Odds are a reputable lender can find something to help you out and get you into a home. But there are things we all should be doing to help ourselves out credit wise and will help immensely when buying a house.

Stop financing everything. With 24 low payments of $40 you can own a new phone that will be a relic in a month. You will also hurt your ability to finance a large purchase since you didn’t want to pay up front for the newest flash. Instead of financing the new iPhone, maybe ride that current one a little longer. That extra $40 a month will lower your future approval a few $10,000.
Pay down that damn credit card. When looking at your credit report, lenders will look at your minimum payment on a card. This is the easiest number to drop down and improve your ability to be financed. Pay the sucker off.
Transfer high interest to a balance transfer card. I realize I am telling you to apply for a new credit card which will lower your credit score, but not paying $150 a month in interest and paying off a large portion of high interest debt will raise your score overall and save you a lot of money. If you like throwing away money to the big banks, cool, keep the course steady. The shareholders will love it.
Student loans. I guess bury your head in the sand and hope they get forgiven? One of the biggest oncoming economic disasters will be our student loan debt in this country. Find a way to keep those payments low without accumulating a higher balance on those loans for a quick fix. If you can, pay them suckers off.

Once you’ve lowered your monthly payment obligations as much as possible, chat with your local agent and see who they recommend as a lender (ask for a couple) and go from there. Overall you will be happier in life if you follow these 4 basic finance rules.