Credit card co. wants to raise my rate.. should I close the account?

I've had this Capital One card for 9 years. It's my oldest account. Two weeks ago, they sent me a letter saying they raised my limit for being such a great customer. Then today I got another letter saying they were going to raise my interest rate from 12.9 to 19.9! It said I can opt-out by closing the account and paying my balance at 12.9 or stay in and go to 19.9. My credit score is in the mid 700s; I think I can do better than that. The problem is that I just bought a home and opened a different account for some big purchases, so I am concerned that opening yet another account in such a short time to do a balance transfer will hurt my score. Would it be better to 1.) close it and pay it at 12.9 2.) open a fresh account somewhere else and do a balance transfer or 3.) pay it faster than anticipated and then leave the account open and unused ?

If you just bought a home, then you should not need to be applying for much else. Closing that account is going to have a greater impact on your score than applying for another card. If you cannot pay the balance in full, then either do a balance transfer to another card you have, or apply for a new card to get a balance transfer. Also, watch your balances. You don't want to be over 50% of your limit. It sounds like you may be concerned that you will not qualify for another card. Then you may as well try and if not then get the balance of the highest interest rate card paid down first.

Hell yea. Did you know you can negotiate your rate? If your credit card company isn't willing to negotiate, I am sure you can find another card company who will be willing to give you a lower rate. All you have to do is threaten to move your debt somewhere else. Don't even pay your balance to them, just move your debt and the new card/company will issue you a check to pay off your other card. Hey, if Capital One wants to lose interest money due to stupidity, it isn't your problem now, is it?

Apply for a card with someone else and pay off capitol one and close that account.

I'd close the account and pay them off at 12.9%
What's NOT in your wallet? :)

i would, but first pay them what u owe then shut them down

I would not close the account.
call capital one and ask them to lower your interest rate,
and if thy tell you your not eligible for a lower rate, tell them you are eligible to transfer your balance to a lower rate with another credit card co.
I'm sure you get offers from other cc company's you can just check who will give you a better deal, and switch.

Call them and talk to them.
Tell them that they have to drop your rate or you will cancel the account. That's it.
If you can pay the account off, please do so.
To keep a credit card active and build a credit record with it, all you need to do is buy yourself lunch every now and then. Credit cards, handled properly, should only be used for emergencies... like getting a wrecker or a car repair that you cannot pay for all at once.
All the credit reportng agencies care about is whether you pay on your debts on a timely basis.

If your credit is good and you've been paying Capitol One on time, then its ridiculous for them to up your rate like that. Credit card companies are constantly begging us to open a new account or transfer other debt to them; and they often offer zero or single digit interest for a period of time (6-12 months) as an incentive. Find one of those. That way you can deny Capitol One any more interest and you can pay off what you now owe with little or no interest. I've gotten many such offers from Chase Credit; see their site below if you'd like to check them out.