Credit Advice

Hard credit inquiries weigh on your score, but it is among the smallest factors. An inquiry may affect a score by only 1-5 points.

But, if you have many, those will add up.

Beyond just the score, lenders look at patterns for inquiries. Do you have many recent ones, are there many against a single lender over time, or are the spread out against different lenders? If it looks like you are desperate for credit, even with higher scores, lenders see this as risk, as you may be getting over-extended.

But, at the same time, if you have 5 inquiries within a month for mortgage applications, it can just look like you are shopping for rates and a lender for one.

It does affect score, but not much. But, for inquiries, there are additional intangibles that come into play for how it affects your ability to obtain credit.

Credit inquiries typically have a negative effect on your credit score. Too many in a short period of time may have an increased affect. However multiple of the type of inquiry usually get reported as 1 inquiry (car loans, personal loans). The negative affect of a credit inquiry should be relived in about 4 months, but will stay on your credit report for two years.

 Thank you all for this feedback.  The information that you all provided, will really help me keep my credit score decent.

 Thank you all for such excellent responses.  This will slow me down. I will stop trying to get more credit to avoid the inquiriew.