Finance Question - Credit Score

I recently paid off my consumer credit cards...Victoria's Secret, J Crew, etc., appx. 5 of them...I want to close them all but I don't know what to do...we will be taking out a mortgage in the next year or so, and some people say close them all since too many available credit lines can hurt your credit score just as bad as closing them all...so what should I do??? Experts, please help! You'd think I know this since I'm in finance...but no I don't know what to do in this situation! LOL

Thanks!

Re: Finance Question - Credit Score

DON'T close them.

The "too many credit lines open" is a huge myth. You should never close a credit card unless instructed by a mortgage underwriter (to secure a committment).

My household has about 300k in available credit lines (more than probably anybody here on LIF). I have no problem getting mortgages. The banks love to lend to me.

As long as your payment history is good, you will be fine.

Re: Finance Question - Credit Score

don't close them - but I would use them every 6 months or so because those cards tend to be closed by the cc sompany if not used