Midland , TX · Member since 2012 · 24 posts · 1 vote
Hello All
My wife and I are buying several low income houses to expand our portfolio and try new areas. While I like purchasing homes at cheaper prices, there is a lot more work that come into getting them ready. I have been reading on the Lowes and Home Depot web sites about contractor discounts. I am sure some of you use them, and I would be very interested in hearing your feedback.
Contractor · washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2011 · 204 posts · 64 votes
12y
Lowes and depot do it but check with some of your other company if you are doing large purchase. you can fax the bid over to your local lumber yards and be shocked on what they can save you . I use the home Depto alot at times 84 lumber at times tw perry I am a builder and Lowes and Depot do not allways have the best price if you want to get the best bang for your buck and you have the time send it out to three or four vendors. We send it out for our stone cabinets appliance paint etc I pay with my american express so if something is damage or stolen not a problem or if I have a problem they handle it like the mob plus with the points I use it to take me a trip with the family after every three or four big jobs, Good luck to you.
Lexington, KY · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
13y
Granville,
We use the contractors desk at Lowe's for all of our projects. Essentially, we put together a list of everything we need and take it to the desk (I believe there is a $2500 minimum). Usually the same day we get the results of the bid and the final price (generally between 8 and 12% discount on standard prices).
I believe Home Depot has a similar program but I have stuck with Lowe's since they were more willing to work with us when we first started.
Midland , TX · Member since 2012 · 24 posts · 1 vote
13y
James
Thank you for the reply. When you state that they make a "bid" for you, is that for the work to be done by an outside party, or materials discount. I want to do the work myself, but am looking for a discount on large purchase orders. My wife and I am incorporating our business as an LLC, and hoping this will help us with contractor discounts.
We shop the Lowes web site on line and email the contractors desk a list of what we want with the pickup dates. It takes them a few hours but they will email a price. Most of the time it's about 15% cheaper.
We also do a lot of in store pickup Lowes using there website. Discover card gives me 5% cash back for this. I just shop on line at the job and when I get to the store it's ready for pickup. Some stores are better than others on having the items in stock like the web site says they do. Some stores suck when it comes to getting the orders right so always go thought them all.
We have our own ware house so we buy a lot of bulk.
Get to know your store managers most of them will “help” you out from time to time.
Realtor · Houston, TX · Member since 2011 · 916 posts · 296 votes
13y
Granville L. Today, I opened up something called a LAR account at Lowes. I don't know what the minimum is, but I spent $2,335.05, got a $548.26 discount, and they will deliver it for $20 instead of $79.
Rental Property Investor · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 66 posts · 5 votes
13y
Granville L.
I have a gold card for Lowes in our LLC's name. If I use the gold card I receive a 5% discount at the checkout and a $20 delivery charge vs $75. Some policies vary by the store (if they'll give the discount for having a commercial account or only if using the card.) Although Lowes also has other types of commercial credit, the terms of mine are 21%, functions like a credit card and does not accept an autopay on minimum payments or payments scheduled in advance.
Best to you,
Kerry
Property Manager · DeLand FL · Member since 2012 · 860 posts · 243 votes
13y
Lowes gives 5% now on their basic credit card. Really the best way with both is to do as James said and submit your list to the pro desk and you receive discount accordingly, problem with that is, both require about in the $2500 area.
The 10% discount coupons work in a pinch as well.
Home Depot has the pro rewards you sign up for that discounts paint on every purchase and you earn levels of discount with the more you spend yearly.
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2010 · 15 posts · 11 votes
12y
Hi,
Hopefully not too off topic, but with Home Depot there is the estimator software (https://thd.eagleview.com/Login.aspx) that can also be used. With a complete scope of materials, you may find it easier to obtain a discount as well.
Contractor · washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2011 · 204 posts · 64 votes
12y
Lowes and depot do it but check with some of your other company if you are doing large purchase. you can fax the bid over to your local lumber yards and be shocked on what they can save you . I use the home Depto alot at times 84 lumber at times tw perry I am a builder and Lowes and Depot do not allways have the best price if you want to get the best bang for your buck and you have the time send it out to three or four vendors. We send it out for our stone cabinets appliance paint etc I pay with my american express so if something is damage or stolen not a problem or if I have a problem they handle it like the mob plus with the points I use it to take me a trip with the family after every three or four big jobs, Good luck to you.
I just posted this on another forum topic but I thought I would share:
"If you go to Lowes and provide them a standard list of items you want, they will give you discounted pricing. I've set this up at three different lowes in Phoenix and one in Michigan. The discounts are a lot better than the 5% standard discount.
For paint, I use Home Depot Pro rewards. If you talk with the manager, he can up your status without meeting the minimum purchase amounts. It does not take long to get to gold status though, which I think is 20% off paint. If you order a certain amount of paint, they will deliver for free as well.
