Should I up my credit limit on my credit cards before or after I buy my home?

My limits on my credit cards are low and I would like to up there limit but im about to buy a home. Im afraid after the mortgage shows up on my credit my credit card, They will not up my limit due to the new mortgage. So raise the limit now or after?|||If you have already been pre-approved for a home, then what you do now will not matter. If you have not yet been pre-approved then it is a little tricky.





If you have not been pre approved AND you carry balances on your credit cards then it may be in your best interest to open new credit cards. The reason for this is because one of the key things to determining your credit score is your revolving availability. So if for example you have a $2,000 credit card balance and a $2,500 limit (on your only credit card), then your revolving availablity is ($2,500 - $2,000) / $2,500 or 20%. 20% is not so good. I would say that if your number in the above calculation is below 70% then it would be in your best interest to open another credit card. But note, that you will want to substitute in the total limits of ALL of your credit cards for the $2,500 and ALL of your balances for the $2,000. If you are unsure of what credit cards you have outstanding go to annualcreditreport.com and pull your credit report for free (once per year with each of the three agencies).





If you have not been pre-approved AND you do not carry a balance or carry limited balances, then I would not open any new accounts. To a lesser extent than revolving availability, activity on your account (opening and closing accounts) adversely affects your credit score.





And to ease your mind, I would not worry about your mortgage hurting your ability to raise your credit limits once you own a home.|||The best thing to do is to wait to up your limit. When the mortgage company looks at your credit for approval they are going to look at the limit of your credit cards, not what you currently have on them. Even if the balance is $0.00 they are going to take into consideration that you have a $5000.00 credit limit that you could fill up the day after they approve you for the mortgage.|||Cut them up and cancel them BEFORE you apply for the mortgage.|||You should get rid of your credit cards.|||i totally recommend not increasing your limit-pay it down!!


Did you realize that by only using 75% of your limit your credit rating goes up? However, lending institutions look at your debt ratio, so don't go increasing your limits and charging more.|||IMO, if you're going to ask for a limit raise then wait until after closing.





A friend of mine got the loan approval and then went out and incresed limit before closing only to have her loan cancelled along the way becuase her ratio went up. They also look at how much you could use and not just how much you are using when deciding to give you a loan.|||I see what you mean. You'll have to be careful not to overextend yourself, of course. A mortgage becomes a very large monkey on your back for 25 years or longer.





If you're confident that you can handle the payments (mortgage, monthly expenses, PLUS any new credit payments), then raise your limits before the mortgage is in effect. Higher limits could earn you slightly better interest rates on your mortgage.





Also, the additional credit line may be very, very handy to have when you're moving into your new home. There are ALWAYS unexpected expenses involved in moving. It may be something fairly small, like paying for additional moving materials, or having to rent a truck (or pay a moving company) for an additional day. Or, it could be more major things, like having to replace an appliance or install a new kitchen floor.|||The mortgage will take 30 to 60 days to show up on your credit report. Wait until after you close on your home, then request an increase.





Check out bankrate.com to make sure you are getting the best deal on your credit cards. This site has helped me out a lot by letting me view the deals different banks offer for credit cards, mortgages, CDs, Equity loans... etc.





Remember, in order to keep a high credit score, never borrow more than 40% of the available balance on any card!|||after....