Home Depot vs. Lowe's: Which Stock to Buy?

During my last update I ventured into the rivalry sector of the packaging transportation sector when comparing the differences between buying FedEx and UPS. Using the same type method, I will attempt to do the same regarding the two biggest home builders in Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW). While both have positives and negatives, like all decisions some benefits will outweigh the negatives in terms of higher margins when juxtaposed together.

Looking specifically at the fundamentals, there are a lot of similarities between the two home building corporations. Both have been in the public market for about the same number of years, and while the years do remain similar, the numbers do not. Home Depot has revenue almost twice that of Lowe's which explains its tremendous upward growth over its entire duration. However, looking specifically the last five years, Lowe's has grown to provide margins which are similar or even higher than that of Home Depot and has a greater opportunity to grow. According to Yahoo Finance, Home Depot has the potential to grow about 9% this year and close to 13% the next five years. On the other hand Lowe's has the potential to grow nearly 11% this year and close to 16% in the next five years giving investors some statistics to play around with when determining which stock to buy. Fundamentals in other areas run in similar patterns making this a guessing game in determining which stock would be more beneficial in terms of numbers. However, as of right now, I would say Lowe's has the relatively higher potential to beat out Home Depot.

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Looking more closely in terms of technical analysis, Lowe's seems to beat out Home Depot again. For the last five years Home Depot has seemed to be stuck in a range of 35.00 to 45.00 with no real potential or future advances to thrive upon. On the other hand, Lowe's has provided slow but stable growth during these last five years yielding growth of nearly 100% for investors in terms of capital gains. With the continued opportunity especially during the fall months when hurricanes are prevalent and lots of home repair equipment is needed, Lowe's seems to hold the advantage yet again in terms of technical analysis.

Thus, while I truly do not like this type of industry, especially during times of a potential recession, I would still put my funds into Lowe's for at least a few months this fall. Your gains may not be as high if placed in a more volatile or riskier choice, but regardless you should be assured of a high potential to earn some quality capital gains in the next few months.

Home Depot vs. Lowe's: Which Stock to Buy?

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Real Estate Investing - The Marvel Of Home Depot And Lowe's

Repairing a rental home (or your own home) use to require running down to the local hardware store or to the nearby building supply house. After several stops around town, you found everything you needed to solve your maintenance problem.

If you are a fixer upper or tenant landlord today, you now have the marvel of Home Depot and Lowe's!

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Now we have one-stop shopping for virtually everything needed at one of these two stores.

But more than that efficient feature for saving time (and often cost), you can get instruction for repairs from either experienced employees and/or special classes of instruction. If you don't know how to perform the job, you will often find it easier than you imagined. I had never laid any tile, until I discovered that an experienced tile-layer-turned-Home Depot-employee showed me how easy it is. And I found I could get my tile cut free at the store to fit those difficult spots around the tub faucets.

And add to these attractive store features the ease of acquiring commercial and consumer credit, often with promotions of 9 or more purchases at 0% interest for 6 months or more.

I was in Phoenix many years ago when I visited my first Home Depot. It was love at first sight. I had always wanted good quality tools fit for the job at hand at discount prices, and what I saw was a dream come true. I walked that store in amazement as I saw row after row of ceiling-high supplies of every sort of tool and construction material imaginable. It was an awesome experience, and I have never lost that euphoria in walking into a Home Depot or Lowe's. I have become increasingly appreciative over the years at this luxury of shopping at these two stores. Shopping is time-saving, and I leave it to Home Depot and Lowe's to do the research on discovering which suppliers manufacture the best tools, equipment and supplies for the job at hand.

Even if you are a real estate investor who does NONE of your own labor, these stores are a great place to learn how a job should be done right.

But if you perform the repair work on your own properties, you can find the materials and instruction at Home Depot and Lowe's.

It seems Home Depot and Lowe's are gonna slug it out for the predominant position in the marketplace. In some areas, when one new store is opened, the other store buys the lot next door for its own new location. America loves these two competitive stores. Some individual stores do a million dollars of business a week. I find both stores are excellent sources for the best tools and materials I've ever found. And it's hard to beat their prices.

Home Depot and Lowe's fill a void for real estate investors with convenience, pricing, instruction and availability.

