Tips on renting a house

[fikich]

Been reading forums for a long time, learned alot! Now I have something where it's better to ask and if you won't be able to help, i don't know who else can.. So here's the question.

What are the tips, or ways, to safely rent a house to grow in? Fake id, someone else's name etc. etc.?

Thing is, I decided to make a big grow, not be greedy and go for around 6 months, and stop growing for awhile. My plan is around 50 plants (maybe more up to 100) with 5k - 7k watts (again, not final) in a rented house. Two runs.

Main concern is landlord, I don't want him to come in and check the house during those 6 months, so what are the ways to minimize the risk. I know to change the locks right away, but coming to a meeting looking like a family will also help? Perhaps advance monthly payments? Anything that you have in mind, or from your own experience will be HIGHLY appreciated.

*If you think its not that safe to post on public forums, you can pm me*

PS. no one will be living there, I don't think so.

 

[waydee]

What a question...

It does make me a little uneasy responding to this for some reason but im not sure why, people are flaunting much bigger setups on this site daily - I just have never heard any discussion of their methods when it comes to renting a place, not sure if it 'crosses the line'.

But annyway, I think ideally you're just going to want the laziest most abstentee landlord ever. I'd recommend looking in cheaper parts of town and not in well established communities. Renting a home is often a different sort of arrangement to renting an apartment - I think landlords are far more likely to leave you alone in a house, especially if you give them no reason to suspect anything.

Safest way to test your landlords commitment to his property is to rent it ASAP and see if he makes any visits over the next few months - get a baseline. If he's obviously trusting, never comes to check up on his property and happy to receive his rent on time every month then I think you'd be good to go.

I wouldn't make too many advance payments but certainly keep on top of your rent by a month or two, receiving 6+ months at once while not overtly suspicious in itself isn't exactly the norm and when you're trying your very best to just appear to be a normal everyday tenant. Make all payments on time, comply with the city/authorities over yours and your landlords responsibilities. Don't ever let the place fall into disrepair - this will attract the landlord and authorities. Pay your bills, move furniture in, put normal lights on timers and only dedicate as much space to growing as you absolutely have to. A growhouse completely blacked out with no outside indication of anybody living there, yet obvious activity and people coming/going is an easy thing to spot/suss out, nosy neighbours will most likely get you busted - win their trust, give them nothing to work with.

You'll stick out like a sore thumb if all the residents around you are friendly to each other or even know each other on the most casual basis, even if its saying hi as you take out your trash. They'll notice if theres activity at the house because lets face it, you're going to be there a lot tending to these plants, they'll quickly cotton on if they never actually see you around. I'd live in the house, even if only one or two nights a week and make your face known to those living around you - mow the lawn or take out the trash, it'll definately keep suspicions down. If they never see anybody its going to look a hell of a lot worse.

I think you'd want a garage for sure, then you can unload the quite substantial amounts of equipment you'll need in safety and out of the prying eye. I'd sink a lot of money into overkill odour control. Smell and light leaks are easily fixed, pay serious attention to eliminating them.



I'm sure others can add their own advice, if anything its advice that any grower should adhere to.

 

[chosen]

YOu should check out the video 15lbs in 80 days at seemorebuds.com
He talks about the different issues.

 

[texasluv]

1. Spend at least 2 nights a week at the house, preferably 3-4.

2. Get to know your neighbors! If you talk to your neighbors and get in good with them, they tend to leave you alone more. Tell them you have a girlfriend/boyfriend and you usually stay at their place so they don't think it's suspicious that your in and out all the time.

3. Set up timers on lights inside so it looks like there are people home when there aren't. TV's are good to have on timers too. I have a TV come on in the living room for a few hours a night. Adjust your timers every time you visit. You don't need to change them much, but avoid the same exact ON/OFF schedule- or eventually someone will notice- and that is VERY suspicious.

4. SPEND TIME AT THE PLACE ON WEEKENDS! Cookouts/BBQ's are the best way to draw positive attention to the house. You and a few CLOSE friends should have a cookout every 2-3 weeks. That way everyone in the neighborhood sees lots of activity outside the house.

5. Make sure the house is furnished, at least the bare essentials. I like thrift shops. You can usually get everything you need to furnish a house for $500. Couch, coffee table, old crusty TV, kitchen table, double bed, etc. That way if a neighbor, or cop, ever knocks on the door and you answer it, they wont be looking into an empty house- that is a dead giveaway.

6. Pay your power bill on time every month. Where I am, anything under $600-700 a month is acceptable without raising any red flags. You can easily do a 10KW grow with that kind of power allowance.

7. I recommend not paying rent in advance. Most people that rent houses do it because they can't afford to buy a house. If you have the money to pay 3, 4, or 5 months rent in advance, chances are you could afford to buy a house. I would find it suspicious if my tenants decided to pay more than month in advance unless they had a good reason (going out of town, vacation, etc.) Pay your rent a week or two before it is due. Most landlords will allow you to do the electronic bill pay- your bank will automatically send them a check on a certain date every month. Set it up and dont worry. Personally, I like to pay rent with money orders, so I just mail them in on the 15th of every month, rent isn't due until the 1st so the landlord always gets the money a couple weeks early.

