(MONEY Magazine) – Thyda Puth knows that there is no place like home. A real estate agent and owner of a 30-unit apartment building, she has carved out a specialty: helping refugees from her native Cambodia navigate the U.S. home-buying system. "For us, having a little piece of land is everything," says Puth. Her insight is hard won. In April 1975, her home in Phnom Penh was bombed by the Khmer Rouge, killing her father and brother. Her remaining family died shortly afterward.

Puth spent 13 years living with friends, in work camps and then in refugee camps in Thailand. In spite of it all, she started a family. When Puth and her two sons were cleared to emigrate to California in 1988, her husband chose to stay behind. Puth arrived single but employable: Fluent in French, Thai and Cambodian, she translated films and worked in restaurants.

Two years later, Puth became a hairdresser and moved to Arizona, where her personality won her friends and customers--among them agents from a local ReMax who encouraged her to try real estate. Studying part time, she earned her license in 1996. In her first six months with ReMax, she earned $30,000. She cracked six figures in 1998. Last year she earned over $146,000.

Puth, 46, attributes her success to hard work and luck, infused with a deep sense of gratitude. "Almost 80% of my business is with other refugees," she explains. "It means everything to be free." --ELLEN MCGIRT