Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 717 posts · 50 votes
Hello, I've heard of certain ways to save on materials for example buying gift cards on craigslist (even though this might be risky since scams), but I was wondering if anyone could share any other tips or tricks to save on materials when rehabbing a home.
I use all kinds of techniques... one of my favorite, candidly, is using a credit card that gives me cash back on everything. 1% cash back doesn't seem like a lot, but if you're spending $100k+ on it every year it's a nice little Christmas bonus.
As mentioned, Lowes is good if you can get contractor pricing. Typically it's about 10% off. If you've got military ID, you can get discounts that way too.
(You don't always have to go through the bid room to get it. If they know you well, you can really just walk in and ask for it.)
Sherwin Williams is good. Sweet talk them and you can get 10% off just for being a contractor. If you really buy a lot of paint, you can get some serious discounts. (Good reason to let your painter buy paint)
Build.com is great for higher-end fixtures, and they have GREAT service and a bit of a discount if you sign up for a contractor account.
For lumber, get to know a lumber yard. Things like trim and LVL beams are much better from a lumber yard! Ironically, Lowes can typically beat a lumber yard with a "First blush" quote on commodity items like 2x4s. Stretched lumber goes to the lumber yard.
Lowes can also match and beat pricing from a lumber yard, but it's a really good way to piss off your rep at the lumber yard so I try not to do that unless I'm in trouble.
Doors, windows, and flooring should all come from supply houses... not Lowes or HD. Find someone who deals directly with Masonite to buy from. (Lowes deals with several in-betweeners, so you don't get the best prices from them)
Special interior & exterior doors I try to get from a variety of surplus places locally. I also like to walk into these places so they see me between jobs... shoot the breeze, insult the owner's mother, and tell him what a ripoff his prices are. Good times. I've gotten some SCREAMING deals on odds and ends this way. (Most of the guys running the surplus places are delighted to talk shop and won't miss the chance to provide you with a cup of joe and some conversation)
Appliances I shop a variety of places. For low-end stuff, Brandsmart isn't a bad way to go... Sears used to be good, but their discounts just aren't there anymore.
For better stuff, I use a variety of outlets and surplus places and just shop it until I get what I need.
Things like insulation and fire caulk I try not to buy at all. I get an insulation company to do it... they can often insulate the house for only a bit more than I could go buy material at Lowes or HD.
Small electrical and plumbing parts I let my electrician and plumber buy. They get better deals at a supply house than I can get from big-box. I like to get my toilets and water heaters this way.
I wish there was some secret handshake or password at Lowes that would magically get you some kind of ridiculous discount, but sadly I just don't think there is. That's really across the board... getting good deals is largely just a matter of time vs. cost. You're going to spend time shopping around and hunting for the deals.
Depending on the quality of materials needed, check out Habitat For Humanity Re-Stores. Lowes, HD and other suppliers donate materials to HFH and they sell items toraise money for what they need. Individuals also take in many items as well. I bought a $400 toilet, a Kohler low profile one piece type for $35.00...brand new! Picked up an Amana double oven (stack full size ovens) for $125.00, about an $800.00 unit!
The one in my area has moldings, doors, paint, geeez I can't mention it all, but it is located in an older building that use to be a lumber yard and it's full!
Another way to save is check and see if you have a landlord's association and if they have pooled their resopurces for an account at local suppliers. You might join for a hundred bucks and get a 20% discount.
IMO, walking intolowes and saying where is the contractor's desk because I'm rehabbing my second house won't be real impressive in the scope of things. Over the years I have pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars through the doors at Lowes and the manager knows me, and I was never a big contractor, just a long term customer. Depending on what the item is, you can get better deals by asking, like 50% on carpet, but don't expect that on plywood, it depends on the margin of the item.
You might check out http://www.arpola.org. It's an investors association that has a discount to Lowe's. Also, when you're making a bulk purchase you can take it the "bid room" at places like Home Depot and Lowe's. That's where they give discounts to contractors. In my experience you can get 10-15% off there.
I use all kinds of techniques... one of my favorite, candidly, is using a credit card that gives me cash back on everything. 1% cash back doesn't seem like a lot, but if you're spending $100k+ on it every year it's a nice little Christmas bonus.
As mentioned, Lowes is good if you can get contractor pricing. Typically it's about 10% off. If you've got military ID, you can get discounts that way too.
