From homeless to homeowner |

Several years ago, Chandra Hawkins, 44 years old, was jobless and living out of her car. After being married for 15 years, she became a single mom with nothing to her name. A custody battle with the father of her three sons left her drowning in legal fees. She couldn’t keep up with her credit card bills. Her credit score tanked.

But what she really wanted was “a home that my boys could come home to that was just mine, that was in my name,” she says.

Setting the scene on homebuying

Credit and homeownership are closely correlated. When you apply for a mortgage, your credit score affects your chances of getting approved. It also helps determine your interest rate — and even a fraction of a percentage point can cost thousands over the life of a loan. Bankrate found moving from fair to very good credit could save you around $54,000 in the long run.

Marla Puckett, Hawkins’ credit counselor at MMI, says the way you improve credit depends on why it’s low in the first place. Some clients have a high credit utilization ratio. Others aren’t keeping up with payments on time.

“If someone’s score is low because their utilization is high, then the key would be to knock down that debt as quickly as possible,” she says. She recommends they create a debt management plan with MMI or use the snowball or avalanche repayment method on their own.

“What’s really going to matter most is that they reduce their overhead,” Puckett continues.

Behind her homebuying experience

Hawkins moved out of her car into a sublet because she couldn’t get a lease with her credit score. But she had her sights set on homeownership.

After connecting with her credit counselor, she was told that buying a home would be a marathon, not a sprint. The first step was to begin making on-time debt repayments. By February 2025, Hawkins was debt free and had rebuilt a good credit score.

It was finally time to look at mortgage preapproval options. “A lot of people don’t want to go through the preapproval process because they’re afraid to know where the chips fall,” Hawkins says. “But you have to know your numbers — for paying off debt and for what you can purchase.”

She’d remarried in 2023, and her husband was a real estate agent. He found a lender through his network who directed them toward a USDA loan, which meant moving farther outside the city radius but with a lower 6.2% mortgage rate.

Still, the housing market was competitive, and they didn’t have the money to compete with cash buyers. Hawkins wanted an older home with many rooms and a traditional floor plan. Soon, they realized that their purchasing power could not make that dream a reality.

But at the end of the day, “We need a home,” Hawkins decided. “I want a place where my family can come.” That’s when they opted for a new build, which they moved into September 2025.

Timely payments on that mortgage is going to be a huge piece of things.

— Marla Puckett
Certified credit counselor

Her homeownership dream

Hawkins has come to appreciate not worrying about upkeep or maintenance in their new build. She also wants to debunk the myth that building a home is for the rich. “It may be far more attainable for you to build,” she says, in comparison to competing with other buyers for existing homes.

Her husband has joined the first generation of homeowners in his family, and the couple lives in a neighborhood with several of his cousins. Their home has a revolving door for barbecues, sleepovers and craft nights.

Her adult sons also have a place to come home for the holidays. “It’s just been such a source of joy in a world that feels really uncertain,” Hawkins says.