A little history about me and my credit situation. I am mid 30s, always paid cash for things and ignored any and all credit issues. Other than being ignorant, there is no good reason why I have bad credit because I've always had a good job and have no major dings on my credit. No foreclosures, BK, repos etc. Therefore, as of mid last year I decided it was time to take responsibility for my finances. Lately, I have been really wanting to buy a house for my daughter and myself. I pulled my reports and paid 7/8 negative items in full since then. I have an old Verizon account that is outstanding because the amount included equipment. I spoke to a rep that said if I sent the equipment back it would drastically reduce the amount owed. I told her I would pay the final balance after that has been updated but have yet to get anywhere on retrieving the final balance even after calling several times, that is why it is still outstanding.
Besides the recently paid negative items, I have my car note and student loans which are both current. I have paid my car note late a few times but am going to pay it off by March (9 months early) and will send a GW letter asking them to remove the couple late payments from 2012.
I recently opened a FP and C1 card (both with 300 limits) to help increase my score by paying on time and maintaining zero balances.
In addition to all of this, I signed up with a credit repair agency the beginning of November 2012 to try to expedite getting these things removed or updated but havent seen much done, only received 3 updates on TU, even though the same items are on all 3 reports.
As of now my score is 582 across the board and I would desperatly like to buy a house the end of 2013 with a score of high 600s so I can get a 4% interest rate or lower.
My questions to you all wonderful people are 1) do you think my timeline is feasible? 2) should I drop the CR agency and just wait for my scores to rise by themselves? 3) is there anything else you can suggest that I should do to ensure I can qualify for a mortgage?
Thank you 
Starting Score: 529
I am far from an expert but I have been per approved for mortgage with 2 lenders and am currently house shopping. Most lenders I talked to wanted to see at least a 620 score since I have less than the 20% down payment. And my debt to income ratio has been a big factor- I paid off my car just before applying. I would recommend waiting til your car shows paid off, and work on cli on your new cards. Btw- I have a bk and foreclosure in 08, mid score of 642 and I was approved for 3.75% on an FHA. Good luck!!!
Wow..this really gives me hope..thank you so much and congratulations! I am going to do everything in my power to bring in 2014 in my new house. 
Thank you, I will close out my service with the CR agency immediately.
Some accounts were old and have fallen off but the ones I paid are from 2007 and on.
Wow, I didn't know that but now I know. Thank you!
You can do it. I've gained 103 increase within 10 months, but it's only been a month since I've joined the forum and pay attn to my score/report and gained 34+ this month alone and I expect togain 30+ more because I gotmy utilities down to 12%. Like everybody had said you can do it on your own. I'm shooting for 680+ on all 3 CR by March/Apr so I can shop for house by June and I believe I can do it. Make sure to get your utl down, no lates and no new inq. Good luck to you
Starting Score: 2/22/12: EQ 530, TU 553, EX 528(lender). 12/4/12 (rebuilding starts)= EQ 599.