New To Forum, my situation

hello all, I am new to the forum and wanted to say Hi, and also get some advice. This may be long winded so I apologize. I have been reading the forums for about 3 weeks, and now would like some advice. So here is my situation:

I had credit problems in the past(bankruptcy in 2001, repo in 2004, several late pays and unpaid collections from 2003 to late 2005). Now, my wife and I know we made several mistakes after our bankruptcy, but for the last 2 years(since feb 2006) have not had a late pay on any opened account. Those accounts include 2 car loans(both names on both accounts), one credit card(wifes name only), and one student loan(my name only).

We thought we were ready to purchase a home, and went to a local mortgage company. The rep said that we needed to clean up our credit a little first. For the record, my score is a 544, my wife a 541.

We went over the credit report line by line, and I was told that some things I could fix now, and some could wait.

My wife has a collection account from Bellsouth from 2003, showing a balance of $65, this account was paid in full in 2006, we have sent the receipt and a letter disputing the account to the CRA's, so this should be taken care of.

She has another collection from Palisades CA, says it is from Verizon North, no way this is her account, so we sent a dispute letter to the CRA's requesting verification of this debt.

Other than those, my wifes credit will be clear.

Now, my credit on the other hand is more complicated.

I have a charged off account from 2003 on an auto that was repo'd showing a past due balance of $9,123.

Also showing a collection from an apartment I used to live in for $1800(yea, I bailed on it, long story).

I also use to have a capital one credit card that I paid religiously until some extenuating circumstances, and I got behind on it, by the time I had the money to pay it, capital had charged it off, I paid the full amount on the card immediately, so it shows paid in full with a $0 balance but charged off.

SO, now I turn to you experts, 2 questions:

Is there anything I can do to remove any of these tradelines from my CR without paying them off?(I know asking alot)

AND what else can I do, besides just keep paying my current stuff on time to raise my credit score.

My wife an I make very good money now(was not the case when we had problems) and have absolutely no problem paying our bills right now, with about 800-1000 left over every month.

Thanks for reading my long winded story! And thanks for any replies.