Adding Credit Cards Can Drive up Your
      Mortgage Rate

Virtually every retailer in America is offering instant discounts or freebies in return for opening an account.

What most consumers don’t know is that opening one or two new credit card accounts could drive up the rates on their other cards, boost the cost of borrowing for a home or a car, push up the cost of insurance and maybe even put a stop to getting a good job or nice apartment.

myfico.com, which offers the popular FICO® credit score, gives this advice for smart credit consumers:

• Don’t open a string of credit cards on a whim or a money-saving shopping spree. Being smart about credit means knowing what can help or harm your credit rating. Opening as few as two new cards could drive your credit rating sharply lower – especially if your credit is marginal.
  
  
• Don’t plan on opening new cards and transferring balances to get a lower rate later. Credit bureaus don’t take into account that you’ve gone for a lower rate, so each new card could count against your score.
  
  
• Don’t run up credit card balances, even if you plan to pay them off later. Credit card issuers will love you but other lenders could penalize you for using more than 50% of your available credit.