How Many Hours Do You Typically Spend At Home Depot Or Lowes?

Question

IF you do rehabs, how many HOURS do you OR YOUR CONTRACTOR typically spend at Home Depot, Lowes, your favorite building material supplier, etc etc?

Answer can be broken down into:

1. When project first starts OR after a milestone

VS

2. Special runs ("I need to get more 1/4" drywall screws because (I forgot them, underestimated how many were needed, etc etc)")

I'm sure #2 is a common sense answer... but if I made the question broad/unspecific, I'm sure I would have received an answer along the lines of "well, it depends"

Michael Plante · Answer

ZERO hours

It used to be 10+ per week

I place all orders on their app

I click I’m here and one of the guys who knows me literally has the cart ready for me when I walk through  doors   He asks Email the receipts?

A one time tip of $20 goes a long way

I don’t do special runs for items.  I add them to the weekly list k up order.   I can have 7 orders I pick up all at once

If I find out of say drywall acres I just switch over to spreading mulch that day or painting trim, as opposed to running to Lowe’s to get the screws

for larger items I have them delivered

Will Barnard · Answer

I use to live at Home Depot. It was a great help and advantage when I became a managed account and have my own rep. Most all orders are placed on line or via email. I simply send a list to my contact and she gets the bid, places the order and sends me a text for payment authorization. DONE! Every minute you waste at Home Depot is a minute you could have spent finding your next deal, finding more private money, finding another sub, finding another agent contact, or any other task at or above your pay grade.

My friend J Scott has said time and again to ensure that you spend your time on things or tasks that meet your skill level and pay grade. It is cheaper for you in the long term to pay for a $95 delivery fee for a $2 part at Home Depot instead of you heading there your self taking away valuable time you could have used doing something more useful. While that may be a slight exaggeration, it is not too far off and as hard as it was to switch to this way of thinking (I have always been a doer and one that feels if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself), it is a worth while physical and mindset transition for your business (if a business is what you are running and not a hobby).

1. Your first order should cover a vast majority of the rough products you will need on a heavy flip and possibly even the finish items too. The more you order, the better your chances of larger discounts at bid desk.

2. If you ever underestimate the amount of drywall screws you need, it should never be you going to get them. My sub who hangs the drywall is responsible for that, not me. For other items you will be using time and again, buy in bulk and keep extras available in your vehicle, in your storage or on site and avoid these mishaps. The longer you do this, the more organized you will get.

Jerry W. · Answer

The nearest big box store is over an hour away, and a place like Medard's or Home Depot is almost 3 hours away.  I order a lot of stuff online and pick it up weekly.  I usually have extras of lots of stuff in my warehouse.  Spare doors, water heater, lots of extra faucets, supply lines shark bite valves for bathroom or kitchen sinks, saw blades, paint brushes, rollers, even paint.  We do have a local hardware store for items as well that we use a lot.  I am mostly buy and hold not flip though.  So I spend about 2 hours a week at the store and 2 hours online.  I have started having an assistant do my online ordering using a list.  I then review the list and make sure its accurate.  That saves a lot of time.  I have things like baseboard trim delivered by a local lumberyard.

Genny Li · Answer

Hmm.  On a TYPICAL day, I'd expect one run before the day begins, and that's it, with extra runs being rare.  The first run of the project or the project phase would be the big one. After that, it would be smaller, usually, unless you didn't have the space for certain things.  He might go out to eat every day (some do) and run by for little stuff that makes the rest of the day easier then. I wouldn't be happy if he interrupts his work to go by routinely every day.

I make a list during the day for the stuff I need the next day. I very rarely interrupt my own work to get it.

The bigger the group of guys, the more runs (when rehabbing, not when doing something like roofing or siding or gutters--those guys shouldn't be doing ANY runs), and it's usually the most junior person who makes them.  When I do runs during the day, it's to speed up work.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

That's fine as long as they're just getting numbnuts stuff. But invariably on a project you will need stuff that only someone knowledgeable can go find....

Jim Kalish · Answer

OMG I thought it was just me.  My son does most of it but I help out when he gets stuck.  He does most of it on-line.  But it still takes time.  And lets face it, if you order 20 2x4s, they take the 20 on top.  So be ready to have a few that need to go back.  Even if you are very organized its going to take up a lot of time just before the job kicks off and then I plan on several hours for me as the job goes on.  and as @Bruce Woodruff said if its simple stuff like a bag of concrete send the youngest kid on the job.  But if some judgement is needed or its a something that the prospective buyer will see then you're better off to just get up early and get it yourself.  You can take the opportunity to pass out cards to other contractor and get theirs at the same time.

Jennifer Hoover · Answer

I used to spend way too much time. Now I do the same as another poster said and order on the app (actually, I dont even do that anymore, I just text my Lowes for Pros guy what I need directly) and they have it waiting at the Pro Desk, already paid for with the card associated with the Pro account. When my guys go in to shop they can also put it on my account because they're signed up as authorized users. Convenient! Usually they load it up with me too! I used to hate Lowe's. Now, not so much.

Jonathan Greene · Answer

I never go myself and only work with contractors who have runners so they don't send one of the crew to get more cement and take an hour away from the job. The biggest delay on a job is all the pickups they have to do so I would encourage any investor who is flipping to hire a runner so the actual workers are never driving 20 minutes each way for some grout.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Usually 1 hour a day when I have a project going. My record is four times in one day...

not bragging, that's just poor project control..., But in my defense, I did have five huge projects going spread over a hundred miles....

Dave Charron · Answer

30-60 minutes almost every day of the rehab.  Im sure I could cut that down if I planned better but Im not super organized!

How Many Hours Do You Typically Spend At Home Depot Or Lowes?

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