Buying a house next year When to stop applying for new cards

I applied and got the Hyatt Chase card this year. I’m thinking that if I need to get a mortgage, it would be a good idea to stop applying for new cards at least 6 months before applying for the mortgage. Is this a hard rule or is this more flexible than that? Household income around 180K, FICO 840+

I recommend holding off after starting a pre-qualification or pre-approval and only doing something once you have the keys in hand. Once you’re in this process, you’ll be warned not to touch anything—it’s important

There’s no strict rule. You have a solid credit report. Keep doing what you’re doing. One or two new cards a year won’t hurt your mortgage application. I’ve gotten great mortgage rates while being a borderline churner

Like you, I have a high FICO and asked my loan officer if it was okay to go for a sign-up bonus three months before my closing. He said it was fine as long as I didn’t carry any extra balances. It doesn’t matter if your FICO is high. I’ve had loan disclosures updated as late as the day before closing

Not sure what your net worth is, but I applied for many credit cards and never had an issue getting a loan. This is because I had a 50% down payment. If you have a decent amount to put down and little to no debt, you should be good

My wife applied for a credit card about four months before we started looking for mortgages. Our scores weren’t as high as yours and we still got the best interest rate. Six months is more than fine

Stopping six months before paperwork starts is usually fine. This is mainly to avoid questions from the lender

Your credit score takes a hit if you have a new account in the last three months. So I recommend stopping new applications three months before you start using pre-qualification or pre-approval tools. In the third month, you’ll see your score improve significantly until the sixth month. But if you have an 840+ FICO, you’ll be fine even if you lose some points

@Baer
True dat

@Baer
Your credit score gets a big hit with a new account in the last three months. I’m not familiar with the scores mortgage companies use though

Six months is fine. Twelve months is just being paranoid

840+ on an 850 scale. I’m skeptical. We sit in the 830’s, and I question that number. If there’s no need, then stop. No reason to add inquiries and new accounts as you’re taking on a different risk level for a new purchase. If this were a refinance, that’s a different story. I panicked when my wife’s car was totaled during a refinance, but the broker didn’t blink when I asked if it would be bad to get another car. They said go ahead, no worries, this is a refinance and you have established pay patterns

@Zev
Another 850 here. Though the two new cards I got this summer dropped me down to an 837

@Zev
850 here. So we exist

Bryce said:
@Zev
850 here. So we exist

850 my a*, you just made a post about hard pulls affecting your score

Zev said:

Bryce said:
@Zev
850 here. So we exist

850 my a*, you just made a post about hard pulls affecting your score

Well I was until Friday when they dinged me 12 points. Seems steep for a pull

Churner here, I used to get 6-8 new cards a year. I stopped at six months out

I did a six-month window and that was enough

At least six months before closing. Some say up to twelve months