When can I get a home loan?

I have horrible credit (3 chargeoffs) and about 8 months of late car payments. I have since settled my finances and soon would like to buy a house.

My wife has very good credit (780) and mine is about 490.

My question is, how long after I get the chargeoffs settled will I be able to buy a house? When applying for the home loan, how will my credit affect the mortgage company's decision? Do they take the median of the 2 credit scores or will they see mine and swiftly send it away to the denied pile?

Its hard to say. Obviously your low score will have a factor but may not stop them from lending to you. Lenders are getting pretty strict now days and they now usually require you have about 20% to put down in order to even get the loan . They will also scrutinize your debt to income ratio as well.

This site has always stuck to the principle that if you are asked to put up money to get a loan it is pretty much a scam. There are numerous threads regarding up front money for loans, and numerous stories of people who hace lost thousands.

The simple answer to this is that it will take time for your credit to recover sufficiently enough to purchase a house.

Your wife's credit is good, but your score will definitely come into play if you obtain a mortgage in both names.

With the recent developments in the housing/credit crisis, you may have a hard time finding a lender who will lend to you right now, because the lenders have all tightened their lending requirements, and finding a loan for someone with less than stellar credit right now is difficult. Not impossible, but difficult - and you will end up paying a higher interest rate, which isn't what you want.

Keep an eye on your credit reports over the next few years, save as much as possible every year towards a larger downpayment on a home, and try to get yourself into a position to negotiate with the lenders. Once your credit improves, and more time has passed since the chargeoffs & late pays (paying on time on everything every month between now and then will greatly improve things), you will be in a better position to talk to lenders.

Yeah, you've got to get your credit re-established first. Pay at least the min pmt on time every month to start bringing your credit score up. Also, those charge offs need to be dealt with since they won't go away and will cause a problem when you go to see a lender. You might be able to settle those for less. Often times charge offs and collection accounts can be negotiated down to 50 cents on the dollar (or less). Before you pay them, though, make sure you have something in writing so they accept payment as payment in full.

Need to get your credit score up in the 600's . FHA may be a great loan for you, too, since they only require a 3% downpayment and allow more flexibility on credit history.

You can do it, keep at it!