Windows, Where do you buy them?

[David Lee Hall, III]

I usually do my own rentals and traditionally have bought American Craftsman Series 70 (Home Depot) or Lowe's ThermaStar by Pella. Typically windows run me $200-$300 for these entry level double-hung, low-e, with half screens. Reading J Scott's book on estimating rehab costs I see his "high" costs of replacement windows at $420 ($110 labor, $300 materials) per window tends to fall in line with what I see from Window World or Windows R Us quotes when I have gotten them. What I am astonished by is his $175 "low" cost ($75 labor, $100 materials). My question is, where are people getting $100 vinyl windows? Is there a magic window genie out there I don't know about? Do I need to take my contractor's license to ABC Supply or similar place to get wholesale pricing? 

[Sean Honeycutt]

I've done windows a few times on homes I've lived in and in homes I've leased.  If it was **my** home, I have no problem with going with an off the shelf Home Depot window - but I've found that those tend to be smaller than the opening allows (because you have to buy off the shelf, not custom) and if you do go custom with Home Depot, it's more expensive than Window World.

So while doing the windows for my own first home was acceptable, now I tend to just hire Window World when I need windows.  They're almost always the lowest price, there's only so many factories that actually make Windows in the US, and since Window World will replace a broken window for almost any reason on the planet, they make great windows for tenants.

https://thewindowdog.com/windo... This guy goes way into the weeds about Windows, a lot of it is humorous, but their is a lot of information there!