I have never been interested in credit cards—until I decided to buy or build a house. I got a secured Discover card with a $2000 limit last July and strategically kept my utilization between 7% and 20%. My credit score is now 771. I have no other recent credit—mortgage and one car loan were paid off years ago. There are no negative entries in my credit record. I have NO debts. Income is moderate but steady.
It appears that I’m going to have to build a house because there are very few houses for sale in my area. The value of my current house exceeds the cost to build a new (smaller) home. My house is expected to sell quickly in this market. Thus I may or will need some kind of short-term loan to cover construction of a house while I’m still living in my current house.
A loan officer told me I need more credit cards. I am reluctant to do this—for me a credit card has no benefit other than to build a credit score. It makes life more complicated. How important is it for me to get a second or third credit card? Does it depend on the type of loan I’m seeking—HELOC vs construction loan etc.?
UPDATE 3/23/25: (1) I got back my security deposit from Discover and my credit limit was raised to $3800. (2) I now have input from loan officers at two banks who know me personally and are interested in working with me. But they gave me different opinions. Both said I need to show 3 lines on my credit report. #1 urged me to get 2 more credit cards. #2 said, “Don’t get another credit card if you don’t need or desire one. We can document non-traditional credit showing you’ve made timely monthly payments for the past 12 months on utilities, etc.” Does this information change your recommendation?
UPDATE 11/1/25: Even the bank that said I needed two credit cards offered me a HELOC even though I only had one card. Glad I didn’t get a second one. My score hasn’t budged in months due to lack of credit mix and I don’t care. It’s all a big game that doesn’t have a lot to do with my actual trustworthiness. In the end, the banks wanted my business and they knew a second card wouldn’t change my credit worthiness.
