Your initial thoughts are steps in the right directions. You definitely want to go over and clean up your reports and get that score up as high as possible. Getting the FICO mortgage scores here is vital so you know exactly where you stand beforehand. Hard to believe people didn't used to have such easy access to this like there is now. Even before getting pre approved, you can speak with a lender/loan officer in your area about your situation and they can give you advice on what to work on where you would hypothetically stand. Paying down CC balances the fastest way to boost your scores. If you have a messy credit report, head over to the Rebuilding forums. I started there about a year ago and took my own and my wifes scores from the 500s/low 600s to the mid 700s in about 5 months.
Other simple tips would be:
Avoid opening new credit lines
Don't close accounts if you don't have to
Make sure your DTI is in good shape
