How much is TOO much??
 

My wife and I have been following this forum carefully and have followed instructions on how to properly apply with limited credit inquiries. We are both in our mid twenties with very good credit scores. I own a small business and put many of the business expenses on my cards (currently Pres. Plat is my go to card).

I am, like many of you, most intrigued by the signup bonuses and of course by the idea of churning different cards annually (or more). Our cards are all paid off monthly, so hopefully this is helping to further strengthen our credit scores and long term history. Being that in a year or so from now, we want to be in the right position to purchase a house (at the best interest rates), I figured it can't hurt to ask what is TOO much and what will help/hurt us long term. I have done extensive reading in many of the forums related to churning etc. To be honest, I'm still unsure if these various strategies involve canceling accounts (and again, if that effects credit) or if they simply allow you to have multiple of the same account open as once.

Here is what we each have and what we'd like to "safely" apply for.

Wife

Have:

Amex Plat
BA Chase
Chase Saphire

Would like to apply for:

Amex Gold 75K
Citi AA 75k x 3

Me

Have:

Chase CO Presidential Plus (converted from CO Onepass Card via targeted first yr free)
Chase Saphire
Chase Ink Bold Business
Citi AA 75k x 3

Would like to apply for:

Amex Platinum (50k + 50k)
Amex Gold 75k
Hyatt Chase Signature Visa
UA 50k Chase


Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Kudos to all of the "legends" who have helped make this site so informative and up to date.

I think one thing that is looked at when assessing a credit application are the number of other credit applications in the last 3 months and last 12 months. If you are planning to apply for a mortgage in 12 months I would suggest making any applications for extra credit cards promptly and then waiting a full 12 months before applying for the mortgage. Mortgage lenders presumably do not want to see boat loads of applications just before you've asked them for a large chunk of cash

To be honest I think the best site for advice on that type of topic is creditboards.com, where they have lots of resources about credit and mortgages. Credit Scores do have general guides to the % value of the credit data used in your scores. How your score is impacted by certain changes in your credit data still varies person to person.

I would say that when it comes to credit cards Flyertalk is a good resource but you should still cross reference with other information that can be found on creditboards. Together they may provide you with a more complete understanding of your situation and it never hurts to check another resource before making any decisions.

These are good questions and I look forward to seeing the community's answers. I'm still very new to the whole miles craze thing and think you're asking good questions to help newbies like us. So far I've only gotten two of the Citi/AA 75k cards, and I'd love to dive in head first, I'm just wary of the effects on my credit because, as has been repeated many times on this forum and elsewhere, your credit is one of your most valuable assets. I'm just not sure how all these applications and potential churns will affect my score, and even though I'm not planning to buy a house for 5+ years, I'm still hesitant to jump in before I have a complete understanding. Obviously there is a way to do it or there wouldn't be a thriving community here, but it can be difficult to form a clear understanding of how it all works when you're drawing information from a thousand different sources.

All that said, Flyertalk is a fantastic community and I appreciate everyone's input. If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be on my way to an admittedly modest 150k AA miles.

I would cease all new credit applications 12 months prior to when you're going to start looking for a home. Remember that especially these days, you'll want to have at least 1 pre-approval for a mortgage when you begin looking, so that you are considered a serious buyer who can also obtain a line of credit for the mortgage. So make sure to take that into account when you are setting your 12-month deadline.

If you have plan to purchase the home in 12 months from now, you probably need to resist the temptation of the many bonuses and choose only very few and do them now. Lay low for the next 9 months before your mortgage application process.

As others suggested, you really should visit Creditboards.com to learn more about the credit granting process.

This will fit best on creditboards.com Thanks.