GTA Online Properties Guide

[djpvsfan]

Huge Disclaimer: I don't know if there's a better place to post this topic but please let me know if there's another guide or better place of something like this on the site, as I looked for around an hour and was unable to find anything about this sort of thing. Secondly, this is going to be partly my opinion, but I will include factual info for the various properties in the game.

 

This is NOT A Money Guide for businesses, it's a review of the properties in Online you can own with information the game may not tell you. I don't go too in depth with additional properties like biker businesses specific upgrades, but I plan on making this guide more detailed as time goes on, since we have to pay(at least if you stay in the same session for 48 real life minutes) every day in game to own all these properties, saving money not buying properties you won't use will save you money in daily fees too.

 

With that out of the way, the main reason I've been working on this guide is not to tell you about what each property does, but instead to explain how it's used and whether or not(mostly for new players) you really should buy it based on how much you would use it. PLEASE keep in mind, the location of these properties IS Important, but you may prefer a certain location for a specific reason, business focused properties are going be more valuable overall because they are a business at the center, but lets get started.

 

1. Apartments and Garages

 

The facts; they have been in the game since the start, with some being updated or added later on.

High End apartments all have the ability to do the original heists and have a 10 car garage, stilt apartments can too

You can buy OVER half a dozen of these properties, should you need more garage spaces

 

Opinion; since you can own over half a dozen of them, buy more as needed but start with one.

Do not buy standalone garages if you can avoid it, and only buy the ones with 10 car spots

Apartments and garages that are not high end should be completely avoided

 

My verdict; Based on the facts above, buy at least one high end apartment, unless you have no plans to do the original heists

 

2. Executive CEO Offices

The CEO office is vital beyond just the warehouses that give you access to several money making methods, so its a no brainer to purchase one. You can choose to add on up to 60 car garage spots and an in-house mod shop(but only cars stored in the office garages can be modified here), all of it is optional but I would at least recommend one level of 20 spots to start. Don't waste money on the safe, it does nothing of value. The locker for weapons and "living space" to sleep(letting you spawn in your office) are more useful for sure, but its up to you to decide if its necessary for you. No matter how you look at it, the base functionality of the office opens up a lot for players to earn money.

 

The facts; Becoming a SecuroServ CEO lets you hire up to 3 people to be associates or bodyguards

Unlocks the ability to buy cargo crate warehouses and vehicle cargo warehouses(both make you money when it comes down to the basics)

Crate warehouses are either small, medium or large. You can buy more than one, but once you buy one you are stuck with it

You can do special vehicle work missions to unlock the trade price for buying the special vehicles

In order to buy and store them for yourself, you need to buy a vehicle vehicle warehouse. The special vehicles are stored in the basement

 

Opinion; I don't remember if the vehicle warehouse is locked to buy until you do a certain amount of crate missions(please let me know the answer if you know) but if it is not locked, don't bother with cargo crates and just buy the vehicle warehouse. It will save you some time and money. 

If it is locked, what I have done and what you should do if you have not bought any warehouses yet is, buy 2 small crate warehouses, here's my reason why.

You have less money spent on them, which means money saved but since there's cooldown timers for sourcing and selling crates, alternating between 2 warehouses allows these timers to barely impact you. The other reason is that should a sell mission go wrong (getting destroyed in some way) you lose a minimal amount of product and money in the process and it won't be as time consuming to fill the small warehouse up again.

 

My verdict; Absolute must buy, there's so much you can do once you have it. VIP work in solo sessions, VIP vehicle spawning capabilities, assistant gets your car out of impound for a small fee, ghost organization(extended off the radar that works to hide you on the map with business goods, for longer than lester's off the radar), bribe authorities (like lester's police neutralizing capabilities, but more expensive, longer lasting and removes all organization members wanted levels and cannot be wanted until after the timer for it runs out) and endless free snacks

 

3. Motorcycle Clubhouses

Although you'll probably won't visit it again much other than to buy mc businesses, much like the offices listed above it offers a lot to you once you have it.

There are a few cool things the MC system offers, there's a riding formation ability and even a flying formation, which both can be used in fun ways. The bar and juke box in the clubhouse are nice but you probably wont use them much.

 

The facts; The clubhouses are relatively affordable, because the businesses aren't located there. The clubhouse simply gives you the ability to buy various businesses from the computer inside which consists of The coke lockup, meth lab, weed farm, counterfeit cash factory and document forgery office. Coke is the very best and the 2 you need to avoid are the weed farm and document forgery, they simply aren't worth it compared to the other 3.

Spawn in any motorcycle you own instantly just steps away(in most cases) and the bike the game says is your "favorite" will allow you to regenerate some health upon riding it after taking damage, this does NOT repair or improve the bikes performance in any way, it is just for the rider. 