Real Estate Investing - The Marvel Of Home Depot And Lowe's

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Key Benefits of Using a Lowe's Credit Card

Are you the type who would want to save money for other equally important expenses (like bills, etc)? If you frequent Lowe's, then getting a Lowe's Credit Card may be the perfect solution to your shopping needs.

The credit card itself is owned by GE Money Bank. (It is also the issuing bank.) They give you two card options: the Lowe's card (basic card) and the Lowe's Project Card.

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Lowe's is the standard card that can be used at Lowe's (and even at lowes.com). This card is mostly used by regular shoppers. They also offer deferred payment schemes and has an APR of 21.9%. Also, you don't pay interest for over 9 purchases, provided that it is paid off within 6 months or less.

For an initial qualifying purchase of ,000, you can get the Lowe's Project Card. This card caters more to business customers than the regular customers. With a credit limit of about ,000, the said card allows you a "6 month project window" - in essence, no interest in those 6 months, and no balance due for purchases. Its APR will be at a range of 7.99% to 17.99, at least for the first project. Plus, if you are considering major home improvements, a larger credit line can be made available for you.

Both cards offer the following benefits:

-Applying for a Lowe's card is easy and fairly fast. Upon application, the applicants with a good to fair credit rating would almost always receive approval. You can apply at any Lowe's store or online. The bank would then check credit history and may take a maximum of 7 business days upon approval of application. Online applications get an instant response.

-There is no annual fee.

-Low monthly payments.

-You can change the credit line.

-They have several financing options, aside from the usual discounts. One of those is the deferred payment scheme.

-Secure Sockets Layer (or SSL) is used to help protect online transactions. Basically, this technology uses encryption of sensitive account information, ensuring that online account transactions are safe to do.

-You can do online transactions as well, specifically requesting for a credit balance refund.

-They can add supplementary cards for other members of the family with no extra charges.

-The aesthetically conscious person has three card design versions to choose from.

-They offer a grace period of 26 days without your account incurring interest.

-You can receive your bills online via their E-Bill facilities.

So if you are thinking of doing home improvements, consider getting a Lowe's. A simpler, easier life - that's what Lowe's can do for you.

Key Benefits of Using a Lowe's Credit Card

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Key Benefits of Using a Lowe's Credit Card

Are you the type who would want to save money for other equally important expenses (like bills, etc)? If you frequent Lowe's, then getting a Lowe's Credit Card may be the perfect solution to your shopping needs.

The credit card itself is owned by GE Money Bank. (It is also the issuing bank.) They give you two card options: the Lowe's card (basic card) and the Lowe's Project Card.

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Lowe's is the standard card that can be used at Lowe's (and even at lowes.com). This card is mostly used by regular shoppers. They also offer deferred payment schemes and has an APR of 21.9%. Also, you don't pay interest for over 9 purchases, provided that it is paid off within 6 months or less.

For an initial qualifying purchase of ,000, you can get the Lowe's Project Card. This card caters more to business customers than the regular customers. With a credit limit of about ,000, the said card allows you a "6 month project window" - in essence, no interest in those 6 months, and no balance due for purchases. Its APR will be at a range of 7.99% to 17.99, at least for the first project. Plus, if you are considering major home improvements, a larger credit line can be made available for you.

Both cards offer the following benefits:

-Applying for a Lowe's card is easy and fairly fast. Upon application, the applicants with a good to fair credit rating would almost always receive approval. You can apply at any Lowe's store or online. The bank would then check credit history and may take a maximum of 7 business days upon approval of application. Online applications get an instant response.

-There is no annual fee.

-Low monthly payments.

-You can change the credit line.

-They have several financing options, aside from the usual discounts. One of those is the deferred payment scheme.

-Secure Sockets Layer (or SSL) is used to help protect online transactions. Basically, this technology uses encryption of sensitive account information, ensuring that online account transactions are safe to do.

-You can do online transactions as well, specifically requesting for a credit balance refund.

-They can add supplementary cards for other members of the family with no extra charges.

-The aesthetically conscious person has three card design versions to choose from.

-They offer a grace period of 26 days without your account incurring interest.

-You can receive your bills online via their E-Bill facilities.

So if you are thinking of doing home improvements, consider getting a Lowe's. A simpler, easier life - that's what Lowe's can do for you.

