There is no point in worrying about your credit score. Let me clarify one point. Your creditors only care about one thing; Getting paid. If you are relying on your bank/bill pay to pay your bills, they WILL screw up. Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when. And your creditors will not care what happens, regardless of the excuses. At this point, you should be concerned on how YOU will stay on top of your financial responsibilities. You should be having this discussion with your g/f. Buying a house is a huge responsibility and mistakes are unforgivable. Take a long hard look at what you're willing to jump into and the responsibility it takes to maintain it.
Rent, save money, get at least a good down payment and make sure both of your jobs are stable, then you can think about buying a house. A lot of expenses go into a house you probably have thought about. Like closing costs. If you haven't shelled out $1250 for debts you've owed for awhile, will you be able to pay closing costs on a house? A down payment? I would just slow down and wait. Pay off debt and then save for a bit before you try and buy.
As far as your credit goes, I would get a credit report to see where you are. You're allowed a free report once a year from the 3 major credit bureaus (visit annualcreditreport.com). Late payments on your credit report will hurt and your creditors will want to know why you were late.. especially if you're applying for a home loan. I would concentrate on paying off all credit card bills first because that has an affect on the amount of loan you can apply for.. obviously the more you owe on other bills, the less you will have to put in to paying the mortgage. Review your report and correct any mistakes you see. You will have to contact your creditors to have them remove any mistakes on your report. You can also write goodwill letters to your creditors for them to remove any negative listing such as late payments. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. The good thing is that you're young and you have plenty of time to get your credit inline for the big purchase... whether it's now or later on in your life when you get settled.
I'm an agent I've pulled hundreds of reports and talked numerous lenders. I'm by no means an expert but here are a few things ive heard more than once.Dont take them as facts but stuff I've experienced.... 1. Do not get into credit repair. It gives you an inflated score. I had a client get rejected with a 690 score today why? everything she had was disputed by the creidt repair company. Yes it got her score up but now a lender sees this as a artificial score why? ..creidt repair just disputes everything which now raises a flag..A year ago that would have been fine not now... (if you need help find a lender they will usually give free and better advice) 2. Keep credit limits below 40%. Beyond that is when it affects your report... 3. look at the reporting date on collections. If it hasnt reported in a few years dont pay off a collection b/c its not factoring into your score. Defintely have a lender give you advice on what to pay. If you pay a collection off thats not reporting it will re-report once its paid and hurt your credit. It doesnt make any sense but thats how it works... 4. If you have limited credit get a secure credit if your bank wont give you one. It sounds like you have limited credit this might be something to consider... (orchard bank,first premiere) 5. if your at a mid 550 you will need to shoot for a 620 possible 640 mid score. (was 580 when i first started). So your not far away... Underwriting some times requires rental history getting a college degree or have a stable job history while living at home can sometimes offset that. This is another thing coming up more often. But be prepared for that since you both live at home... I'd say rent first make sure you guys like your job before you give yourself a mortgage esp. if you guys never lived together..
