Hi,

I joined FW recently and did few deals in past few months (Staples crazy rebates was my first intro to FW, I did it twice with 2 addresses !!!), so thanks everyone for sharing the deals. I have been reading a lot of postings regarding AOR and getting very tempted to do it. I have few concerns and hopefully you pros can help me with it.

Personal Info:
HHI: 150K
Age: 32
Score: 760, 704, 764 (EQ, EX, TU) From Citi Identity Monitor
Have $5000 statement balance from previous month, but will pay in full before next cycle so that score will be better for AOR. All the balances are posting to EX and thats why the score is so low. But I did credit analysis and if I pay my balance then my score will go to 769.
First card was in 2001
No balance anywhere, Never did any BT, Always paid balances in full
No late payments ever
No car loan (fully paid in 2003)
No House, No Mortgage
Closed 5 cards in 2004
I am using Citi Identitymonitor for monitoring score, it is once a month, but okay.
Will use RoboForm
Planning to apply atleast 20 cards

Goals:
Do AOR on 08/10/2008
Get TYP, Starwood Points, & Money to earn interest
I am not doing AOR to get 0% for Purchase, only to do BT.

Last few months activity:
05/2008 AMEX Gold Business 25000 MRP
04/2008 BofA Checking BankAccount for KTC (they do hard pull for new customers)
03/2008 AT&T Wireless (got that refurbished iPhone, but unlocked and used it on T-Mobile)
02/2008 Citi AMEX Platinum 15000 TYP + 3 TYP/$
08/2007 T-Mobile (signed up a new contract)
02/2007 AMEX Gold Personal 10000 MRP
02/2007 Chase Freedom Credit Card

Current Cards:
Citi PP, 2002, CL:16000
Citi AMEX Platinum, 2008, CL:16000
Chase Freedom, 2007,CL:25000
AMEX Gold Personal, 2007, CL:Charge Card, but max charged once was 19000 in one cycle.
AMEX Gold Business, 2008, CL:Card/Account Doesn't show up in Credit Report. I think bcoz it is a business account

My questions:
1.> I am not seriously looking, but keeping my eyes open to purchase a house, but may be by next year. Will doing AOR now cause major issue in getting a mortgage next year ? What will happen if I pay off my balances before taking mortgage. Will it be okay ?
2.> Market seems very volatile because of Credit Situation, is this is a good time to do AOR.
3.> Doesn't have any business registration, but planning to register a company. Will use its name for Business Cards. Is this okay. Any suggestions on this or should I just use my name and my SSN as I did for AMEX Gold Business ?
4.> I read a lot about A/A from Citi. My first credit card (PremierPass) since 2001 is with Citi and I am very happy with it including the Citi Platinum. So Should I be careful and not apply too many cards from Citi. I read that they only approve 3 personal per person. I am not sure about limit on business cards.
5.> I am looking for places to put the money, so please suggest banks with good standing and good interest rate
6.> I read that using CardSelection can give you additional bonus money. Will it invalidate any offers ?

Please let me know your comments, feedback & suggestions.

I am preparing a list of all potential cards that I want to apply and will put a list very soon.

Thanks in Advance

1.> I am not seriously looking, but keeping my eyes open to purchase a house, but may be by next year. Will doing AOR now cause major issue in getting a mortgage next year ? What will happen if I pay off my balances before taking mortgage. Will it be okay ?

Yes if you still have high utilization. If you pay everything off you should still be 740+ the following month.

2.> Market seems very volatile because of Credit Situation, is this is a good time to do AOR.

Always a good time, it's free money! You can also wait till after you get your mortgage and possibly interest rates go up.

3.> Doesn't have any business registration, but planning to register a company. Will use its name for Business Cards. Is this okay. Any suggestions on this or should I just use my name and my SSN as I did for AMEX Gold Business ?

No point in getting a company name unless you actually need one. Just do Sole Prop / personal SSN.

4.> I read a lot about A/A from Citi. My first credit card (PremierPass) since 2001 is with Citi and I am very happy with it including the Citi Platinum. So Should I be careful and not apply too many cards from Citi. I read that they only approve 3 personal per person. I am not sure about limit on business cards.

I usually do 2 personal and 2 business and get all approved.

5.> I am looking for places to put the money, so please suggest banks with good standing and good interest rate

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/783099/
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/682884/

6.> I read that using CardSelection can give you additional bonus money. Will it invalidate any offers ?

No. Just read the terms as they differ between websites.

I'd expect your scores to drop 50-60 points at least from the AOR once you have balances. If you pay them off a month before you apply for a mortgage next year, your scores should rebound close to where they are now. You can put the money into short-term CDs (now 4.11%-4.25% APY) for 7 or 8 months and then pay off the cards when these mature. Please post a list with links to the cards you plan to apply for.

naas said:I was under the impression that the new trade lines hurt your score just as much as the inquiries. I also thought that mortgage lenders critique your credit report closer than the average lender, and they might balk at a bunch of new (simultaneous!) lines showing up in the last 1 or 2 years, even if you can get your ficos back up to a reasonable level. Maybe keep it just to biz cards? Can anyone weigh in on that idea?
I have no hard data, but I would agree. One or two new personal lines would probably be fine, but lots of new lines and/or lots of inqs may cost you significantly when getting a mortgage. On the flip side, having a mortgage will probably help you get credit cards in the future.
With savings rates (even CDs) pretty low right now, the return on BTs from AORs is hardly worth screwing up a big part of your life like a house.