Where does everyone buy their buidling materials for your flips?

Question

I was jsu wondering where does everyone buy their materials for their flips? I am based out of Chicago/Northwest Indiana area and I have found some places to get some really great deals and other places I have paid straight up retail which I know with the right network we all can help each other find really awesome prices. I have a place in Chicago I can go to and get 50% off bathroom vanities,windows,doors, faucets,tile,glass tile,ceiling fans,toilets, bath tubs, etc but it all depends on what he has in stock and when. He sells out quickly too once he recieves his shipments so it's all a timing thing. On the flip I am doing now I need bigger size vanities that he simply don't carry. Also looking for gutters ,soffits,water heater but he don't carry this kind of stuff. If anyone in the area is intrested in my building material guys place let me know and I can give you his address. Its a big old commercial warehouse whic is not very clean or organized but you can find some good materials for your flips or rentals. But would like to hear from other flippers where do you go and buy your stuff? Any good online places? etc...

Aaron McGinnis · Answer

The biggest issue is that HD/Lowes is actually great for most commodity goods... sheetrock, hardware, fasteners, etc. for folks who aren't doing much volume. 
	
	And when you do get to where you're at about $100k+ per year with those companies, they will bump you into a managed account and you'll start getting better discounts.
	
	Even for things like Lumber... a large order, priced around, will come in very competitively at Lowes. 
	
	What we found is that Lowes, while competitive on the whole, can't supply some stretched and specialty lumber... so we deal with a real lumber yard.

Insulation and Drywall? Lowes is pretty darn good until you hit major quantities (Hundreds of boards a month), then a small-time supply house will deal with you. Want even better discounts from a larger supplier? The best prices will only be had when you're talking about buying 1000+ boards a month or thousands of sqft of insulation a month.
	
	This is pretty well true across the board... want better cabinet pricing? Spend tens of thousands of dollars with a cabinet manufacturer and become a distributor. Want better prices and service with dumpsters? Order dozens and dozens of them on a yearly basis.
	
	Suppliers are utterly unimpressed by the whole, "I'm an investor. I'm in business" schtick. They're usually pretty unimpressed with the "I'm a contractor. I'm in business" line too. You need to be able to roll up with a large order and show impressive monthly buying capacity before the big guys will even talk to you about any kind of statistically meaningful discount.... and even at that point, the discounts really only mean something BECAUSE you're buying in gross bulk and saving $2/board on drywall adds up when you're ordering by the truck load every other week.
	
	The other huge factor is that when you get to where you CAN negotiate for these kind of discounts, you've thoroughly worn out the service capacity of big box stores like Lowes and if you have to deal with one more botched, incomplete delivery or broken board of 'rock you're going to tear your hair out... then the service and delivery capabilities of a real supply house starts making a big difference to you.

Aaron McGinnis · Answer

It's going to be tough to get a lot better than HD or Lowes after going through their bid desk...
	
	When you're just starting and don't do a lot of volume, serious supply houses won't even talk to you. Do 40-50 projects a year and you'll have enough volume to go to a supply house and negotiate.
	
	The issue as you've observed is that going to Restore or other such salvage operations is that it's unpredictable. If you have a lot of time to burn then you can save pennies on some things... but the time spent shopping pretty quickly zeroes out the cost savings.
	
	(When you do get to be doing a lot of volume, buying materials becomes a major, daily, logistic hurdle.... but that's another topic)

Gerald David · Answer

Account Closed In my neck of the woods, few builders/flippers purchase their goods from HD or Lowes.

I had a customer who HAD to have an Allure base product.  I took the sample from HD and went to the local Color Tile.  They were able to procure a product from Mohawk that is better than the comparable Allure product, and LESS expensive.  Same goes for pad and anything else.

Remember, Lowes and HD stock their own products.  And so do the local flooring dealers.  But if you can give your local dealers some time, I'm sure they will find products that will work for you AND you will get better customer service.

Good luck!!

Michael Woodward · Answer

Account Closed , I get my cabinets from a local cabinet dealer called Premier Kitchens. It's a small mom & pop kind of place so I'm sure they don't any other locations. You could Google your area for cabinets or look in the yellow pages. The key is to shop all the local shops. It's always best to get referrals from someone that's used them before.  My contractor referred this guy to me two years ago and I've used him ever since.

Also, some areas have places that specialize in just counter tops. This is the very best place to get cabinet referrals because they work right behind the cabinet installers. They might not know who has the best price though so don't forget to shop around.

Michael Woodward · Answer

Account Closed , I used to think that specialty shops had higher prices than Lowes or Home Depot until I started shopping around. What I found (to my pleasant surprise) was that I could get higher quality major items (carpet, cabinets, appliances, shingles, lumber, doors, windows, etc) for either the same price or less from the specialty shops rather than the big box stores.  I found a cabinet shop that provides gorgeous cabinets.  The cabinets and complete installation costs slightly more than the off the shelf "stock" cabinets from the other guys (with no installation) and look three times better.

I don't know if this is true for all areas of the country but in my area of TN, the specialty shops can only compete with Lowes and Home Depot by having better prices and service. If you plan to do projects in your area for any length of time I think it would be worth your while to shop around. I get great service and great prices because I put in the effort to shop.

Good luck!

Account Closed · Answer

Wow  that's  some  great  insight  and  value  added  by  everyone.  Much  appreciated!

@ Michael Woodward  where  do u  go  for  your  kitchen  cabinets?  As  we all know  kitchen  and  bathrooms  sell  homes.  Just  wondering  if I  have  same kind  of store  around  me?

I  feel  better  knowing  that  the money  in  spending  at  these  local  big  box  stores  is  probably  my  best  choice  especially  when  you  think  about  add  someone  pointed  out  the  volume  they  are  buying  in. I  have  found  some  wholesalers  in  the  area  and  use  allot  of  on  line  places  so I  just  assumed  there  had  to  be  other  places  other  people  used.  Thanks  again!

Account Closed · Answer

@  Scott W.  Thanks  for  the  insight.  Yeah  that's  just  crazy  to  think  there  is  no  better  places  for  materials  than  Home  Depot  and  Menards. I  agree with  you  tho  on  time  and  return  policy.

Sandy Uhlmann · Answer

As far as kitchen appliances, I shopped by local Lowes and elsewhere then found two places on the internet that gave me a side by side refig, a free standing electric range, an over the range microwave, and a dishwasher for less than 2100 AND no taxes and no shipping.  They are probably the lower end items, but in a rental, this is more than fine.  You can also save another $300 if you go with the freezer on the top variety of refigerator

http://www.interstateappliance.com/frigidaire-cntrctrpackage-1e.html

www.us-appliance.com › BUILDER PACKA

$1999 at US appliance

GES +?

Pat L. · Answer

We have a lot of contractor supply auctions here, but you need to know your pricing & there may be a defect somewhere in a pallet of tile or hardwood flooring.

My rehab guy picked up a LOT of 12' x 5" base board @ the auction & resold what he didn't need making over $600.

Kyle Hipp · Answer

I use Menards for the vast majority of my materials. They seem to have the best prices and a wide variety of quality products easily available.  I do use Home Depot for some products. I get the Allure flooring from Home Depot as well as get flooring from Home Depot if I have the time. Usually I can get a pretty cheap install on the carpet right through home depot but there are a lot of hoops to jump through with a measurement and then a set up call then a carpet pickup then set up installation. I use a local flooring company if I need something quicker, I can usually walk in there and pay in cash and let them know I want it installed tomorrow afternoon and they make it happen.

Where does everyone buy their buidling materials for your flips?

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