FICO score. It will take a billing cycle or two for the lower utilzation to show on your credit report, you have a way to pull your report daily?
Lot is going to depend on your income. Your scores are not that good and your utilization is pretty high for pre-AoR. All my real FICO's were above 800 and I had zero utilization when I did mine. Still took some work on phone and sending in docs to get over $400k in new CL's
Regarding daily report: I have a subscription with EQUIFAX (but it updates once a month) and PRIVACY GUARD (it also updates the scores once a month)
Hi Scott, Thanks for your time.
I can pay of at $5000 per month. So out of $47K how much should I pay off to get the maximum benefit. At the same time I cannot wait to do App-O-Rama for more then 6 months. Please advise
I really want to get atleast $200 k in new credit. My income is $110k per yer
Bhupathi said: 1. Do I need to apply for 1 or 2 business cards and then move balance on 4. BOFA ($33000) and 11.DISCOVER ($7000) and 12. DISCOVER ($7000) to the business card and then apply a Mega App-O-Rama
2. Or do I need to goahead and plan for the App-O-Rama without bothering about the balances? I am just worried about 82.5 % utilization on the Bofa(MBNA LOC) and 70% utilization on 2 discover cards.
3. I can pay off at $5000 per month for the next 3 months. So is it better to wait for 3 months and bring the % utilization and then target the APP-O-RAMA in MAY 2006?
Any recommendations on which Business Card. I do not have a registered business but from SIS's business CC thread, it seems they do not ask any paper work/documents.
One more questions, will these ENQUIRIES effect my future AOR?
I got an Advanta Business Card (GREAT CARD - I'm using it now for the 0% apr for 15 months and will use it later for the great 5% Cash Back categories) even though I don't have a business. For the company name, I just put down the company I work for now (although I'm a low level employee).
Hard inquiries will affect a future AOR, but inquiries are bumped off by soft inquiries (requesting a daily credit report - you need to talk to someone else for more info on that though) or by waiting 2 years.
- Note : Business credit cards are SUPER NICE as they don't show up on a personal credit report (the inquiry does, just not the card), so you might as well max those babies out.
Thanks for your time and advice. I am also thinking in the similar way to apply probably 2 or 3 business cards and PARK these balances before the MEGA APP-O-RAMA.
Is the Advanta's decision instant?. How much limit did you get and what was your FICO score at that point.
I am still waiting for SIS's suggestions and proceed for applying the business card.
Yes, inquiries for a business card now may hurt a little in 3 months, but I'll bet it hurts less than high utilization. My recent AOR had very few rejections despite several inquiries less than 6 months old: 3 Equifax, 4 Experian, 1 TransUnion (plus older inquiries, for a total of: 9 Equifax, 12 Experian, 8 TransUnion).
With $5K/month you can easily pay both Discovers down to your choice of 0%, 34% or 49%. (I round down in case they round up when looking at their cutoff values.)
2-3 business cards could knock the $33K down most or all of the way.
Still, at least one recent AOR was successful despite having several (?) cards with a balance. I don't have the link but it shouldn't be too hard to find (especially since I'm sure you're studying the recent AORs for lists of cards!).
As for a MEGA AOR, perhaps it's worth summarizing recent AORs by # of applications, # accepted/rejected, and avg/total credit line. More than 30 are almost certain to yield diminishing returns, whether very low CL or outright rejection. (If you do the summary, starting FICO/FAKO and HH income would be useful too.)
Like everyone else, I agree that the current debt level (nearly 50% utilization) is lowering your scores, and is going to hurt your success. You should lower that some.
What's the story with the debt, how did you get it? If it was incurred by spending, then I'd like to preach for a moment: If it's difficult for you to pay down credit card balances, then you should not rapidly expand your available credit, it will get you in really bad trouble.
With that out of the way, I think lowering your reported debt is the way to go. Both pay it off AND get a few non-visible business lines to sponge it off on.
