I was able to buy things but all I actually purchased were exterior lights and appliances because they were deeply discounted more than 50% on a few. Just keep in mind moving items and storage. If the return period lapses you may have no recourse if you don't need the item anymore or if it doesn't work.

Are you the GC of your build? We are not, so we were limited as to what we can buy on our own. Some subcontractors were ok with it, so we bought some of our light fixtures on our own, not necessarily discounted, but more options, and the electricians put them up with no extra charge. Same goes for the trim carpenters, they hung mirrors that I got for the bathrooms and some hooks for the cubbies, no extra charge. Plumbers were a different story. They were charging us $1000 if we bought our tub on our own. That is on top of "at least a $200 trip fee" if they needed to get extra screw or whatever missing for items we bought. I think it was extra $100 for each sink, and extra $200 for each faucet (unbelievable, but true! So sad that people do that.) So if you have a builder, ask first before you buy anything! Hope that helps.

We bought all kinds of things before and during our build - lighting, switches, outlets, plumbing supplies, hardwood flooring, appliances, etc. Our contractor had no problem with us buying things as we made sure to have everything before it was needed.

We bought before we started building, thinking we need them a lot sooner than we did. Our builder had given us a time frame of 4 - 6 months. We are now 13 months in and are just starting to install lights and plumbing supplies that have been sitting for over a year. With some it worked out well. I got some great deals. With others, not as well. One of the light fixtures is missing the chain and hardware. I'm hoping the company will send it. I've also changed my mind on a few things.

We saved $15,000 on plumbing supplies from the bid I had received from Briggs, by buying online and shopping sales.

This post was edited by neroselover on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 14:11

Didn't buy anything before we broke ground, but shortly afterwards, I delivered the plumbing supplies to the GC. That was before framing started. I have what I call an ebay box. You make some mistakes or change your mind about some things along the way, but you can sell or donate those things later. Our ebay box is pretty small in size, but its monetary value can buy a few nice gifts for my family members this Christmas.

If your GC allows you to buy things and will store them for you as ours did- you will really be able to customize your choices. We chose low toilets for the areas our grandchildren will use, and ADA compliant toilets for our areas for example. There are a myriad of choices like that to be made. Our GC said at the beginning that what we would save, would depend on how much I liked to shop.

Since I'm building my own house, I'm buying everything. I did make one major purchase before starting; I bought my Nichiha siding way before i started. Lowe's was clearing it out for 25 cents on the dollar, and I knew I was going fiber cement, even though the house hadn't even been designed yet. I got more than enough siding for the entire house for less than $500.

I also bought Hardi trim at a similar savings before I started the house.

That's awesome Mush, wish I had an idea of what I wanted in exterior :) I'm still VERY new to this whole idea of custom building. I have a few feelers out for builders, but still don't have any solid leads yet. Thanks all for your replies. Greatly appreciate GW letting newbies like myself dive in and learn from fellow DIYers and experts the same! LOVE THIS PLACE!

I've been buying things for our new home for over a year. I've saved anywhere from 30-80% on what I've bought, with an average savings for all purchases thus far of over 50%. The way I look at it, if we decide something is not going to work when we start to build, I can always sell it and get my money back or donate it to Habitat for Humanity and get the tax deduction.

My other advice is get a spread sheet going of items as you start stockpiling. Keep the date you purchased, last date to return, item description and location in the home. That way if you see a killer deal on something you know whether you need it or if its better than what you have etc.

Great advice from MFatt16, and exactly what I've been doing (minus the last date to return.) I also keep up with the retail price and what I actually paid for it. It's been fun to see the savings add up.
Another tip - everything I've purchased, I've pinned on pinterest with notes on for what room in the house it goes, how much I paid for it, quantity, etc. I keep this on a secret board so I'm the only one who can see it. That way, while I'm out and about, I can just pull up pinterest on my phone and easily refresh my memory about what I've already bought.
If I bought online, it's easy to pin. If not online, I can easily snap a photo of it and pin that way. Pinterest and my spreadsheets have been my sanity-savers.

I bought a few light fixtures. But I didn't spend more than $10 on each of them. They are all salvaged, and not returnable. But if I end up not using them, I'm not out much money. I may end up putting them up as place holders until I find what really works in the space.

thanks all, the tips on the spread sheet is a great idea, it's been A WHILE since i've done much work in a spread sheet I was just thinking I need to brush up on those skills ;) I too have a few private pin boards with house stuff!

When we interviewed our builder, we asked if we could provide our own material and/or labor. He said no problem as long is labor was done timely and material was on site when needed. We have since found out that he indeed runs a very tight ship.

The only labor I contributed was installing a lot of RG6, Cat5e and speaker cable. Material wise, we purchased our own wood floor (3000 sf of Muskoka 3/4" Engineered Hickory). I couldn't touch anything close to that quality through my builder's discounted flooring source. Saved about $10,000 on that purchase alone.

We found 450 sf of very nice 12x24 tile for use in one of the bathrooms. We paid about .75 sf.

We found all scratch and dent thermador appliances for the kitchen.

Our only local choice for plumbing was Ferguson's. Although we got a pretty good builder's discount, we are purchasing all of our plumbing supplies from Homeclick or eFaucets at much better prices.

Our builder's lighting, tile and granite contacts were priced well and customer service was exemplary so we are using their services and not looking elsewhere.

awesome find at $.75/sq ft, I'm hoping that we have a builder that will be open to my thrifty bargain hunting! I find it a fun challenge at times. :) Don't know if i'll have that idea 6-9 months from now but we shall see :)

Yes, I am buying things ahead. I only buy if the discount is SIGNIFICANT -- say, half price.

I recognize that SOME of the things I buy are going to end up being wrong somehow: Something won't work with a later choice, something will be too small a quantity. But if MOST of what I choose ends up working, I'll come out ahead.

I would not buy appliances ahead. I don't have the storage space, and that's too big a risk: If a light fixture turns out to be bad, I'm out $30-60 dollars. $100 at the most. But if an appliance turns out to be bad . . . that's more risk than I'm willing to accept, given that I can't adequately check, say, a cooktop or a vent hood today and see that it will work properly.