Advice for first growhouse (southeast)

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

honestly,,, ive never known any of owners of my rental properties. its always been through some property management company ((always run by some fat angry bitch)) who manages far more properties than they can maintain. As long as you look normal///professional and have your papers in order,,they really wont think twice.

The last place I rented, I was in for three years and when we left and I had to go in to their office to pick up my SD the lady didn't even know who I was....

 

[NiteTiger]

Then you lucked out. I've lived in three different property management operated properties, and didn't go for more than a week without seeing one of their people at my place. Property management companies are paid to be in the tenants face on behalf of the landlord. Worse, there's nothing from stopping the property owner from doing his own inspections. You just end up with more risks in the end.

If you lucked out, that's fine and dandy, but don't encourage others to take the same risk. There will -always- be more risk in renting from a management or real estate company than directly from the owner themselves.

 

[Catalyst]

I'd listen to Nite Tiger who is giving you advice in a calm and collective manner, but also listen to big herb, because everyone needs a big brother to bitch them out every now and again to get that advice to stick.

Larger real estate companies make side money by finding violations which they can fine you for, always be aware of the contract you're signing... it sounds simple but can go a long way. Usually you sign any sort of privacy rights to the company, which means they can make unexpected visits for any reason... any reason.

As a recent grad I had a few friends who attempted to grow while in college, as most people said kiss your home social life good-bye. You'll never know if that girl you invite over is some law freak and wants to narc on you. One of them got comfortable and invited some people over to party and next thing you know the police are on the front steps bitching about where people are parking. Then they see all the people in the house and it's college so they assume there is underage drinking, probable cause to enter the house. The owner nonetheless almost shit in his pants right there, but quick thinking saved him from getting arrested for an array violations. I saw the fear in his eyes that night and trust me that is something you do not want.

Keeping the location and operation a secret is the only possible way to have peace of mind. Stick with that basic knowledge and build off of that philosphy and you should be fine. Be safe.

And you always get your bud from out of town, or just make up a fictional character who lives somewhere around.

Good luck man.

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

regardless of owner or property manager,,, they all have to give you AT LEAST 24 hour notice,,, but anytime they have come through (PM) << see i have to use letters PM ,,, because we all fucking hate PM

but anytime ive had inspectin,,, it was 48 HOUR notice or more ,,, and usually they just walked around the house to make sure the lawn and what not was being kept up and we wernt putting holes in the house...


but like nite tiger said,,, just because most people dont want to bother me ,, doesnt mean they wont want to bother you.

a good rule of thumb however,,, watch the PM companies rentals. watch how many come up for rent a month,,, and how fast they get picked up. that will give you idea of how many properties they manage. the more they manage,,, the less likely youll ever hear from them.

maybe smaller places will try to fine their tenants,,,personally ive never dealt with small PM companies,, and never been fined in any of the houses ive rented,,, but then again im pretty sure that if they didnt have the address to the house, they wouldnt even be able to find it...

best luck brotha. when i was doing this type of shit,,, i fealt like a fuckign rock smoeking vampire,,,never going outside except at night for only very short times and always sittn close to mossberg and benelli...

now i got kids,,, so i cant do that shit anymore,,, but ill always have the memories

 

[Snagglepuss]

This is a great thread .lots of information to digest...Once you have the place you have chosen.I guess alot of the whole thing depends on ..How much weight in the end...makes the risk worth it to the risk taker.

I agree with the go big thing.Less than 10 plants your going to be doing alot of waiting.I like the idea of using less watts ,lots of clones and finding the grow method/strain which works best for each person.I mean some people can yield what others can with 1/2 the wattage,its just amazing.

With 3000 watts if ya pick the right strain.You should be shittin in tall cotton.Unless your really have no idea what your doing.But a good grower/good strain is a # a light.Even 1/2 that would be nice...

 

[summitoker]

The hardest part imo is finding a house without a pesky landlord.

 

[_Dude]

I want to hear about the things which are often overlooked in planning a semi-commercial grow, such as: registering the house, paying bills, landlord/owner/neighbor/pest guy visits, throwing out grow trash, excuses for a locked door, bringing equipment in/out, etc.