CardJuggler, I will work on summarizing the recent AOR's on Apps,Approvals/Denials and post it in the next couple of hours
Mark, the $47k is in Real Estate investment.I am getting good returns.I am very careful about payments. I have never missed a payment. I can payoff $5000 every month.
For the summary, I suggest including HHI (HouseHold Income) if available. That surely has a huge effect on the total credit lines granted. Plus the % utilization BEFORE -- which is related to your question.
And, if you want to go all out (and get lots of "green" for a great post!), include the total CL before and after the AOR.
Finally, 2 suggestions on formatting: EITHER: use "___" in between "columns" so that the data lines up under the title (at least approximately), e.g. Name __________ FICO _ FAKO __ Applied # ___ Approved # __ Approved % __ TimeFrame FIRST NATIONAL 709 _______ __ 54(P) 11(B) _ 21(P) 4(B) __ 39%(P) 36%(B) 14th NOV 2006
Note that I moved TimeFrame to the end since it may vary in width. (And, I didn't add the new fields.) Actually, the NAME should probably go to the end too; that's even more width variation -- e.g. the underscore is wider than many letters, so it doesn't line up exactly. FICO/FAKO too since some people include just 1 score but many include all 3.
OR: label every field on its own line, as in the CC Issuer FAQ.
There are total 27 scenarios. I will try to update this thread in couple of days with all in few days
FW AOR SUMMARY AND STATISTICS
Name: FIRST NATIONAL FICO and/or FAKO : 709 Applied # 54 (P) 11(B) Approved # 21 (P) 4(B) Approved % 39% (P) 36% (B) TimeFrame: 14th NOV 2006 HouseHold Income: $230K Reported Utilization Before: 32% Total CreditLimit Before: $128K New CreditLimit from AOR: $271,500 Total Credit limit after AOR: $399,500 Bonuses from AOR: $440 FICO and/or FAKO scored decreased: -30 points Expected Income from money invested from AOR:
Name: DARCO067 FICO and/or FAKO : TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756 (Identity Monitor- Citibank) Applied # 13 (P) Approved # 8 (P) Approved % 61.5% (P) TimeFrame: 24th DEC 2006 HouseHold Income: 75k Reported Utilization Before: 0 % FICO and/or FAKO scored decreased: ization Before: Total CreditLimit Before: $44.3 K + ($23K in CLI) New CreditLimit from AOR: $72.3 K Total Credit limit after AOR: $139.6 K Bonuses from AOR: $700 Expected Income from money invested from AOR: Expects $40 k in 0% so at 5% = $2000
Name: THYTIMO FICO and/or FAKO : Nov 11 &Dec 19,TransUnion 719---730,Experian --759---759,Equifax ---723---723 Applied # 8 (P) 5(B) Approved # 2 (P) 0(B) Approved % 25% (P) TimeFrame: 19th DEC 2006 HouseHold Income: $85K Reported Utilization Before: Total CreditLimit Before: $23,300 New CreditLimit from AOR: $24,100 Total Credit limit after AOR: $47,400 Bonuses from AOR: $565 FICO and/or FAKO scored decreased: -11 Points Expected Income from money invested from AOR:
Name: FWF NOOB FICO and/or FAKO : CS/PG: Experian: 761/764,Equifax: 761/765,TransUnion: 761/773 FICO 787 Applied # 17(P) 1(B) Approved # 11 (P) 1(B) Approved % 65% (P) 100%(B) TimeFrame: 22nd DEC 2006 HouseHold Income: Reported Utilization Before: 0% Total CreditLimit Before: $55,275 New CreditLimit from AOR: $59000 + some unknown Total Credit limit after AOR: $114275 Bonuses from AOR: Not Reported FICO and/or FAKO scored decreased: 22 Points Expected Income from money invested from AOR: $8,900 ACH * 5.00% = $445
Oh, and regarding your AOR, you might want to apply for a Citibusiness card. They offer lots of signup TY points, and it won't count towards your "cap" of two personal card apps.
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