Credit Score Building Help?

[Sean DeRue]

At the start of my RE career, and it's time I start earning credit...

I've only ever used my checking account for my transactions, so I currently don't have ANY credit.

My checking has about $1500, and I am earning 550 a week during this summer.

I have a lot in savings, but I was declined from Discover It Secured card. I'm waiting for the letter as to why, but I intend to fix them and reapply.

I need to start building credit ASAP so I can house hack soon, but I don't know if I should apply for a different secured card (which no other that I've found offer rewards or cash back), or if I should wait and reapply for Discover... Or do both?

Any suggestions on how to build credit from nothing? Or why I got declined?

[Trevor Scheiderer]

Hey Sean! Happy to see you are interested in building your credit. I am not sure why Discover would have declined the approval, but I know that many smaller banks also offer great student cards that have very low credit limits ($2,000 or less). If you want to tack onto parent or guardians cards, they can add you as an authorized user and you can also start building credit that way. As far as checking and savings account amounts are concerned, your credit score does not usually factor these into it. It factors in credit lines amounts, number of credit lines, repayment history, default/collection efforts, etc. You can read more about the weighting here. I would suggest holding off on applying for the exact same card for a while, and maybe try a different card. Good luck and happy investing!