Planning on buying a home in 2014? Find out how to get the best home for your money with these helpful tips from The Lawhead Team:

Get pre-approved for a home loan – This is different than getting “pre-qualified”. It is important to make sure you are in the strongest negotiating position possible to use your money wisely. Many times after a potential buyer actually attempts to qualify for a loan, unknown problems can come to the surface.

Save money for a down payment – Conventional loans require 20% of the home’s value down while you can apply for a Federal Housing Administration loan where the minimum is 3% down.

Before house hunting, make a list of things you want in the new place – Then make a list of the things you don’t want. You can use this list as a guide to rate each property that you see. This helps avoid confusion, will save money in the long run, and keeps things in perspective when you’re comparing dozens of homes.

Take your time to find the right house – Don’t make a decision on a house until you feel that you’ve seen enough to pick the best one. It is important to check into the school districts of the area you’re considering. Whether or not you have kids now, it will be an important selling point when you go to sell your home.

Perform a home inspection – It is important not to get emotionally attached to a home before you have an inspection performed. Until a home inspector performs a detailed inspection on the home, it is impossible to know if the home has major structural damage which will end up costing a good amount of money down the road. Don’t blow off this step; a home inspection is incredibly important when home buying.