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Posted by NiftyWhiteFifty (Member # 4320) on :
 
I'm trying to build good credit. I got one credit card right after i turned 18, two years later (last summer) i tried to apply for an auto loan and they refused me for "lack of credit" the people at wells fargo financial said that they don't usually give a loan to someone who has less than three open credit lines on good standing.

So right now i have two credit cards. I pay them on time every month and try to pay the balance in full every month. I've considered getting a third credit card because of what the banker told me about having a minimum 3 open credit lines in order to qualify for a loan. Do you think this is true or should i just keep the two credit cards i have now?

I am very responsible on what i buy on credit and as i said, try to pay off the balance in full every month.
 

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Posted by luvmy5.0 (Member # 6699) on :
 
get a sears or macys card.....thats what i did...id wait 90 days after that to apply again

[ May 03, 2006, 03:18 AM: Message edited by: luvmy5.0 ]
 

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Posted by slidewayz94 (Member # 3101) on :
 
I jumped into an auto loan at the age of 18 best thing for me. Try a reputable credit union. I joined Golden 1 credit union.

3 years later at 21 I tried to finance a jet ski and was denied by that particular finance company for lack of credit experience even though I had excellent credit. I just went back to my credit union and was approved in 5 mins.
 

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Posted by 91Trunkster (Member # 6598) on :
 
My advice to you is to get the Department Store Card and a general rule for buying things, if you can't afford to pay cash you shouldn't buy it.

Car payments suck. It's OK to put a huge downpayment and make tiny $100 payments that way you can establish more credit.
 

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Posted by NiftyWhiteFifty (Member # 4320) on :
 
Well i'm not really looking to get a car loan right now. I just want to start building good credit so that when i want to get a car loan or even a home mortgage i'll be able to.

trying to think ahead here
 

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Posted by eljefe (Member # 1753) on :
 
ya i got a loan for a cheap car when i was 18 and took the hit on intrest on that loan. but i got it paid off (early even) i also got a credit card when i turned 18. i got a loan for my cobra last year with a good apr, i financed a computer through dell a few months ago, and just today i got top tier financing from toyota for my new car. my credit score was 756 and long enough (almost 5 years now) im 22 have 2 cars, a new computer and can afford it all with plenty to spare after paying bills. i don't pay rent tho so that obviously helps
 

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Posted by NiftyWhiteFifty (Member # 4320) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by 91Trunkster:
My advice to you is to get the Department Store Card and a general rule for buying things, if you can't afford to pay cash you shouldn't buy it.

Car payments suck. It's OK to put a huge downpayment and make tiny $100 payments that way you can establish more credit.

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Yea for sure. I like not having to make payments on my cars I know when my dad was my age, he bought is first car (a 68 mustang coupe). he had enough to pay cash for it but got a loan instead to build credit. he paid it off in a year or two and then bought a townhouse at the age of 22
 

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Posted by 98slowhoe 'FIFTYLX' (Member # 895) on :
 
I started with a wells fargo student account and they gave me a credit card. Then I got a Capital one card, and a small personal loan. I paid off the personal loan wich Boosted my credit score. I then got cards like best buy car and a Sears card. I have since closed my wells fargo card, and about to close my best buy card. I just got the best buy cause of those get 15% off things. I also financed a waverunner wich will be payed off within a couple of months. I have a Car loan now, which I want re-finance with somebody else to get a better rate. You just have to start off little man. I am 23 now and this all started at 18. Maybe get a summit card?
 

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Posted by 98slowhoe 'FIFTYLX' (Member # 895) on :
 
oh yeah another thing too. When the companies look at your credit history they don't neceserly like to see a zero ballance on your card. If you had a 1000 credit line they don't want to see a 900 ballance but would rather see that you have like 200 bucks on it or s0. It shows that you can make your payments and maintain your bills and credit lines and use them often.
 

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Posted by Cobra5.0Jeep (Member # 1482) on :
 
What makes bad credit?
 

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Posted by Jdub07 (Member # 2728) on :
 
Best thing I did was got a personal loan for $5k and paid it off ASAP and make sure there are no early pay off penalties. After that I started getting offers all the time...I even got a couple cards I never applied for.

Then I got a new car and sold it two years later and paid it off. I only made like $900 on the resale of the car but my credit score jumped to 760.

Also I'm about to pay off a Patelco car loan on my mountaineer (just totaled it)...I'm sure the early payoff will help my credit score some lol.

Don't just make the min. payments...always try and pay over the min. and NEVER PAY LATE!

