Home Stretch

[wincrasher]

Well it's one week till closing on my new house. Never thought we'd get there.

I've been afraid to buy anything for the house until I close. It's starting to get to be quite a list:

Washer & Dryer ~$2000
Refrigerator $2200
Riding Lawn Mower $1800

If I was to buy these items at one place - like Lowe's, what kind of discount could I expect to get?

[swanson719]

Home Depot is pretty decent about giving up to a 10% discount, which is at manager discretion. The floor sales person can't do any of it, so ask for a manager when you go shopping, and don't be afraid to walk away if they don't give it. Some people won't care, others will.

At the same time, $2,000 is a high price for washer and dryer. You don't have to have a front load. And honestly, I wouldn't spend $1800 on a riding lawn mower. I run a grounds crew for a 20 acre commercial facility where we mow 24-30 hours a week, and the residential use riders just don't cut it. If you have a big enough property to really need a true rider, I'd look into a zero turn Cub Cadet, which run $2400 on up. Not a big price jump, but it's the best mower for the price. Otherwise, you can get a decent push mower for $130 at tractor supply and do a dandy job with that. From a cost standpoint, you're working an awful lot to make up the price difference.

But then again, if you have the disposable income, why not enjoy yourselves?

[wincrasher]

Yeah, I want a front loader.

The lot is about an acre. A rider is more expensive than having a neighborhood kid butcher the grass, less expensive than me having a heart attack pushing a mower.

[financialnut]

I've been in an apartment for a number of years now, and we're not ready financially to take the jump into a home quite yet. This thread has been another good reminder that it's truly an expensive thing to get a home.

Good luck!

[scoutdjackson]

Woah all 3 of those items seem priced pretty high, fridge for $2200? We got ours for about 900--mid sized brushed steel, pretty nice.

[wincrasher]

They are high. Making some luxury choices out of want, not need.

But paying cash! Not charging anything that goes in my new place.

Don't think expecting 10% off would be out of line though.

[noppenbd]

You can easily find 10% coupons for Lowes and Home Depot on eBay. I would not commit yourself to buying in one place just to get 10% off. You can probably get better deals if you buy strategically. I would also check out Sears. We got a front loading washer/dryer combo there and paid around $1200 I believe. If you apply for a Sears card you can usually get 10-20% off.

[Caoineag]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Well it's one week till closing on my new house. Never thought we'd get there.

I've been afraid to buy anything for the house until I close. It's starting to get to be quite a list:

Washer & Dryer ~$2000
Refrigerator $2200
Riding Lawn Mower $1800

If I was to buy these items at one place - like Lowe's, what kind of discount could I expect to get?

Do yourself a favor, go online to set up your address changeover with the post office (or you can grab the paper one too, either works). Via email, you will get a coupon for either Lowe's or Home Depot for 10% off (and they will mail you nice coupons later as well).

On the refrigerator, check out Sears. They have a lot of clearance sections and you can get that very expensive frig for a lot less (We got a $2900 frig for $700). Same for the Washer and Dryer. You definitely want to hit their sales instead of paying full price.

[tripods68]

This reminds me when we got our brand new house almost 6 years ago.

1. Washer & Dryer - Gift (valued $1250 from Lowe's)
2. Refrigerator - Gift ( Valued $900 Lowe's)
3. Lawn Mower $350 Paid $350 (Sears)

The first two items were gifts from my parents after discounts. It was nice those as gifts up front, especially after we just closed escrow.

[wincrasher]

I'm not a big lover of Sears.

Last time I ordered a washer & dryer from them, the delivery men skinned the paint off of both units. When I pointed it out to them, they said that happens on all their deliveries and nobody complains about it.

Well, I sent it back and haven't returned to a Sears since.

[Ima saver]

I just got a new GE refrigerator for about $1000, so the prices do seem a bit high. I am sure you can get both washer and dryer for $1000.

[wnlbutterfly]

We are sending back our Sears dryer. We have a Sears washer, got last November, but the dryer was still good. Our old set was 25 yrs old. Went and got the matching dryer last week. Delivered and it makes this thumping sound. Like you are drying a shoe (even if empty), or a heartbeat. The Sears guy came out, said that was actually quiet for that model (excuse me, I can hear it clear upstairs and our W/D is in the basement near the family room). He changed the rollers but it is actually the bad workmanship on the drum, the seam isn't smooth, has at least a 1/8" bump, so every time that bump hits the rollers it "thump thump". All it would take is 10 minutes to buff out that seam when they make it but they don't care.

This dryer is going back and I have to search for a dryer that isn't so poorly made, and will have a mis-matched set. Joy

[swanson719]

Why not sell the washer on Craigslist and get a new matching set? You'll take a bit of a hit I'm sure, but if you're spending a lot right now, is it going to be that much of a difference? Might as well have what you want instead of getting annoyed every time you do laundry.

[disneysteve]

We have always had a mismatched washer and dryer. We bought our first ones at the Sears Outlet. Over the years, we've replaced each piece once, but not at the same time. Plus, even if we had done them at the same time, they probably would have been mismatched because we buy based on price and features, not appearance. We don't care if they look alike. We care if they do what we want them to do at a reasonable price. The matching piece often isn't the one we want. Since our washer and dryer are in the basement, what they look like is of no significance at all.