Right now is probably one of the best times in the last 10+ years to purchase new windows for your home or, to upgrade windows for your rental units. Of course, if you’re like most Americans (including myself) the last thing on your mind right now is making a large purchase. However, if you had planned to upgrade your windows to save money on energy costs then now is the time to take advantage of industry wide discounts which will dramatically improve the ROI (return on investment) of your window purchase.
Why are prices so much cheaper right now? There’s a couple of reasons why buying windows right now will save you a bunch of money. First, and foremost, we’re all aware of the ten thousand pound gorilla in the room. Simply put, the U.S. economy. The short and long term economic outlook for our country doesn’t look great right now and by all measures we’re currently in the middle of a recession. What this means is manufacturers of windows are doing whatever it takes to keep their output levels at or near where they’ve been in years past. Obviously, this is a major challenge but by offering short term discounts window manufacturers can keep their sales numbers up which will help keep their operations running.
The second, and less obvious, reason is that oil prices have absolutely tanked over the last six months. What does this have to do with the price of windows? That’s a great question. The first reason is that shipping costs of raw materials have decreased which, in turn, passes down as lower costs for the manufacturer. The second reason is that vinyl windows are a petroleum-based product. As such, as prices in oil rise and fall, so do the costs of the actual materials used to construct vinyl windows. These cost increases and (hopefully) decreases are inevitably passed on to the consumer.
With the dramatic drop in oil prices combined with the slow-down in our economy right now is the absolute best time to purchase new windows for your home. While it certainly is counter intuitive to go out and make large purchases right now, great deals can be found everywhere. Smart consumers will take advantage of this time and make smart purchases that will save them a bunch of money over the long term. New windows and doors just happen to fall into that category. Remember to get multiple quotes and don’t be afraid to ask for discounts! Good luck.