re: Any negative for having too many CCs open?

quote:

---

We won't be opening a new line for about 6-8 months when we buy a new house. No cars for at least a year. I only have 3 cards, one being issued from my company so I'm not sure if that counts as one of mine despite having my name on it (I hope it doesn't b/c my manager approved my expense report late twice which caused late payments). Anywho...I'm an approved user on a 4th card, but that is one that my parents opened when I was born so I don't touch it. Looking to cash in on some of the cash back and rewards deals going on by signing up for 1 or 2

---

Check your credit report to verify that an 'authorized user' account isn't affecting you.

If you're buying a home in 6-8 months, I wouldn't open up anything new. It's kind of near-sighted in terms of benefits (cash back rewards) and probably would have a negative effect on your score for the home purchase.

If you're not looking at buying in the next 18 months, go ahead and open up several or a few accounts. Credit scores indicate the ability to manage credit. Having 12 months active/used with nothing negative should help your score.

For the record, the only time you will see a significant impact on your credit report for too many open accounts is when you have an extremely high credit score and virtually nothing else is left to pull it down. Too many accounts open being the single most influential factor on your score is a sign that you are managing credit very well and the score should mirror that.