(You don't always have to go through the bid room to get it. If they know you well, you can really just walk in and ask for it.)
Sherwin Williams is good. Sweet talk them and you can get 10% off just for being a contractor. If you really buy a lot of paint, you can get some serious discounts. (Good reason to let your painter buy paint)
Build.com is great for higher-end fixtures, and they have GREAT service and a bit of a discount if you sign up for a contractor account.
For lumber, get to know a lumber yard. Things like trim and LVL beams are much better from a lumber yard! Ironically, Lowes can typically beat a lumber yard with a "First blush" quote on commodity items like 2x4s. Stretched lumber goes to the lumber yard.
Lowes can also match and beat pricing from a lumber yard, but it's a really good way to piss off your rep at the lumber yard so I try not to do that unless I'm in trouble.
Doors, windows, and flooring should all come from supply houses... not Lowes or HD. Find someone who deals directly with Masonite to buy from. (Lowes deals with several in-betweeners, so you don't get the best prices from them)
Special interior & exterior doors I try to get from a variety of surplus places locally. I also like to walk into these places so they see me between jobs... shoot the breeze, insult the owner's mother, and tell him what a ripoff his prices are. Good times. I've gotten some SCREAMING deals on odds and ends this way. (Most of the guys running the surplus places are delighted to talk shop and won't miss the chance to provide you with a cup of joe and some conversation)
Appliances I shop a variety of places. For low-end stuff, Brandsmart isn't a bad way to go... Sears used to be good, but their discounts just aren't there anymore.
For better stuff, I use a variety of outlets and surplus places and just shop it until I get what I need.
Things like insulation and fire caulk I try not to buy at all. I get an insulation company to do it... they can often insulate the house for only a bit more than I could go buy material at Lowes or HD.
Small electrical and plumbing parts I let my electrician and plumber buy. They get better deals at a supply house than I can get from big-box. I like to get my toilets and water heaters this way.
I wish there was some secret handshake or password at Lowes that would magically get you some kind of ridiculous discount, but sadly I just don't think there is. That's really across the board... getting good deals is largely just a matter of time vs. cost. You're going to spend time shopping around and hunting for the deals.
The best way to save on material is to not over buy and limit mistakes.
Review what you are buying and explore options that will save money.
Buy only off the shelf items from Lowes and Home Depot. They are poor at special orders.Buy in one big lot and have it delivered and have it go to the bid room.
Find local supply houses and check price and availability. Establish relationships and accounts with ones that are good. Try to deal with only one person at a supply house and box stores the relationship over time pays off.
Great ideas all around. I need to check the Habitat Store. Here are a few we use:
1. Giant Eagle is a grocery chain that has stores here in Central Ohio. Giant Eagle has a program the can help a bit. If you buy gift card for Lowes or Home Depot(or dozens of other stores and restaurants) you get free gas at Giant Eagles gas stations. Not a huge deal but every bit helps.
2. Don’t think that because you are only on your first or 2nd rehab you wont get a discount on a package at the pro desk.
 3. If you have a relationship with a pro desk at a location in another town from where you are working, you can usually work with the pro desk you are used to and have it shipped through the local Home Depot.
You can save a little, but nothing crazy. In our area, if you go to the post office and get a moving package, Lowes has a 10% off gift card in the package!! Plus go to pro desk and send stuff to the bid room.
You can save a little, but nothing crazy. In our area, if you go to the post office and get a moving package, Lowes has a 10% off gift card in the package!! Plus go to pro desk and send stuff to the bid room.
You make it sound like you can apply the coupon to the bid room quote. Has anyone ever tried this? It seems unlikely to work.
We had this discussion a couple of months ago. Someone suggested rnovationscoupons.com
I have used them twice for Lowes 10% off coupons. Home Depot accepts them too. I paid $7 for 5 coupons. I saved $18 with the first one.
Don
I make sure I always have a supply of Lowe's 10% off coupons at the ready. Picked up 10 more coupons last week for $10.40 on eBay.
I've never had a problem using the coupons at Lowe's or Home Depot.
Anytime I shop at a Lowe's or Home Depot, I pay with my Chase Ink Business card, the card gives me 3% back at Home Improvement stores. I pay in full every month, so no finance charges.