Key Benefits of Using a Lowe's Credit Card

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The Truth About Lowe's and Toxic Chinese Drywall

Building a home or remodeling are both very expensive and most home owners tend to look at the cheapest product as well as availability. Because there was a large building boom between 2004 and 2008 and also natural disasters, such as hurricanes in 2006, some home owners purchased Chinese drywall.

Why the panic? Some homeowners that put Chinese drywall in their walls have found that it caused corrosion problems and some health problems as well. If you remodeled, built or bought a new home during this time period you may want to learn some facts.

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The first thing to know about Chinese drywall is that in humid areas it was found that it emitted toxic fumes that smelt like rotten eggs. It also caused problems with pipes in the walls. Piping found in air conditioning units and other appliances had corrosion problems that were directly linked to the fumes. Some residents also had some associated health problems. Many people found that the fumes caused respiratory and sinus problems. Because of these health related issues some people actually moved.

It was found that over 540 million pounds of Chinese drywall was imported to the US. However, as far as Lowes, they claim that there was none sold at their stores. Lowes called all of their suppliers when the problem was first discovered and their suppliers claim that they never received any contaminated drywall from China. Lowes claims that if you bought drywall from them, then there is no need to worry.

As you can see Chinese drywall has become a very large problem and there are many lawsuits in the works. Insurance companies and manufacturers are fighting over who's to blame--and who gets the bill. Unfortunately, as it usually happens in cases like this, the litigation could go on for years while thousands of families suffer from the effects of this toxic drywall. Lawsuits have been filed in Alabama, Louisiana, and other southern states. If you live in these areas you may want to have your homes inspected before problems occur.

The Truth About Lowe's and Toxic Chinese Drywall

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Where DIYers Shop - Where They Buy - Home Depot, Lowe's Or Menards

As of the writing of this article, the trends are significant when do-it-yourself consumers tell us where they shop and where they actually make their purchases especially for larger ticket items relative to Home Depot, Lowes and Menards.

Menards, a family owned Midwest chain of Big Box stores, continues to have the highest ratio of those consumers who indicate they not only shop the store, but also actually purchase the items they shopped for.

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When the other two giants in Big Box building materials retail, with more of a nationwide presence, customers are studied, it is clear Lowe's is the place shopped and Home Depot is the purchase venue.

These trends were first uncovered about 8 years ago, and seem to be holding in the same trend more recently.

There could be a number of reasons for the indicators, but presented are a glimpse of this author's newer on-site, in-store observations. Actual product estimate acquisition and shops were conducted for this process in the departments listed. All opinions expressed are those solely of this researcher and not statistically relevant, since not every location of each retailer was shopped. But, in this researcher's opinion, the shops further solidified the quantitative, statistically relevant trends gathered in previous studies. Shops were conducted from coast to coast over the past 9 months.

1) The level of in-store customer service is higher in many visited Lowe's locations than in the same visited city Home Depot locations. When visiting those cities with all 3 retailers, including Menards, the people employed by Menards, especially in lumber and other building materials used in construction, were easier to find, more helpful and easier to ask questions of than both Home Depot and Lowe's. Wait times for help in this category were more favorable at Menards. Technical questions were answered more times correctly at Menards, then Lowe's, then Home Depot in the structural building materials category of goods.

2) Merchandising and in-door procurement of structural building materials was better at Lowe's than either Home Depot or Menards, in this researcher's opinion. Adjacent displays for selling and finding related needed items to accompany the main purchase category was best at Lowe's, worse at Home Depot. The self serve yard at Menards for lumber and structural building materials is cumbersome, and the layout continues to be confusing.

3) When it came to designing decks and supplying material lists to consumers, there seemed to be less help at Menards, but the process at all 3 retailers was cumbersome, even with deck designing software - used directly by consumers and / or provided by in-store personnel. In this researcher's opinion, the notion of folks making appointments to design decks or leaving construction lists behind and only being given a lump-sum price annoys potential customers.

4) In the cabinetry area, Home Depot and Lowe's are similar in help and understanding of the customer's needs, however Home Depot seems to answer direct technical questions and understand lay out and design slightly better than Lowe's. Menards in this category seems to lag, both from an assortment and a "friendly, we can help you" position. Few designers were familiar with formaldehyde off gassing specifically as it related to their lines of cabinetry.

5) The most knowledgeable sales associates for doors and windows are at Menards, then Lowe's, then Home Depot. Many technical questions were incorrectly answered by all three retailers at every store visited. Fenestration is an area where all three could use some training. Only in-stock or displayed items were tested in this category.