8. Definitely give the house a 1 month test period before moving in your grow operation. This gives you time to set up the room(s), run electrical wiring, get filtration setup, etc. During this time you will be at the house a lot, which is good, and nothing inside is illegal. You will find that by giving yourself a "safe month" before fully moving in allows you to see what kind of neighborhood you live in. My first rental I set up immediately and just about shit myself when cops came to the door 3 days later. Ends up some guy down the street is a common trouble maker and the cops are on that street 2-3 times a week. Get to know your neighborhood so you don't worry as much when cops show up. It is good to know they are not coming for you.

9. Make minor improvements to the house. If the landlord ever drives by sees that you are making the house look better (fresh mulch, well watered lawn, neat/tidy, etc.) then they will be at ease knowing you are taking care of the property. If you let it fall apart on the outside, they will assume you are doing the same to the inside and may ask to come in.

10. SECURITY- I always screw self-tapping screws into the tracks of all the windows I don't use so they cannot be opened without being completely broken. If there are any doors you don't use, board them closed- but don't be obvious about it. A few 5" long screws will work wonders on a door. If you have a sliding glass door- sucks to be you. These are the #1 way to break into a house quietly. If I ever run across sliding doors I hang a curtain in the glass and then use a sheet of 1/2" plywood behind it screwed right into the frame. If someone were to break the glass they'd still have to get through the plywood. I also hang the same curtain on the inside of the sliding glass door covering the plywood so you cant see it from either side.


Thats all I can think of for now. Obviously, this isn't everything, but it covers the most important stuff. Odor control needs to be a top priority. Security is also a major issue.

I'm interested to see what other people recommend.

*grabs some popcorn and the bong...*

 

[Brad]

go find a ghetto apartment building with piss on the floors of hallway and stairwell,those type of places you dont gotta worry bout to much of anything...the ghetto its good camo

 

[greenisgold]

I know this sounds stressful, but rent a house form a real estate broker. One that is renting the house for the owners. There is a reason owners do this and it is because they do not want to deal at all. And most live out of town. When talking to real estate broker, ask where owners live and all sorts of question. I did this for 4 years and not once did the owners stop by (they lived 500 miles away). Pay rent on time, fix probs. and you are good to go.
Once brokers rent house, they are done.

 

[Blunted22]

go find a ghetto apartment building with piss on the floors of hallway and stairwell,those type of places you dont gotta worry bout to much of anything...the ghetto its good camo

I wouldnt do aprtment buildign but deffinetly the ghetto is great camaflauge ive been growing out the ghetto for years... My last house i just left had drug deals on each side. Everyother porch down the street would be packed. Cops would roll right pass me adn wouldnt even look at me (it does help i am of Caucasian decent)

But bottom line is if you have neighbors IT HAS TO LOOK LIKE YOU LIVE THERE@!@!@!

If your in the country its easier.

Be sociable to the neighbors but never a friend. you never want a neighbor to come over and jsut stop by to see what your doing.

Bottom line dont look suspicious people look at you and if you look like your up to something that means you probably are. Be normal like it was your house like your suppose to be there and what ever you do there is fine cause your not worrying about anything like a grow operation being there....


alot of other people had great things i would have said like the timers on lights and furnished and all but thats all be smart think to yourself if someone seen this would it draw suspicion?


BTW you got a hell of a good response to this question as i asked it about 6-9 months ago and got ABSOLUTELY FLAMED by half of icmag saying that this is a forum for people that grow personal weed and its people like me that give pot growers a bad name... somethign liek that it might been over asking about a commercial strain.. But the renting question got alot of people saying we shouldnt talk about shit like this on a public forum... anywhoo best of luck bro and take precautionss...


O and one last thing if it wasnt said all ready .... Change the danm locks

 

[panopticist]

But bottom line is if you have neighbors IT HAS TO LOOK LIKE YOU LIVE THERE@!@!@!

This is probably the most important advice you will receive on this subject.

Too many situations just like the one you are proposing go bad because the neighbors catch on that you aren't really living on the property.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

most importantly, find an out of town landlord. Go through the papers, and look for #'s out of area. Maybe the brokers are a good idea, just make sure they are not Property Managers.

If you talk to the neighbore let them know you travel alot on business etc, work odd shifts at a plant or something. If you have a garage you should always park your car in it. Then with all the TV timers, room timers etc, they will never really know when you are and arent home.

I would try to rent it under a false name, get the utilities under a different name too and get a broadband connection. setup a couple camera discreetly monitoring the front door, back door, front driveway/street etc. Before you go, you can check and see if anyone has been snooping. Camera's?DVR's can be set to record on movement only so following up would be easy.

Wish I had that camera system on my last grow. Hindsight is 20/20. BTW the cameras would only be monitoring access points/street, not the plants so anyone stumbling on the IP would see nothing illegal

 

[Guest]

Have a backup plan for landlord visits.

