520 Needs to Be 620 to Get Approved for Home Loan 299.00 Fast Start?

  I have a credit score of 520 (horrible) and I need to get it raised to at least 620 in order to get a home loan. I have disputed everything that can be disputed (and a lot of them worked-thanks!) so, now I’m dealing with the debt that I have to pay. I’ve paid off 4 of the smaller ones (but, they didn’t remove them, they just updated the report to PAID after…). And now I have a couple of questions for you…
 
1.       I have 8 negative items on my report now and 6 positive (all student loans that are current). 6 of the 8 negatives are collections that are less than $400, there is one collection that is $997 (which will fall off in Dec.2010) but there is one charge off that is $5000. Should I pay off the smaller collections first or start paying off the larger one? Is one better or worse regarding my score?
2.       My brother has excellent credit (go figure J). If he added me to one of his credit accounts would that help my score? Would it have a adverse effect on his rating?
3.       Would getting a secured credit card help at this point? Or should I wait until I pay off some more things? I have a credit union who has a “credit builder” program that gives you $1000 and they report to the credit bureau when they draft the payments out of your account (you can’t use the funds until after a year). So, I signed up but then they called me and said that it wouldn’t help my score any so there was no use to apply for it. Maybe they were mistaken?

I’ve also been doing some research today and I saw an article about FICO 08. It stated (in my understanding) that any debt reported that the original amount is under $100 then it’s not going to affect your score. Is this the case?

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HELL   NO!
everything counts

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they were mistaken IF they in fact report to experian equifax transunion
secured cards that report to credit bureaus do the same thing and it helps your credit report and credit score

your collections and charge offs are bad
i would pay the least first and go up the chain
http://www.oskie.com/negotiate-creditors-bad-credit-collections-charge-offs.htm
try to negotiate removal

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520 Needs to Be 620 to Get Approved for Home Loan 299.00 Fast Start?

your brothers score has nothing to do with you
and he cannot just add you on a credit card as an authorized user anymore
so thats out

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 I was inquiring about home loans today and was told the credit score would need to be 620. I told the lender that my score was below that and he attempted to enroll me in a Fresh Start Program for $299.00. He states that they would dispute certain things or have them change the way that they report the paid bills on my credit report…But, isn’t this the same things that I could do? Is there any benefit in having them dispute than myself? And, I honestly don’t know how paying the collections have been any better for me than if I just sit there and let them age off of my report…well, especially the ones that won’t delete the item. The lender said that when I pay the collections it actually makes my score go down or not change at all. So, what is the benefit of paying them (other than the fact that I do truly owe it)?

Also, what (in your opinion) the fastest way to raise my score 100 points? Its funny…I trust your information A LOT more than the lenders!!!