When I needed several hundred feet of rough cut cedar, I found a local lumber yard that sells only Cedar, their prices were half Lowe's / Home Depot prices. Down side was I couldn't hand pick the boards, but when you're talking 50% cheaper, I can deal with that.
If you need sod, find a place that just sells sod. There's a place in Dallas that sells it for considerably less than Lowe's and Home Depot, their sod is always fresh too.
It appears that many of you are buying 10% off coupons. If you buy enough at home depot or lowes, the bid desk will get you 10% or more off of your order without any coupons or costs to you.
As to the other question, no, you can not get the contractor's discount, then the additional 10% off coupon, it is one or the other.
I once had the Home Depot bidroom come back with about an 8% discount on the total order. I complained that the discount coupon would have been better, and the manager gave me an additional percentage off of everything, and it ended up being much better than the 10% coupon.
As to the other question, no, you can not get the contractor's discount, then the additional 10% off coupon, it is one or the other.
Here is what we do to get between 15-20% discounts on large orders:
We'll send a large order through the bid desk. The automatic bid-desk deduction will generally take between 20-40% off of about 30% of the items. The other 70% of items are undiscounted, but the total discount across the full order is about 10-11% at that point.
I then hand a 10% coupon to my guy at the Pro Desk, and he manually discounts the 70% of the items that were previously undiscounted (by 10% each).
Because each item is only be discounted once (either through the bid desk or through the manual deduction), Home Depot doesn't consider it "double dipping" and the ultimate discount is generally between 15-20%.
I have done that very same thing as well jason, only without needing the coupon. My rep at the bid desk manually gives me the 10% off without having any coupons.
My point was that you can not get teh bid desk discount on an item, plus an additional 10% off the same items with the coupons (double dipping as you elaborated)
Another thing to consider if you're doing a lot of business at Home Depot (and probably Lowe's as well):
Normally, to send something through the bid room, you need a purchase of at least $2500. But, if you do enough volume, HD will allow you to start running every purchase (no matter how small) through the bid desk (takes about 5 minutes at checkout).
You need to be doing at least $25K per month in purchases, but if you are, it's a great benefit.
I also hear that if you're doing $50-100K per month, there are other benefits...but I haven't gotten to that tier yet, so I have no idea what they are... :D
When we renovated our rental house (first one), I bought discounted store credit cards via cardpool.com - I averaged about 9% discount that way. Since I'm not a contractor and the job was small and I didn't know how much I would need upfront, I felt like that was a good use of our $$.
We are currently getting ready to start work on our second rehab (with plans for many more of course) so we haven't had the volume at HD or Lowe's just yet. During our first rehab, we made 2-3 major trips where we'd buy $3-5k worth of materials and use the 10% off coupon.
Is it worth trying the Bid Desk yet or should we stick with the 10% coupon method until we have a few more under our belt?
Every time you're in Lowe's, check the clearance racks and scratch and dent appliances. Sometimes you can get a $1000 appliance for about $250, or closeout light fixtures for next to nothing. The same goes for returned special orders. We buy any good deal we can find, knowing that we'll use it eventually.
I've also started getting some appliances from builders. People buy spec homes and upgrade them to nicer appliances, and the builders often can't return the other ones, but the overcharge for the upgraded ones so they don't care. Call the local sales managers and tell them you'll take any extra appliances off their hands.
Model homes are a great place to get staging furniture too. When they sell out a neighborhood, they sell the model and have to get rid of the furniture and decor, so you can probably pick some up pretty cheap.
Ask the paint store if they have any mis-tint paint. We once bought 80 gallons of Sherwin Williams paint for $5/gallon and they even tinted it to a nice beige for us.
People always sell "odd lots" of flooring on craigslist. Sometimes it's only scraps, but the "leftovers" from a 5,000 sf mansion could be enough for the living room of a small flip house. Carpet "remnants" are often big enough to do some small bedrooms too, if you can find a couple that match.
We probably spend more time tracking down materials than most flippers, but its a lot easier to save the money and have to flip fewer homes to survive.
The one thing I've done that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is to take the quote from Lowe's over to home Depot and ask them if they can do better, then back again to Lowe's. They have a real rivalry.
The one thing I've done that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is to take the quote from Lowe's over to home Depot and ask them if they can do better, then back again to Lowe's. They have a real rivalry.
That will work on building materials, but unfortunately, for finish materials, the two stores don't stock the same products, so getting an apples to apples comparison is very difficult.