When my main credit card reaches $2500+ I start trippin and make 3,4,5 hundred dollar payments on it. Credit is alright I guess. I usually only use it during the holidy season. As for car parts and shit...save your $$ and just buy it.

good luck and be smart
 

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Posted by hidnn.o.s. (Member # 1219) on :
 
Best way to build your credit is: PAY YOUR BILLS
 

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Posted by Cobra5.0Jeep (Member # 1482) on :
 
The payment before last was a day late, how bad is that? I sent it 5 days before it was due...
 

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Posted by NavidR (Member # 3164) on :
 
bro use your credit card, max it out and pay minimum balance for 2-3 month then pay it off, do this couple of time and you should have no problem.
 

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Posted by Jdub07 (Member # 2728) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Cobra5.0Jeep:
The payment before last was a day late, how bad is that? I sent it 5 days before it was due...

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Depending on the credit card company there are grace periods. Also I'm sure if the envelope is post marked they wont hassle you. Most credit card companies if you call them will also work with you if you know your payment will be late and not mark you for it.
 

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Posted by 89TRUNK (Member # 2506) on :
 
Do not max out your card, keep it under 40% of the credit line...Do not close any Credit card accounts even if you dont use them, Never pay late (pay the minimum if you have to)Avoid smaller credit cards i.e comp usa, gap, etc... Stay with the Big name credit cards VISA, Mastercard...
 

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Posted by 71MercGT (Member # 4305) on :
 
josh, if you do end up trying to open a department store card, ill go through the application with you at my work !!
 

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Posted by JohnB (Member # 969) on :
 
Best way to build it???

PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME, DON'T MAX YOUR CREDIT LINES OUT, AND STAY SINGLE.

I can't emphasize the last part enough!!
 

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Posted by Yames (Member # 5291) on :
 
Hey man try and stay out of car payments, they suck. I have been doing car payments now for the past four years or so maybe less.
Anyways the car before I had my Mustang was a 02 Tacoma, I then and went and traded it in for my 2003 Mustang Mach 1. Two days ago I just went and sold my 03 Mustang which I still can't believe I did, I sold it to a dealership and ended up only coughing up 800 bucks to pay everything off. 866.62 to be exact.

Anyways I paid more then what I was suppose to for the monthly payment which was originally 366.62 a month, then I ended up throwing in a extra 100 bucks a month to get it paid off sooner.
Long behold I had to sell my car because I couldn't afford it anymore because I'm trying to purchase a home or a condo.

So rule number 1, don't purchase anything you can't afford.
Rule number 2 like so many have said, pay your bills on time.
And Rule number 3: Don't get anything with to much high interest or you'll be paying for the rest of your life.

My best opinion to you is try your best to stay out of car payments, it's not worth it. It maybe for some but for me I think it's just a pain in the ass and I hated it.
 

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Posted by SmokeyBurnout (Member # 5745) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by 89TRUNK:
Do not max out your card, keep it under 40% of the credit line...Do not close any Credit card accounts even if you dont use them, Never pay late (pay the minimum if you have to)Avoid smaller credit cards i.e comp usa, gap, etc... Stay with the Big name credit cards VISA, Mastercard...

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quote:

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Originally posted by NiftyWhiteFifty:
I'm trying to build good credit. I got one credit card right after i turned 18, two years later (last summer) i tried to apply for an auto loan and they refused me for "lack of credit" the people at wells fargo financial said that they don't usually give a loan to someone who has less than three open credit lines on good standing.

So right now i have two credit cards. I pay them on time every month and try to pay the balance in full every month. I've considered getting a third credit card because of what the banker told me about having a minimum 3 open credit lines in order to qualify for a loan. Do you think this is true or should i just keep the two credit cards i have now?

I am very responsible on what i buy on credit and as i said, try to pay off the balance in full every month.

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Are you still in school? If so, you need to get an AMEX. I cannot stress how much AMEX limits will not be matched. If your a student (which I have referred to friends) get this card: Here . AMEX has treated me well since day one. If you say your credit is clean and you have two cards already and are a student. Trust me, this is the card to get. Because once you get approved "Your in". After you register your card or make first payment, you credit limit will increase (doubled). When you make your 2nd or 3rd payment your credit limit will increase. I can almost gaurantee you. I referred 5 people and it's happened to them all.
 

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Posted by modular (Member # 6599) on :
 
20 different replies, Im sure he has no idea of what to do now. You need to try and get some higher limits on your cards, a couple $200 credit cards open for 3 months wont say much. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE CREDIT CARD to get good credit from it. There is no secret to credit its all common sense. If you have 10 open accounts with zero balance verse a guy with 2 cards with money on them who looks better? Not using cards but keeping the accounts open shows lower risk than someone who does use credit. Having credit and using credit is different. Enjoy your plate theres a lot to chew on. LOL. P.S. I have 8yrs of credit work history.
 

