Fliperati

While I’m sensitive to the fact that huge, warehouse-style home improvement retailers like Home Depot and Lowes have almost driven the traditional mom-and-pop hardware store into extinction, I can’t help but love the convenience and low-prices that these behemoths offer.  I went straight to the nearest big box home improvement store after the closing on Wednesday to pick up some essentials for the renovation work I hoped to start over the weekend and I could not believe how little money I spent.  Granted, I had done some research and was targeting sale and good-value products, but I filled the back of my (rental) SUV with all the demo supplies (sledgehammer, gloves, masks, ladder) I could possibly need without spending nearly as much as I anticipated.  Then I splurged a little on some power tools because you can get no payment/no interest financing for 12 months if you spend at least $300. 

So, while I’ll keep looking for bargains on tools and materials at all the area retailers, it’s hard for someone in the property flipping business to avoid the one-stop shopping convenience that these big warehouses offer.  Also, with a $7,500 credit limit and the no payment/no interest offer, I could finance nearly a quarter of my projected renovation expenses on a single credit card and not pay a dime until I have finished the project and flipped the house.  It almost seems too good to be true, so I’ll need to do a lot of comparison shopping on big-ticket items like countertops and appliances before giving my entire renovation budget to a single store.

p.s. For more in-depth and philosophical coverage of this question, check out theboxtank.

p.p.s. Big box retailers?  SUVs?  Power tools?  Debt financing?  I promise I don’t actually resemble the modern American cliché I have just described (well, not entirely).