As part of this series, the shops will continue into the future, with sporadic articles as they become available in all departments of all three Big Box retailers. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's opinions only and should not be construed as an endorsement of any retailer.

Where DIYers Shop - Where They Buy - Home Depot, Lowe's Or Menards

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Lowe's Credit Card Features and Advantages

Lowe's Credit Card Features and Advantages

Getting a Lowe's credit card is a good option for people who frequently shop at Lowes. It comes with a host of benefits that would appeal to people who want to save on money even while shopping.

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Offered by the GE Money Bank, Lowe's basically has two types. The first one is made for the regular customer who mainly shops for retail items. The second set termed as "Project Card" for those who intend to purchase items in large quantities or for business purposes.

Card Application and Benefits

Applying for a Lowe's credit card is quick and easy. It takes about seven day for the bank to check credit history and provide approval upon application. Online application is also applicable via lowes.com. The credit card comes with an APR of 21.99% and offers deferred payment options during membership.

Users can utilize the card for whatever purchase they make at all Lowe's stores. The card provides various benefits for its users including the absence on an annual fee and online transactions like requesting for a credit balance refund.

Holders of the credit card can also include additional users without extra charges with a swift card replacement service. Credit line changes are also entertained by the service.

The grace period where people can pay their bills without incurring interest is 26 days with an e-bill facility to accommodate fast payment transactions. Lowe's utilizes the Secured Socket Layer for greater protection.

Project Card Application and Benefits

For the Project Card, holders can has as much as ,000 in credit limit with a 6 month window allowing users to purchase items without having to worry about balance or interest. Application for the Project Card is somewhat stricter than the regular credit card. Applicants would need to have an initial purchase of not less than ,000 before the application procedure continues.

Both card types come in three different designs to choose from, allowing users to be versatile in their style choice.

Customer Service

The customer service for Lowe's credit card is among one of the most accommodating today. They also come with an online site that provides various information for people who want to update their current balance. This is an excellent way to keep updated when it comes to bills as well as payment options.

Of course, like many cards, Lowe's also comes with a few drawbacks including the absence of rewards and offers to long-time cardholders. It also takes a long time to process payments especially when done through the mail, making it difficult to get an update of the balance immediately.

With most of the benefits of the Lowe's credit card, availing of the service would be a good option for people who spend a lot of time shopping in the store. Homeowners who are also refurnishing their houses would reap benefits by applying for Lowe's Project card, providing them with a sic-month time span to purchase items at credit without having to pay for additional interest fees.

Lowe's Credit Card Features and Advantages

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Lowe's Home Improvement Store

Lowe's is a full-service one-stop location for all your home repair and improvement needs. If you are looking for some tools to help you with your building projects or appliances to upgrade your old kitchen, Lowe's is the place to be.

Lowe's stores offer a wide array of building materials, making it a good place to shop for home improvement supplies. You can find materials that can be used indoors or outdoors. Some of these materials include decks, fencing, driveway sealers, gutters, flashing, chimney caps, sliding and play equipment. They offer supplies that can be used to remodel your homes. You can even find stuff for window treatment to improve your interior and different options for your floor. They have a complete line available if you are considering remodeling your kitchen, from cabinets, countertops, fixtures and other accents to complete the look you are aiming for.

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Lowe's gift cards can be purchased for up to ,000 and these can be reloaded at any outlet. Just take it to the customer service desk. These cards are an ideal gift to your loved ones and friends and they can use it at any Lowe's branch.

The company has a website where you can browse products that are available. You also have the option of shopping online for your convenience. They usually carry around 40,000 items. Since it is difficult to browse with this number of items, you can order through their Special order sales program at Lowes.com. Their website also provides you with an online project calculator. This tool will help you estimate the cost of your project before you get started. Take for instance if you are planning to build your kitchen floor. The calculator will ask for specifics such as the dimension of the room. After you click "calculate", the calculator will give you the number of square yards needed to complete the project however, you should allow for a 10% overage since usage differs depending on the size and shape of the room.

If you want to save the next time you go shopping at Lowe's you can look at newspapers for daily coupons and they also give out special offers in the Sunday paper. They also offer coupon books and flyers. You can also take advantage of free shipping for many items.

Lowe's Home Improvement Store

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