-----BACKGROUND Age= 26 Married HHI= $180K Credit scores unknown, but should be high Big 30yr fixed 6.5% mortgage with an IO option $0 Balance HELOC (up to $68K) ~$13K left on a car loan (joint with wife)
-----CURRENT CARDS Credit Limit | Balance | Age
BOA Penn State Alumni Card $22,700 | $0 | 08/2001
Citi Dividend Mastercard $16,300 | ~$2,000 | 04/2005
Chase Amazon Visa $7,000 | $0 | 08/2006
JC Penney Card $1,000 | $0 | 05/2003
TOTAL $47,000 | ~$2,000
-----NEW APPLICATIONS ON 1/25/07
BOA NEA Wolrdpoints Platinum Plus Visa 0% for 12 billing cycles, 2% BT fee, max $30DEFERRED APPROVED $8,000
Citi Driver's Edge Platinum Select Mastercard 0% for 12 months from transfer, 3% BT fee, max $75DEFERRED APPROVED $3,200
Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select 0% for 12 months from transfer, 3% BT fee, waived with offer????
Chase Platinum Mastercard 0% for 12 billing cycles, 3% BT fee, max $75INSTANT APPROVED $17,000AMEX Clear 0% for 12 months on purchasesINSTANT APPROVED $16,300
Discover More 0% until Feb 2009, 3% BT fee, max $75DEFERRED APPROVED $15,000
Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra 0% on purchases until Oct 2008INSTANT APPROVED $30,000
PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards 5% gas, 1.25% otherINSTANT APPROVED $20,000
Advanta Platinum Business Card 0% for 15 months, 3% BT fee, max $90DEFERRED APPROVED $10,000
----POST AOR PLANS
My mortgage is probably "upside down" right now- meaning that I'm not sure that I could refinance it and still be at 80% or less LTV based on a new appraisal. Therefore, paying down principal on the loan seems to make sense to me, because of the relatively high interest rate. Best case, paying my mortgage down to a <80%LTV point or even eventually to below Jumbo limits may open better refinancing opportunities. At worst, interest rates will go back up by then, but I will still owe less on the mortgage and have a smaller minimum interest payment.
I have about $2,000 per month in my budget that I can use for this principal paydown. I plan to take some 0% BT money from the AOR, make an upfront principle reduction (probably about $25K-$30K) on the mortgage, and deposit the $2,000/mo into a HYS instead to build up payoff funds. Any 0% money beyond that will be parked in a HYS as well. I will use my HELOC as a repayment backup plan and to facilitate BTs if necessary.
-----Final Accounts and BTs:
Personal:
Card Limit | Balance | Utilization
BOA Penn State Alumni Card $2,300 | $0 | 0%
Citi Dividend Mastercard $16,300 | $1,200 | 7% (normal usage)
Chase Amazon Visa $7,000 | $25 | <1% (normal usage)
JC Penney Card $1,000 | $0 | 0%
BOA NEA Wolrdpoints Visa $37,000 | $31,000 | 84% BT via phone to checking acct
Citi Driver's Edge $3,200 | $0 | 0%
Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select ???? | ???? | ????
Chase Platinum Mastercard $17,000 | $15,000 | 88% BT check to checking acct
AMEX Clear $16,300 | $0 | 0%
Discover More $15,000 | $13,000 | 87% BT via phone to HELOC
Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra $30,000 | $0 | 0%
PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards $20,000 | $30 | <1% (normal usage)
TOTAL $165,100 | $60,255 | 36%
Biz:
Advanta Platinum Business Card $10,000 | $8,000 | 80% BT via phone to checking acct
TOTAL $10,000 | $8,000 | 80%
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You can apply for it (No Hassle Miles Ultra, "with limits up to $30k") on their web site (looks like even with the 0% deal...) or through the CapOne Cardlab; it is the only CapOne card advertised with a $30k limit cap. (Most others disclose limit cap of $20k or less) The stinker is that it's got a $39 annual fee.
And... it's not exactly like you can expect to just call CapOne and expect them to convert the card to a no annual fee version later. (Thank you, notoriously awesome CapOne customer service.)
jakeru said:That's a very attractive CapOne card. Rare 30k limit, not to mention a BT deal to boot. Was there an annual fee? Was it through a pre-approved offer?
The Capital One card was based on a pre-approved mailing invitation that I got. There was no annual fee on the card I got.
CRAP1 with refund the AF if you ask, 30,000 is amazing.
Why do you think you got an instant approval for Penfed? Do you have an account with them? I thought penfed always wanted to see documented income?
I would move the 3,200 to another city and close it. It's not worth dragging down your average age. Hell juny gave me a 2,000 limit, I told them to cancel it.
win333 said:CRAP1 with refund the AF if you ask, 30,000 is amazing.
Why do you think you got an instant approval for Penfed? Do you have an account with them? I thought penfed always wanted to see documented income?
I would move the 3,200 to another city and close it. It's not worth dragging down your average age. Hell juny gave me a 2,000 limit, I told them to cancel it.
I have had an account at PenFed for a few years, but only about $10 in the share savings account. I suppose I could have gotten a bigger CL on the PenFed card, but I actually wanted to get it for regular use to replace my current Citi dividend card. It's strange how PenFed asks you what you want your CL to be.
