Used to be that repairing a rental house (or your own home) meant 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 maintenance problems.

Today, we have the marvel of Home Depot and Lowe's!

One-stop shopping for virtually everything you need is at one of these two stores.

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 discount prices, and it 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. Ever since, I have become increasingly appreciative of the 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 make the best tools and equipment for the job.

But these stores perform another great service.

I can get instructions for doing the jobs I don't know how to perform.

I had never laid any tile, until I discovered that an experienced tile-layer-turned-Home Depot-employee would show me how. And I found I could get my tile cut free at the store to fit those difficult spots around the tub faucets.

I can attend scheduled classes to learn how to do specialty jobs at these stores, too.

I have several commercial and consumer credit cards with each of these stores, and spend thousands of dollars each year with both.

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 do your own work on your 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. America loves these two competitive stores. Some individual stores do a million dollars of business a week. In some areas, when one new store is opened, the other buys the lot next door for a new store. But I find both stores are excellent resources for the best tools and materials I've ever found. Both stores research potential products before adding them to their lineup. 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.

Dr.Phil Speer