Good advice on not smoking (as much), I feel like you gota look at this as a business and not a lifestyle.

Probably will need some benzos to avoid long paranoid nights in the grow house.

Here's the thing that I overlooked: dealing with stress. Make sure all your ducks are in a row regarding stealth, before you grow anything. Otherwise stress can become a really big deal if you don't have big round hairy ones.

And growing in less than ideal stealth conditions (renting), going over plant limit numbers is a horrible idea.

 

[_Dude]

I wouldnt have anyone over the house. You would be better off telling people you rent a room and the house owner is an ass/bitch, etc.

I cant smell a thing in my house and its a decent sized op. All is good right? I have someone come over and he tells me he can smell it when he walks in the front door. He knows about it so its OK. Point is I am immune to the smell.

Its not worth the risk of having people over.


Sounds to me like you are already trying to make excuses

YamahaFan ftw!

Yep. You have horrible living conditions and do not invite people over, whether you're renting from a horrible roommate, or poor and live in a shack, or live like a pig. Much easier to do that than have people over and play the sweating bullets game.

 

[_Dude]

Start small, and grow into it

I was gonna say the same thing. It's not fun advice to hear, but it's true. If you haven't grown, try starting smaller and then scaling up. Once you know how to grow, you'll know what to expect before you go bigger.

 

[hamstring]

Then you lucked out. I've lived in three different property management operated properties, and didn't go for more than a week without seeing one of their people at my place. Property management companies are paid to be in the tenants face on behalf of the landlord. Worse, there's nothing from stopping the property owner from doing his own inspections. You just end up with more risks in the end.

If you lucked out, that's fine and dandy, but don't encourage others to take the same risk. There will -always- be more risk in renting from a management or real estate company than directly from the owner themselves.

^^^^^Absolute truth.

My friend lives in a place owned by property management right now, another friend and my bro lived in one also. Here is what I can tell you first hand. Sure the actual owner does not show up but who does is the maintenance people. All these property management people have a maintenance staff unlike a private landlord.

Both my friend and bro have had these guys come in their apartment unannounced. Before people scream” its illegal and you can have them arrested” that’s not real life because the property management knows you are in a rock and a hard place. Your f***ed at the very least you have to pull everything up and move, be real.

If nothing else please heed this warring property management rental is a bad idea because even if the actual management does not tell maintenance to go in they have a bad habit of doing it. Its plain and simple they understand that if you are doing anything illegal even smoking weed they have you so they can do what they please. And they don’t exactly leave you a note saying we were just in sniffing your girl friends panties. They come in look around and leave the only way you find out is by being there when they don’t expect it or something comes up missing.

Are all property management rentals like this Hell No, but I sure wouldn’t put them at the top of my list.

 

[doubledotdank]

I believe the rule for safe electric usage is 1000watt per bedroom. To be safe, and not raise any flags, a two bedroom house should max out with 2000 watts in lights....

 

[GeneticHeirloom]

I find not using the dishwasher, unplugging all my electronics (A lot of them still draw power) and not using high wattage items like microwaves. If you need the extra wattage that'll clear up a decent amount.

Oh yea and if you have dryer and washer in your place dont use it, another and on to your kwh's.

 

[sweetsmell]

I believe the rule for safe electric usage is 1000watt per bedroom. To be safe, and not raise any flags, a two bedroom house should max out with 2000 watts in lights....

Not true!!!!!!! Do you realize how much a hot tub uses? Or how about eletric heaters or how about my welder? There is no really rule of thumb. Just use common Sense. When it comes to power don't steal it(rule no. one) and pay your bill on time and be smart. I live in a 2 bed room right now (not growing anything) and my power bill is around $400-$475 a mo. The house I live in is not insulated very well(older home) and I have a hot tub and I don't care about leaving lights on or off around the house. I have never had anyone come to my house asking why my power bill is so much If anything they send me a Christmas card and a thank you letter

 

[GeneticHeirloom]

I was at a friends house recently out back having a smoke when I decided to check the kWh ratings since they had a digital meter.

