Right now I have 10 Credit accounts open. Ranges from $424.00 to $5200.00 with a credit score of 728.
I have $0 balance all of my cards at this time.
I just applied to get a motorcycle and they denied me saying that I have too much revolved credit open.
I rent a apt due to the high housing prices. I have yet been able to afford a house due to those circumstances.
I have a couple questions that I hope can be answered.
1. How many Cards should I have open at one time?
2. I have heard having allot of closed accounts on your credit report looks bad. T or F (Explanation Please)
3. I have heard that you should always keep a small balance on all your cards. T or F (Explanation Please)
4. Should I try and get an outside loan from a banker or lender to get a lower APR than what they are offering at the dealership?
5. Any other useful tips to help keep my credit score on the rise without accruing allot of debt?
Thanks Allot.
1. I have 5 or 6 credit cards, each has at least 5,000 limit. I use 3 of them regularly and pay the entire balance each month. The others I use very rarely. My credit score is around 810 and I have never been questioned about my revolved credit (I do own a home, I don't know if that makes a difference).
2. Close some of the accounts if you want, they'll eventually roll off. Just don't keep opening new ones and closing old ones (that gets harder these days with ID theft and all).
3. I personally use several of my cards regularly and others I have not used in months (maybe years). I do know that a low balance-to-limit ratio is good and if you close accounts that, in affect, raises your ratio since your limit went down even though your balance did not go up. Run your balance-to-limit ratio here…
http://creditcard.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Balance-To-Limit-Ratio
4. It's always a good idea to check around for the lowest APR you can get.
5. 35% of your FICO score is based on paying all your bills on time. 30% is from Balance-to-Limit ratio. 15% is from the length of your credit history. 10% is from new accounts and recent "new" credit applications. And 10% is based on the mix of credit card and other loans.
Sounds you best chances for a higher FICO are improving the mix of credit card, retail cards and other loans plus getting some "new" credit like a retail card, but don't get too much new credit all at once. Maybe you could request higher limits on some of your cards and get rid of some of the lower limit ones. That would keep your balance-to-limit ratio low while reducing the number of open accounts.
It's all just a bit confusing. Good luck to you.