Hi there! Thinking about my first home loan, advice would be great

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I've stalked these forums for quite a while.  And my FICO score thanks everyone for their sage advice.  

1. Credit.  My credit .is good, my last FICO score (Equifax) I pulled 7/2012 was 790.  My husbands pulled around the same time was 720.  I have no late payments on my accounts, and have a good mix of installment and revolving accounts.  At the moment, all my installment loans have been paid off (paid a small loan I took out for hospital expenses, took about three years to pay it off).  My husband has a longer credit history, but in his past, he has many 30 day late's on his report, thus the 720-ish.  

1. Income.  My income is 44,197$ or so and my husband pulled in 32,000 last year.  I have just started my job and he has had his for eight years.
2. Monthly debt payments.  Okay other than the usual: rent, utilities, food, gas.. I have no other expenses.  I charge my credit cards a small amount and pay in full.  Sometimes I carry a small balance, usually a school payment I put on there.  But right now I'm at 0% utilization, due to tax refunds.  

1. Employment (for those who are employed).  I've been in school for the past few years, but am now employed full time in my profession, for just a short while however.   I have held jobs all throughout college though. My husband has a much longer employment history.
2. Assets/Reserves.  We only have about 4k in savings, and my husband has about 10k in a retirement fund..
3. Property.  Single Family Home
4. Value.  135,000
5. Occupancy.  Primary residence
6. Transaction Type.  First mortgage

I hope that's enough information.  Some questions I have:

Could I afford this home?  I'm lucky to have not many drains on our income, credit cards/car loans/etc.  This would be our first home for both my husband and I.  Will his late payments possibly affect our home loan application?  Would his pro's (extra income, job stability) outweigh the negatives (past bad payment history)?  

I'm thinking about pre-qualifying in the next couple weeks, and I would love some advice if I should even try.  I'm very patient and I can wait for another chance, but I am in love with this home.  I also worked really hard to get my credit score up from low 600's to what it is now, and really don't want to drop it on a mortgage application, unless I had a good chance for a good loan.

Hope this all makes sense,

Thanks in advance.

[JM-AM]

You can afford the home you mentioned. Your employment since in your school profession is not a problem either.

Your husbands lates may cause a few hiccups depending on how new they are.

Overall you look like your in great shape to apply now.

[Anonymous]

Thanks JM for your response,  

I'll update with any good news.

[MortgageHelper]

It seems like you have a good chance.  Please feel free to send me a message and you can get a very competitive quote from a Good Bank.  By the way, nice job on your credit scores!