Buying your first home can be both exciting and daunting. You might not want to settle for anything less than your dream home, but you also need to invest wisely so you don't end up buried in debt.
"Home shopping is an emotional roller-coaster, and oftentimes you find a home that you fell in love with but it's outside your budget and people break their budget," Wu, 36, tells CNBC Make It."But it's really important to stick to a budget and be fiscally responsible when buying a home." "People don't account for the fact that the home is where you live, but also it's a financial investment. And you want to make sure you're making a smart financial decision," Wu says, so you need to have realistic expectations about what you can get for your money.
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