I have 2 things holding me back..... 1. Utilization 2. History, length, time, etc. Obviouly I can't do anything about time except wait but as far as utilization goes, HOW is it determined...? I have many dep't store cards, but 0 balances.......have an auto loan paid 50%, and 1 paid in full....I think what's killing me is 2 major cards with 90% utilization, I guess my big question is, now that I'm adding 15K patelco limit, will that bring down that 90%???
Your utilization on the CCs at 90% is a real score killer. Unfortunately, your auto loans don't equate into the mix, since they're not revolving credit. Patelco at $15k will help, but ONLY if it's a CC. If it's an installment loan, it won't count at all towards your revolving credit utilization. But then with a loan that large, you could certainly pay down your CC balances substantially.
Actually, there are two components to utilization, and of course no one knows what counts how much. There is a total utilization, and of course the 15K will help that. However, FICO also looks at the individual cards, because one of my negatives is always that I have one or two cards more than 50% utilized (and they'll stay that way, since they're BTs at a great rate--I'm willing to take the hit). If you can do a BT from the new card to pay the others below 50%, while still keeping the new one below 50%, that will be the greatest increase in your scores. But the overall utilization does help.