8 total members instead of CEO organization's 4 total members

The clubhouse, regardless of if you buy the upgrade for the internal bike mod shop, can store a total of 10 motorcycles, which can help free up some garage spaces for more cars in your other properties.

 

Opinion; whether or not you upgrade any of the individual businesses, you still need to steal or buy supplies to be able to produce anything, at least you can however shut an entire business down individually if you need to.

The gun locker and bike mod shop are really useless, unless you like spending money for things you can do at other locations around the map, but ultimately its your choice and your money. 

Though I don't know of many people that do them, there are some biker missions that can be done for nice money, which can be done in invite only sessions.

 

My verdict; Solid passive income is good and frees up some time, so go ahead and invest in it for your future success. 

 

4. Bunkers

Bunkers are an interesting one, a good business for sure but with some new twists. Well you need to be a CEO, MC president or VIP to operate it, which is true about the other businesses coming after it too. 

 

The facts; passive income just like the MC businesses

The MOC adds more content to the bunker stuff (I'll talk more about that in part 11 with the other mobile vehicles)

 

I'm only mentioning this because its unavoidable with the bunker

Research, it unlocks some nice things and a lot of pretty useless things. It cost a lot to fast track it, or wait hours in real time to slowly research for free, thankfully the nightclubs made doing research a bit less irritating, if you have everything unlocked no need to read this but running the bunker through the nightclub frees up the bunker staff so the bunker produces business product to sell using the nightclub and this will let you do research in the bunker if needed, without it having an impact on business inside the bunker.

 

Opinion; I would say personally not to buy the shooting range or transportation upgrades(very weird that it has transportation, as no other business since has implemented such a feature). You could buy the gun locker if you don't have it at your Clubhouse or office, but certainly your choice.

 

My verdict; great to make money, passive income is going to free up your time. 

 

5. Hangars

So unless you enjoy flying a TON in game, don't bother with the business side of the hangars(at least not through the physical location with the computer). Now this is based on people I've talked to about this, but 80% of people who bought a hangar at the military base to start with, eventually moved to a hangar at the airport, but this is just based on what I was told by players, so you can feel differently and that's fine.

 

The facts; buying a hangar is really not about the business, its about storing aircraft, you may think this is an opinion, but hangars in real life are used to store aircraft too, so that's why I'm putting it as a fact.

Buying a hangar inside the military base gives you "clearance" so you don't get a wanted level if you simply mind you own business and go inside the base. You will get a reduced wanted level of only 2 stars if you decide to "borrow" a plane, it's a cool little trick to save yourself some money, as the laser jet is very expensive to buy normally.

You need the aircraft workshop to modify any aircraft in the hangar, even if some only let you change the colors.

 

Opinion; unless you want to travel a longer distance to get to your hangar, the ones at the military base are really not necessary(not taking into play if you buy the living quarters to spawn here when you enter gta online).

 

My verdict; buy it to use it as a hangar and not as a business(run it through the nightclub if you really feel you need to run it for the business part).

 

6. Facility

This is not a business, but instead the property you need to own to host the doomsday heist, as either a CEO, MC or VIP. Since its main purpose is to host a series of heists, it does have staff who can provide you with free snacks, but there's a lot of empty unused space, and for its size you have to run to move around.

 

Unlike the the casino heist and cayo perico heist that followed, this heist arguably doesn't pay as well, but also with the doomsday heist, you getting shot at doesn't lower your take because you are not carrying a bag of items that you collected, but I won't go into detail as this is not a heist or money making guide.

 

The facts; to host the Doomsday heist as as CEO, VIP or MC you need to buy the facility. To be able to buy and store the Avenger(an air MOC with some differences), the rcv (riot control truck with dual water sprayers) , the khanjali tank(better version of the rhino tank, which btw the rhino is called using pegasus), the chernobog (massive land based mobile missile launcher) and the thruster jetpack, you have to own a facility.

By completing various heist missions as host, you can unlock the trade prices for specific vehicles, which are not just these vehicles listed above but also aircraft for your hangar.

 

Opinion; the orbital cannon upgrade is not worth it, even with all the challenges and hard mode, completing the heists doesn't pay out as high as most people expect.

really only invest in the living quarters as spawning here can be a good time saver

 

My verdict; buy with caution, the heist itself is cool but the money isn't the greatest, the best thing the heist did was let us play with 2, 3 or 4 players.

 

7. Nightclubs

By far one of the best businesses when you keep checking on it. The only upgrades to be careful about are the storage floors and dry ice(and the dancers, if you are going to change them from the default options). Any businesses will produce goods via the nightclub until the storage for each is full, and the game automatically puts you in a delivery vehicle based on how much you are selling. Now, the thing to be careful of is that you still have to physically manage the original businesses.

 

The facts; Turn up to five of your businesses into passive almost effortless money. The only exclusion is import/export, but it honestly makes sense why, because you have to drive them and modify them for selling) If you don't have every MC business(and you definitely shouldn't, especially not weed or document ones), you can make operating businesses that are hands on, almost completely passive. Work with Tony Prince from GTA 4 to operate your gta online nightclub business and enjoy endless music, lights and dancing. 