Make sure the landlord gives you proper notice for inspections. (Me or girlfreind are not feeling well, cant we do this another time)

Rent an enclosed truck (load it up and return the setup once he leaves).

Purchase a wooden shipping crate (Whats the crate for? Collected it for the wood, storing valuables, some lame story.)

Locks on the grow rooms (now where did that key go?).

Anything where you can get those plants out or concealed the night/morning before the visit, and return them the next day. (The attic)

Have a setup that goes up and down easy.

Many ways to pull it off, and live there also. Many good tips listed here.

 

[Blunted22]

honestly man if you want to know how to get the right land lord just PM me im not going to say too much on the subject on a open forums but theres a e z stress free way of doing things...

 

[EddieShoestring]

4. SPEND TIME AT THE PLACE ON WEEKENDS! Cookouts/BBQ's are the best way to draw positive attention to the house. You and a few CLOSE friends should have a cookout every 2-3 weeks. That way everyone in the neighborhood sees lots of activity outside the house.

i'm not sure that this is such good advice. If a friend (close or otherwise) invited me to a BBQ at their massive grow op-youknow-i think i'd decline. And it's not because i don't like a good barbie-i do. But the huge, and unnessary, personal risk would spoil my appetite. Plus the knowledge that my friend must have suffered a serious mental breakdown, or brain injury, to have hosted a meal at his Op-i'd definatly not turn up.

eddie

 

[facelift]

If you are going to spend 6000 on rent, you're better off buying 5 acres of good land for less and spend a summer camping.

 

[fikich]

Hey guys some useful information here, some I already figured out myself, some I didn't think of. But one thing is i'm sure many other users will find this thread very helpful in the future.

waydee Yeap I'm actually looking for houses with garage only, not only its much safer to move equipment in and out but it also, like yamaha already said, hides whether you're home or not from nosy neighbors. Overkill odor control, hmm. That's actually my other concern that I'm thinking about besides landlord and electrical questions. been browsing different grow rooms, guides trying to see good examples. Good general info man.

texasluv Some fresh ideas here too, the way I was thinking is to have a lamp on timer but never though about TV. I have two old TVs laying somewhere and I should use them, because personally, if I ever saw a TV on I would of never thought someone put it on timer - haha.
Though won't the landlord at least ask himself - why is he paying rent by money order? Isn't it a bit suspicious too?

greenisgold, yamaha_1fan That's basically answers how to get a "good" landlord (you know what i mean), will definitely go through brokers first and see which have owners living far away. Also yamaha, nice fgrow you got there. i was actually looking at your thread before and thought nice set up.

The Tester neat little details there!
BreederBrad2 ghettos are also cheaper, but the risk of getting robbed is big too..

Blunted22 Will send you a pm after I post this reply

Well, what a great thread it turned out to be. Thanks everyone for their input and hopefully I'll start another thread with a room and some pictures soon

 

[fikich]

but before I step out...anybody know how to bring a 7k watt down to one room?? Somewhere to the basement, I'm familiar with electricity but not as good, never got into the advance stuff.

Blunted22, just tried pm'ing you and apparently you need to have at least 50 posts to do so

PS. facelift, never said I'd be spending 6000 on rent, probably 6k for a total of 4 months but not in one, that would be one nice mansion for 6k/month though

 

[Blunted22]

fikich get msn messenger and hit me up the email for it is [email protected] dont email though cause i never use it.

 

[fikich]

fikich get msn messenger and hit me up the email for it is [email protected] dont email though cause i never use it.

Sorry this isn't my computer at all so I can't use any messengers. try sending me a pm I think you can start it (more than 50 posts) and I can't initiate it, peace.

 

[Brad]

ok heres my tips for guarnteed success,the ghetto apatment builds are great for the following reasons.
1.Find a building that includes hydro in the rent,most likely meaning the whole building runs off 1 meter therefore untraceable to you.no hydro bill,or goof hydro comp. counting your kilowatt hours,you can easily run 6-7k no problem
2.you can show up every couple daze without any1 ever seeing you or even noticing you exist.
3.go for the ghetto building where apartment checks just dont happen,robbery isnt really an issue unless your a total heat score,big ghetto buildings are excellent camo cuz every door every hallway all looks the same unlike houses where you gotta be there or your for sure going to draw attention,you dont gotta talk to neighbours,hope this helps,here some apartment grows just to get ya thinkin

 

[erock84]

fikich...Paying rent by money order isnt suspicious most landlords require you to pay them with a money order or cashiers check if you default on a monthly payment or pay late.

 

[420inprogress]

Main concern is landlord, I don't want him to come in and check the house during those 6 months, so what are the ways to minimize the risk. I know to change the locks right away

Most, if not all, leases contain a provision that strictly prohibits the changing of any locks without the landlord's permission.

Also:

If a rental unit is mortgaged, there may be yearly inspections of the premises for insurance purposes.