Originally posted by: chorb
Didnt get my first credit card until I was 20, now three years later, I apparently have very little credit (my own bank wont give me a loan). Yet I make pretty decent money, is there someway to build credit quickly; my bank suggested I get 2 more credit cards and wait 3 years and come back and talk to them (screw you BoA).
This seems stupid to me, loans help build credit, yet I cant get a loan. So the only way to build better credit is to get credit cards and wait?
This is for an auto loan, I was quoted 8% APR from a dealer which there is no way in hell I am agreeing to. Are credit unions more lax about loans or should I expect the same response?
In response to the second questions, credit unions are generally not for profit enterprises, so you may get a lower rate since they don't have to factor in large amounts of profit
in response to the first...
The common variables in your credit score (forgive me if I miss a few) are average balance, utilization, age of cards, number of inquiries, number of new accounts
IMHO, if you need the car RIGHT NOW you might as well go for it. If you don't need it right now, then pay off all your cards, that should bump your score by ALOT (note it can take 3weeks - 2 months depending on how active you are in this process)
If you don't need it and can wait about a year or two, I'd apply for as many cards as you can (on the same day), after paying off your cards. Don't spend any money on the cards. Keep these cards FOREVER. NEVER CANCEL YOUR OLD CARDS. This brings up the age on your accounts. It also decreases your utilization % since you have more credit then your'e using.
After a year (or less, if you search on other boards for credit strategies...), you can apply for your car. Afterwards apply for MORE cc's. Reallocate the new credit lines with your old cards. You keep the age in your cards while increasing available credit. Don't do this if you need your credit for something though as you will have a decrease in your score from all the new inquiries.
Sorry, there's entirely too much info to post in 3 paragraphs.
I would recommend
creditboards.com (goal is to get as much credit as possible)
or falletwallet finance (sorry no link, goal is to use credit to make money)
As noted above, you should pull your credit score somewhere
www.myfico.com is the only place I know of to get real fico's (which everybody uses)
Everybody else (truecredit is what I use) gives you a FAKO, which I use for a rough estimate and so I can peek at my credit report.