My husband and I have started the long journey toward rebuilding our poor/virtually nonexistent credit in the hopes of purchasing a home in the near future. We paid off a vehicle in 09, but found ourselves in the position of having to replace it this past December. We were able to do that through the same dealer we bought from in 07. WellsFargo Driver Services is the lender on our current car; the first payment has been made. We also purchased a piece of furniture on credit from Badcock, a local furniture store that reports to all 3 agencies monthly. Our first payment on it isn't due till March. Prior to this my Experian score was 578. TU and EQ were in the low 600's. I used Credit Karma to view my EX score today, and it was 550!! ACK! Could this be because WellsFargo and Badcock haven't reported as yet? We have also tried to get a secured credit card to re-establish a line of revolving credit. We have been denied at every turn. We know we don't have a good balance of the different types of credit, but I'm kinda stuck as to how to remedy this. Any pointers, good people?
Starting Score: 02/2013 606(TU-myFICO); 647(EQ-CreditExpert); 578(EX-CreditExpert) 
The score on Credit Karma is not your real FICO score. Depending on where you got those other scores from, that in and of itself could explain the difference between them. Also, with scores that low, are there any negative items on your credit reports?
We both have negatives. Mine are Jefferson Capital Systems: $109 (an old Wamu checking acct from 06), RJM Acqisitons LLC: $74, Sunrise Credit Service: $423 (an old TMobile acct that was charged off by OC in 07, and has since been sold to MCM), HSBC (a CC acct from 06 that shows as "closed" and transferred to another lender or claim purchased), a secondary TL entry of the $423 TMobile acct by MCM and Credit Collection Services: $138 unpaid Progressive insurance bill in 09.
The other scores (the 578, and the low 600's) are true FICO scores I got when we had our realtor pull our credit last fall to determine what we need to do to qualify for a mortgage.
Those negatives are the biggest thing holding you back. Search "PFD" or "pay-for-delete letter" on these forums and start sending them to any collection agency you are willing and able to pay. Do not communicate that you might accept responsibility for any debt in any way. I know from personal experience that RJM is more than willing to PFD even if you settle for less than the full amount. Look for errors in any of the listings. If amounts or dates are wrong, dispute with the CRA's either via mail or by phone, not online. You may be able to get some deletions this way. For anything that is paid, search "GW" or "goodwill letter" and start sending those out.
As far as Jefferson Capital and HSBC are concerned, did the accounts go delinquent in '06? If so, they should be falling off your credit reports sometime this year. Keep in mind they can still try to come after you in court if the debt is still within your state's statute of limitations.
Florida's SOL for written contracts and promissory notes is 5 years, and 4 years for oral contracts and open-ended accounts. Yes, the Jefferson Capitol went delinquent in 06 and HSBC account went delinquent in 07. But Jefferson Capitol reports their account date opened as 11/04/11 and date reported as 09/14/2012, meaning they have re-aged the debt after they purchased it. HSBC charged off the CC acct.
The account opened date is the date they received the debt; that's not the date that sets how long the debt remains on your reports. If you're looking at EQ you want the DOFD, or date of first delinquency. Debts can remain on your reports for 7.5 years from this date. For EX and TU, they simply say "this account is scheduled to continue on record until ..." Subtract 7 to 7.5 years from that date and you have the DOFD.
Do you know how long ago HSBC charged off the account? If recently, it's possible the new CA isn't reporting yet. You may want to call and see if you can find out who they sold it to, or you may just want to leave it alone; sometimes making contact on an old debt makes the collector spring to life and start reporting.
Would it be better for me to PFD on all of these negatives, and send a GW letter to HSBC begging for removal of their TL? The entire amount being reported is less than $1000 but I don't happen to have that amt just lying around.
You can try, but the verdict seems to be that companies like HSBC are much more willing to do a GW delete if the account is paid.
Keep in mind your CR doesn't have to be squeaky clean to have a decent score. I still have a couple collections and an old Chase CO from 2007 for over $1100 on my CR's, and my EQ FICO is almost 700. The reporting of two new student loans and one credit card bumped up my score from around 600 to where I am now. If I were in your position, I wouldn't bother trying to GW HSBC if I couldn't pay. I'd go for PFD's on all the little collections and let the CO age off. Keep in mind getting rid of the newer collections will probably have a more drastic effect on your scores. I would imagine once your new accounts start reporting you should see a score boost as well.
My next question was "Will my scores raise once my new accounts report?" 
Patience has never been my strong suit. lol I was just reading over the PFD sample letter here. Am I understanding correctly that this is basically an offer of a percentage of the balance they claim is due, with the stipulation that if the CA accepts the offer, the TL will be deleted?
Hehe, I'm the same way--I'm checking my reports every day waiting for RJM to delete the TL I have with them. 
That's exactly what the PFD letter is. It's sort of like a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal. Like I said, RJM is more than willing to PFD. I also know that MCM is not. Others have had success with having MCM TL's deleted after they settled the accounts however. The theory is that once MCM has their money, they don't give a darn about keeping up with the TL's. I settled with MCM for around 50% years ago. I just recently disputed with EX--I told them MCM agreed to delete when I paid. I'm just waiting for results now.