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Posted by Venomized93 (Member # 55) on :
 
I'm the same with Modular 8 years of credit. I don't have the highest limits, but I sure beat a lot of people that I know, from young to adults to people that I help in the banking world (I work at Citibank). I followed many suggestions from www.CREDITBOARDS.com (CREDIT FORUM) and has helped me to get where I am. I highly suggest you go to CREDITBAORDS.com and check it out if your serious about learning the best way to improve your credit. Just example of only my AMEX cards.




 

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Posted by NiftyWhiteFifty (Member # 4320) on :
 
Thanks for the good advice guys. I opened a third credit account. my three credit card limits are:
$1,750 (my first student card I got when i was 18yrs old)
$1,000 (second card I've had about 6 months)
$1,500 (just opened)

None of my cards are even close to maxed out, and I will keep it that way

thanks for answering another question i had about closing credit card lines.

one more question: does requesting for a credit limit increase mean they review your credit report? meaning, does that count against you if you do it more than once in a short period of time like when you apply for a loan?

and is there anywhere you can get a credit check on your FICO score for free? should i hold off on this given my recently opened account and credit line increase request?


thanks again for all the advice
 

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Posted by Venomized93 (Member # 55) on :
 
When you ask for increase in credit on your credit cards theres three ways when doing it. Some credit cards companies have one. One way is a HARD inquiry, basically they pull your credit report to review to see how much more they can give you, or may not give you. Another way is a soft inquiry, sort of like a hard but not effective towards your FICO score. The third is an internal review within the companies credit review structure (like AMEX does) and reviews based off there internal reviews. How they base that? Basically credit card companies pull softs periodically on your reports, they then keep that file on their records and apply them with their own scoring. So when you ask for a higher credit line, they don't have to pull an HARD INQUIRY. Even though some companies do this, they can only do it for certain limits, for example: AMEX can do their internal scoring up to $25k. Anything after that they need a HARD INQUIRY.
 

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Posted by tonster (Member # 6093) on :
 
since a lot of great information is being passed out, i thought i would ask a question. anyways, my roommmate is about to graduate from college and he's got a great job lined up. however, throughout college (or at least 2-3 years of it) he's had a credit card that he's maxed out 2-3 times and had a late payment or two. other than that, he's been good about using his credit card. btw its his only credit card. what i'm asking is, how can he improve his credit despite his mishaps?
 

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Posted by 98slowhoe 'FIFTYLX' (Member # 895) on :
 
You know what really cracks me up is that the highest limit card I have is 3k and I don't care for it to be any higher. But I have had credit fora long time now. My GF got her FIRST card and it had a 4,000 limit. I was like WOW for a first time credit card thats a lot!!!
 

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Posted by Venomized93 (Member # 55) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by tonster:
since a lot of great information is being passed out, i thought i would ask a question. anyways, my roommmate is about to graduate from college and he's got a great job lined up. however, throughout college (or at least 2-3 years of it) he's had a credit card that he's maxed out 2-3 times and had a late payment or two. other than that, he's been good about using his credit card. btw its his only credit card. what i'm asking is, how can he improve his credit despite his mishaps?

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There are two types of lates. First one is before 30 days past due date (effects mainly its internal relationship within that credit card company). Second one is 30+ days late (which is the worst). Which effects that persons history with that certain credit card company along with his personal credit report (which is reported to all lenders). Since his is under 30 days late a few times. It should have only effected his internal relationship with that particular credit card company. Which could have defaulted his rate to a much higher rate (usually 20-30%). Usually you will stay at that rate for a 6 month probation period (until you can prove with on time payments/not going over the limit, etc...)although they may not bring back down to the original rate, they should lower your rate if you proved to them good standing. So that effects that person when it comes to asking for increases/lower rates/balance transfer/promotions for that particular card. So if your information is correct on him, he should have no problem getting another card, unless something is reported on his credit report of something else.

Tell him to apply for another card to get another one started to age ASAP.
 

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Posted by tonster (Member # 6093) on :
 
wat about his current card? just keep the balance low and keep it in good standing?

edit: wat would be a good card to get?

[ May 06, 2006, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: tonster ]
 

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Posted by modular (Member # 6599) on :
 
Venom knows his credit. For the guy with 2-3 lates its hard to say. What does he want to do? I have seen scores in the 500s with never a late payment. Why? Because debt to income ratio becomes a factor as its a "risk score" and not a basdic score of points earned usualy this occurs in new marriages where one person had bad credit and both are now keeping current by using the others income but their name is not on paper so without them on paper to show the income to pay the bills the risk goes up. I say he needs more lines of credit with zero balances but the account needs to remain open. I say no less than 5 accounts in good standing to get good credit with buying power heres why. home, car, gas card, 2 credit cards MINIMUM.If youre low on 1 add to another. Remember theres no trick to good credit PAY your bills and have multiple lines of credit.
 

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