Is this product found under the home equity line of credit on the AMEX site. ? If not, could someone post a link or a phone #? TIA!
Regarding LOCs, well you don't have to listen to me cuz i'm that "new B with just 6 posts" (must be up to 9 right now...including this one). but here's a great way to get something similar to a LOC with a much much lower rate (only problem is that it doesn't show up on ur credit report...so it cant help ur score) you guys sound like you are middle class citizens and probly have some saved up, a couple ccs, a mortgage, what not (or not). anywayz, many brokers will allow you to get an atm/debit card which takes money out of ur account. now if u have enuff in your account ($2k) you can open a margin account which is like a LOC. you can have 2k in some stocks and take out money with the atm card and u still have ur 2k of stocks, but you'll also have a margin balance of whatever u take out. i myself don't do this, but if i ever needed money and didn't want to cash out of my investments it would be the most sane choice (since i dont have a mortgage and thus no HELOC). the rate at many brokers can be far lower than what a bank would offer u...right now its 5.25% on balances under $9,999 and a mere 5% on balances 10k to like 50k (neg balances). plus u only have to pay interest...ever. with about 5-10k saved up you could purchase some REITs and some higher yielding stocks (like Phillip Morris, RJR, some utility companies, etc.) and the dividends alone on these stocks will pay the interest and even part of the principal (meaning you really never have to pay the balance back if u don't wish to). now just cuz i said this doesn't mean i recommend doing this or any of the aforementioned stocks (to be honest with u's peoples i do personally have a long position in phillip morris).
George I hope you get it. Then I can be the only one of the board who got rejected my Amex's LOC department. Sill waiting for Juniper's response. The lady yesterday told me she was processing it and would have an answer for me today. I told her I would give her a call back at lunchtime and have her give me my denial reason. Jeez, I'm so pessimistic. Dani
Bode11, The reason we have an interest in the AMEX LOC id because it isn't reported to the CRA. If you use it to pay off some cc bills, and it doesn't show up elsewhere then, your debt/cl ratios improve drastically. As to the idea of using a margin account as a longterm LOC. DON'T!!! There is a thing known as a margin call and if you fool around with margin accounts long enough, you'll get one. The terms of a margin call are simple. We want the money right now. No monthly payment plan. Keep something else in mind. Didvidend yields on Reits are high for a reason. There is gret risk in them and owners wish to be compensated for assuming this risk. Let one or two of the reits either reduce or pass their dividend and you have real problems. Assets in the stock market work best unencumbered.
LOL keepmine - just ask the folks who put their money into New England Mutual's REITs back in the 80's (NEM is no more). New England was projecting 26%. Now they belong to the Snoopy clan.
I just applied and it said that they are "working very hard to get me enrolled" (lol!) and will let me know in 5-7 business days. What does that mean? They pull Experian exclusively, right?
I just got this e-mail: "Here is the status of the product(s) for which you applied: - Your application for a Line of Credit - Prime + 5.99 is Pending We appreciate your application to Membership B@nking. We are making every effort to process your application, but will be unable to complete the process online today. We will notify you by mail within the next five to seven business days of the final status of your application." Dani - did you get this e-mail before your declination or were you declined immediately?
I wonder if my scores are high enough to get one... I don't have any kind of card with Amex right now, does that matter? I do have a couple of paid as agreed R1 Amex accounts on my CRA reports that say "account relationship terminated".
that's weird Marci, I just applied too and recieved the email stating my application for prime + 2.99%. I wonder why your app is for a higher LOC even though we were both not approved online. Strange if you ask me.
Call the 888# and enter you ss# and then the last 4 of your ss# as pin..Then you will get account # and line..Me and wife got one..5k @ P+3.99 and 6k @ P+2.99
Marci, I got the same interest rate and message before I was declined, but there were several people who received that same message and they were approved. Give it a day and contact Amex to ask about your status. Good luck. Dani
Dani, Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but you really should have them reconsider in light of your mortgage company's actions wrt 7 inquiries. As for me, I am still not in their system at all, so I'll wait until next week. I'd love the LOC, so that I could move my debt there and hide it.
ok, well if u like this amex loc cuz it doesn't show up on ur credit report, then a margin loc is even better. look, you can go knock reits and what not, but with a diversified portfolio (even a high-yield one) it's really not gonna move much, and the yield will be pretty stable. get urself some munis (kinda pricey now cuz of the low int rate), some reits, some quality utility companies, other historical good yielders and what not. as long as u keep your borrowing low and the market doesn't completely crash, you should be fine. u can stick 100% to us bonds if u keep ur borrowing to like 20-30% of ur portfolio. even something as bad as 9/11 didn't mess up the market bad enuff where u should have had a margin call. your portfolio should be able to take a 20-30% blow on the chin and not go to hell cuz of margin calls. remember, the int rate on this sucker is less than 1/2 of what amex is offering or other comparable bank locs (not including helocs)
I just went and did it. I applied on-line. I'm an Amex Blue holder ($15k limit and 9.9% - I pay off each month) and my Fico was mid-700's the last time I checked. I also have a Citi Plat with a 15k limit (zero bal) and an MBNA LOC at 15.8k (zero bal). I called the 800 number 15 minutes later and got my account number and my credit line. It's only 5.5k. =( Any idea how I can find out the interest rate? If I don't get prime+2.9% then the account is useless to me and I won't have a need for it. I plan to tell that to the retention department, if necessary.... RM
margin isnt reported to the cra either, and u can be approved for one regardless of crappy credit if u got the assets now...and the int rate isnt based upon some ridiculous prime + mega %. its generally brokers call +2% at most places for the first 9,999$ (and brokers call is below 4%). and u can STILL get cash in ur hand from a margin account, so how is a loc from amex better? if ur rate is like 13% now with the lowest int rate in 40 yrs, what happens in a few yrs...20%? oh yeah, thats a great deal. u will only get a margin call if u invest carelessly. got 10k? put 2,5k in various reits, 2,5k in preferred stocks, 2,5k in corp/us bonds, 2,5k in utility/other. (not one of each). scottrade currently has a margin rate of 5.45%, ameritrade is 5.75%, schwab is 6%, my broker is 5.25%...i think the first 3 are even lower cuz they probly havent been updated for all these rate cuts. only way a loc makes sense if u dont have that money to put into stocks/other assets to open a margin account and u have a lot of high int cc debt u want to consolidate into one lower payment. yeah that makes sense cuz it will save you at least 5-7%. otherwise if u can get the margin account...ur wayy better off. im paying like less than $20/month on 4k of margin...now that's reasonable. no min finance charges.