I should be able to move some of my $16.3K line from my Citi Dividend to the Citi Driver's Edge, correct?
xjagox said:I should be able to move some of my $16.3K line from my Citi Dividend to the Citi Driver's Edge, correct?
According to this thread Citi is no longer reallocating/consolidating CLs to cards that currently have a 0% no/low fee offer on them. This certainly did not stop me from trying, but I still had no luck in trying to reallocate from my Citi Aadvantage card to my Citi Driver's Edge or Citi Professional. I didn't push any further than the generic CSR I reached though...
jakeru said:You can apply for it (No Hassle Miles Ultra, "with limits up to $30k") on their web site (looks like even with the 0% deal...) or through the CapOne Cardlab; it is the only CapOne card advertised with a $30k limit cap. (Most others disclose limit cap of $20k or less) The stinker is that it's got a $39 annual fee.
And... it's not exactly like you can expect to just call CapOne and expect them to convert the card to a no annual fee version later. (Thank you, notoriously awesome CapOne customer service.) EDIT After double checking the Terms+Conditions... It appears the Capital One card I got is not quite so hot. Balance Transfers during the intro period actually get a "special APR" of 8.5%. The 0% only applies to purchases. It looks like that won't be a 0% BT card for me. Oh well, the $30K CL is a nice padding.
Capone might be really convenient and give you a "purchase" check that would apply to those terms. That would be cool.
No business cards?
Paying down the mortgage would be like investing in a taxable 6.5% money market... not bad. However, bear in mind that if you pay a lot on the mortgage you may very well need to come up with funds at the end of the term, so don't overdo it. Also, what's the APR on the HELOC?
Love said:Is there anything one needs to do to get approval on deferred card? Thanks !! Love, I found you here too ! No, typically one just has to wait for the decision to be made. Rarely, if you feel that a particular thing (like a missed/wrong number on the application) has played into the deferral it may make sense to give the issuer a call ...
Hey sorry.. looks like I accidently posted in 2 different thread. Thanks for help.
cyberkost said:Love said:Is there anything one needs to do to get approval on deferred card? Thanks !! Love, I found you here too ! No, typically one just has to wait for the decision to be made. Rarely, if you feel that a particular thing (like a missed/wrong number on the application) has played into the deferral it may make sense to give the issuer a call ...
I called M&T bank after my decline and asked if they could reconsider, thats it she didn't ask anything else. A few weeks later a got a card for 5,000.
I'm getting to the BT stage now that most of my cards have arrived and accounts have been set up.
It looks like I have 3 cards to BT with right now: $12,000 CL - BOA NEA Visa, 0% for 12 months, $30 fee $17,000 CL - Chase Platinum Mastercard, 0% for 12 months, $75 max fee $15,000 CL - Discover More, 0% til Feb 2009, $75 max fee
Chase Card came with a BT check. I requested BT checks from Discover when I called to activate, and I requested checks from BOA online.
I'll plan depositing the BT checks to my checking acct and then transferring them out to mortgage/HYS accounts: $10,680 from BOA $15,130 from Chase $13,350 from Discover
$39,160 total
That should put me at 89% utilization on those cards and about 25% overall. Any issues with that plan?
Hopefully I'll get some extra BT ability from the Advanta card to add to that.
xjagox said: $10,680 from BOA $15,130 from Chase $13,350 from Discover
$39,160 total
That should put me at 89% utilization on those cards and about 25% overall. Any issues with that plan?
Hopefully I'll get some extra BT ability from the Advanta card to add to that.
I would be nervous about being at 89% on three different lines right now. If I were you, I would pay the BOA down to <70% after the first month and maybe the Discover, too. I have had good success (no AA, mid-700 credit scores) keeping one line at +/- 89% and having two or three others below 70 percent (and then my montly spenders at 3-5% on average) with overall utilization below 30 %.
I take about 98% of the credit line and then make a nice payment just to look like a big spender Don't know if it really helps but your paying the fee anyway, so it doesn't hurt nothing. Also I wait until 1st statement date unless I can BT soon after approval.
Don't you want to reallocate much of your BOA Penn State Alumni Card CL to your BOA NEA VISA and then ask the CSR to BT to checking account (even in some other bank)? I mean, perhaps times have changed, but in the not so distant past reallocation (by calling CSR) was a breeze.
cyberkost said:Don't you want to reallocate much of your BOA Penn State Alumni Card CL to your BOA NEA VISA and then ask the CSR to BT to checking (of course, only if you have old enough checking acct. with BOA)? I mean, perhaps times have changed, but in the not so distant pass reallocation (by calling CSR) was a breeze.
Why old enough checking? I don't have a checking with BofA, never had a problem. I was thinking the same question about CLRing some of those lines.
I'll assume it's a newb mistake to not CLR.
Let me correct that a little, BofA business has been a problem for me to CLR.
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! No, typically one just has to wait for the decision to be made. Rarely, if you feel that a particular thing (like a missed/wrong number on the application) has played into the deferral it may make sense to give the issuer a call ...
Don't know if it really helps but your paying the fee anyway, so it doesn't hurt nothing. Also I wait until 1st statement date unless I can BT soon after approval.