It's a bungalow rented to a couple downstairs and my buddy and his 2 friends upstairs.

The meters were split between basement and first floor and i'll never forget those numbers.

First Floor 450-550 kWh's for a steady 5 minutes
Basement 9500-9800 kWh's for a steady 5 minutes.

There's a lot of factors to give it a big difference but if in all honesty someone can run 21 times the amount of electricity as the other renter in the house for over a year without ever hearing about the cops (And they're directly across from a school.. you have driveway road then elementary school) you don't have to really worry about that xtra 1-2k watts

I think sweetsmell is right, although its best not to overload your system and have to pay 2-3 times the normal bill for a house of your size, a couple extra K watts really doesn't bother the electrical company as long as you pay on time without any issues.

 

[NiteTiger]

Dammit, forum ate my nice long post. Went into all the details of a dedicated house I managed.

Not going to rewrite it.

Best way to save power is to put any electric water heater on a timer, if you're living there, or shutting it off completely if it's a dedicated house.

 

[Orual]

Hello All. First post - been lurking for years.

I haven't heard anyone comment on cash flow. This is more important than profit, sales, or pretty much anything else. Many highly profitable businesses go broke when they don't have money on hand to pay their immediate bills. It doesn't matter whether your selling popcorn or porn, legal or not. You have high fixed costs like rent, elec, water, and other supplies - all needing to be paid very timely. Things go wrong from time to time - only takes one bad round to find yourself financially upside down. Access to some line of credit and capital reserves are as necessary as lights or electricity.

I was in a large university in the SE not too long ago, similar to you. What are your schools' regulations regarding enrollment and drug crimes? Many schools will expel you and you might not be able to get into any other schools in your state system or receive financial aid if you can. I don't mean to be alarmist, but risking your education and future earning potential better be worth the risk.

From my personal experience, finding good houses and landlords is not the hard part. Nowadays, you have something they want - a way to pay a mortgage and property taxes they probably can't. Look at lots of places and you'll know something good when you see it.

I agree with others, elec bills are the least of your concerns. The size of the house really doesn't matter, I ran $400/month for awhile in a three bed on city utilities and couldn't have cared less.

Lastly, there are many legal businesses that can be every bit as profitable and won't completely wreck your life if you make a mistake. If you've never been arrested or gone to jail - do (or don't do) what you can to keep it that way - the first thought you have when you're sitting in a windowless holding cell with 30 other guys is "I really didn't have to do that".

That said, if you're determined to do this, I am an engineer and would gladly give useful input about design or construction.

-Orual

 

[B420]

Don't know if this has been brought up yet. I rent in a college town, and I grow. Alot more stressful than you would otherwise think, listen to what everyone has said here so far. Also in this town the rentals pretty much turn over all at the same time and people are constantly moving from place to place from year to year. Most of the rental agencies around here just have potential renters go and ask the tenant if they can look around on any random day, the agencies make no appointments. While it is completely in your rights to tell them they had to leave without 24hrs notice, they will most likely then set up an appointment and be in your house soon enough. I have had the situation happen to me recently, luckily the guys didn't really ask any questions, they were far enough away to notice something was up not but not exactly what, and happen to know my roommate so the lips were shut and they do not know my name or current address. It is a large gamble that you will be undertaking. Good luck with whatever you are going to do.

 

[White]

Hey, I was just curious on the status of the grow house. How is everything?

Peace,
White

 

[SouthernGuerila]

If you get caught selling, growing, or maybe even simple possession you're risking financial aide. You may even be forced to repay all the "free" monies. Just sounds like a bad idea, in my opinion, for any college student.

 

[Botanist]

Put the money you make into gold. Buy only with cash. Fill out no forms and never let any one know you own gold. Don't buy off the internet. go to a pawn shop and buy one coin at a time. If they want to know your name then lie. if you can't lie then pay them a little extra in cash. It works for me. Paper money holds no value. That is why the dollar today will only buy 4% of what it could buy in 1913. Never hold cash! Gold is inflation proof.