In both cases, you can fax in you order and they will put it together for you so you are not wasting time shopping around.
I just posted about this in another thread, and thought I would cross post it here for anyone who is still paying full price:
"I get 10% off at Home Depot and Lowes by buying 10% off coupons on Ebay, then just carrying a few of them in my wallet so I always have them.
Here are the ones that work at Home Depot. Note that they are labeled "Lowe's Competitor Coupons" and won't work at Lowe's (my guess is the codes have already been used at Lowe's and are 1 time only) but they work at Home Depot just the same. These are only good for in store purchases. The cashiers will often look confused and not know how to apply the discount (they try scanning it even though it says Lowe's on it). Every cashier has a sheet of bar codes they can scan for various discounts, the 10% off competitor coupon one is on that sheet, or they can enter it manually. This seems like too much information, but trust me when they are confused/slow it helps speed things along to tell them where the codes are located.
Here are the ones that work at Lowe's. For these, make sure you get the ones that are physically mailed to you, as those don't require registration. The ones that require registration have to be registered with a unique email every time which is annoying. You can also use these for online orders as well as in store.
These will get you 10% off on orders up to $5000 for both stores, and only cost about $3/each. I use them every time I go to either store, just keep some in your car or wallet at all times."
Residential Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2009 · 477 posts · 304 votes
12y
As others have said, submit materials order for $2500 or more and you get a significant discount. I find some things are MUCH cheaper at different stores.
I buy all of my tile from Home Depot, but nothing else. They have higher quality and nicer looking tile than the rest for much cheaper.
I get my paint from Sherwin Williams. SW offers deep discounts to someone who sets up a contract account. We consistently get paint for $100 p/5 gallons for stuff we are paying $150 at lowes, etc.
We buy cabinets from Menards. I can custom order maple cabinets from Menards for 75% of the price of the in stock cabinets lowes, home depot, etc carry, and mine aren't all dinged up from being loaded on to shelves by stock boys who don't care...
We use lowes for most of our stuff. We just show up at the contractor desk and they give us 10-15% discounts. Important to note, certain contractor desks are better than the rest. We go to one lowes because we get discounts. It's a bit out of our way, but the discounts make it worthwhile.
Wholesaler · covington, IN · Member since 2012 · 38 posts · 10 votes
12y
Haven't tried it yet but the flip nerd podcast has a nationwide contractor account. It gives you an account number for a home depot for a contractor account with 20% off of paint and a discount from 10-20% off material. if you sign up for their free newsletter they email you this info. Gave them my e-mail they sent the card info. Like I said haven't tried the card yet but plan on soon.
Rental Property Investor · Advance, NC · Member since 2014 · 9 posts · 1 vote
11y
I use both stores and generally avg 10% off when using the pro desk... I also get 20% off on paint at HD! This is huge... IF anyone cares to buy paint at Home Depot and get 20% off this is good for at least the next couple months.... Just tell them to apply the PRO number 336618-0762 and you will automatically get 20% off.. from the cheap stuff up to the high dollar Behr pro paint...
Flipper/Rehabber · Miamisburg, OH · Member since 2014 · 161 posts · 64 votes
11y
I ran an $8000 order through my local HD Pro Desk a couple days ago. The discount was $150. Ended up bringing my Father-In-Law with me and used his veterans discount. Maybe I'll try Lowes Pro Desk next time.....
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
Or play piano for the Behr regional distributor and get a discount on paint at Home Depot... that's how we got a deal... my husband is a professional entertainer. :-)
Contractor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2013 · 143 posts · 36 votes
11y
Im very surprised that none of these posts talked about Lowes and Home Depot's higher prices... I DO shop at Lowes and Home Depot strictly out of convenience (they're always open late, you can find one pretty much anywhere, and 9 times out of ten they wll have a specific item you need). However, they are expensive. Find your local wholesalers and buy in bulk. Buy from the places they get their deliveries from. These places also sell a lot of DIY products that your should steer clear from. I respect the two great home improvement business's strategy, but most of the time you are paying marked up prices. Tip: find your wholesalers, a lot of those places have things on discount too that they are trying to dump that is either extra or cannot get rid of. In those cases, I am all over that.
About the only things we purchase at HD are lights, vanities, and {sometimes} tools. For some reason, in our area, HD carries a better selection of LED light fixtures and provide an additional selection in vanities to those carried in other locations.
We have never purchased lumber, electrical, plumbing or most building materials from HD as we get better pricing and accommodation from two regional building supply distributors.
Contractor · Marietta , GA · Member since 2014 · 5 posts · 0 votes
11y
I suggest setting up an HD pro account. Let me know what area of Texas you are in and I can set you up with that local PAR to help you setup that account.