The terrorbyte makes your businesses easier to run from anywhere it can go(public session of course needed) and when you buy it, it automatically goes to the nightclub on its own floor, you don't have to pay for floor to store it.

You can buy 3 levels of car storage to keep 30 vehicles there, and up to 4 additional floors for stock/supplies from your businesses to eventually sell. A bit pricey to set up your businesses with the nightclub but it makes some of them better and easier. Your other actual businesses like bunkers and mc stuff still produces stuff at your original location for those businesses

You should run the hangar business(if you are set on still using the business side of kit) through the nightclub, CEO crates and hangar crates are interchangeable for each other in the club.

 

Opinion; don't buy dry ice and be careful how much storage you buy. also don't buy the mule custom, its really a waste.

 

My verdict; simplify everything except for import/export cars by making all of them passive through one location and using more capable delivery vehicle.

 

8. Arena Workshop

The upgrades to avoid are as follows, personal quarters(because honestly is it that important to spawn there) and both mechanics other than the free one(Benny's and weapons), Benny's really doesn't do much besides lights and wheels for non Benny's cars, but I'm pretty sure the default arena mechanic can do them(correct me if wrong) and also the weapons expert is the same thing as the weapon workshop you can find in the moc, avenger and elsewhere. 

 

The facts; This allows you to play various basically adversary modes, inside of the maze bank arena

It has an internal mod shop that can be used for regular cars and arena war vehicles, and several parking spots.

Adding 2 levels of garages adds additional car spots(think its 9 per level, which is weird but you lose a spot in order to use the workshop to modify them), cars stored here can be named to give them unique "names" for calling them in free roam with the mechanic, and for use in arena modes(provided its an arena vehicle)

Basically it is a mod shop with more than just the ability to modify arena cars with weapons, but store and modify regular cars too.

Location in this case doesn't matter(you don't get a choice) because there's only one location of maze bank arena.

You can pay to "spin the wheel" during arena modes (if you decide to quit) or get destroyed, from the "spectators booth" (don't remember if that's its name but that is what I'll call it)

 

Opinion; unless you really love the modes and arena, don't buy the living quarters, garage storage depends on your needs, but I just use the spots on the workshop level. Even with all the unique features it provides, it's really not something to invest a lot of money in, so either don't buy it or don't all the upgrades, because you really don't need them

 

My verdict; Useful for storing some cars and modifying them, but the less you spend on it the better.

 

9. Casino Penthouses

This may not really apply to you depending on your location in the world because of the gambling laws that exist, so none of this may be relevant to you. The casino changed the game in a lot of ways, as mentioned above some people are completely unable to really use it.

 

The facts; Buying a penthouse(no matter how much or little you add on to it) gives you the VIP membership to play anything and everything in the casino.

Let's you host the casino missions(given out by the manager Agatha Baker) and completing them all as the host(not sure if deaths prevent it from happening) gives you the opportunity to unlock the armored enus paragon r sports car, for free, which cannot be bought on a website.

Ms.Baker is a new contact you can call for casino work missions(as CEO, VIP or MC, in free-roam) that pay you in rp and chips(which can be used in the casino store/bet in casino games or converted into cash). She also has a limo service you can call to be driven to various places around the map(think its free, not sure if you can skip the trip as a fast travel method) and also a car service that gives you a selection of cars to use to get around the map.

 

Opinion; the lounge determines what other rooms you can add to your penthouse, other than the spa, garage and maybe the bar, all other upgrades are unnecessary as they don't do anything useful. The spa lets you relax in a hot tub and change your hair for free, the bar lets you have free drinks and invite people in for a party and the garage gives you some parking spots to store vehicles. 

 

My verdict; if you are able to gamble where you live, buy it but be careful what you add on as not everything is useful.

 

10. Retro Arcade

The arcade is cool, but only if you spend lots of money on upgrading it(with more game cabinets) after first buying it, luckily the casino heist is a great money maker. Like the doomsday heists, you can play this heist with 2, 3 or 4 people. Though this is not a money guide for the heists or businesses, this heist can often pay out better than the doomsday heist as long as cash is not the vault contents(no matter what, anyone hosting the heist for the first time will have cash in the vault)

 

The facts; You need it to host the casino heist, but its useful beyond that for your businesses, if you buy the MCT(master control terminal)

The gaming cabinets are expensive but definitely are going to give your arcade a more life like feel, and some of them are pretty cool and fun.

Some additional purchases are available to help you with the heist , but since this is about the property and not the heist, I won't talk about them

 

Opinion; the heist has a lot of time consuming prep work but because you can add the MCT to source items for any business you own from this one location(technically this excludes the nightclub because of how it works, but you can do everything from the nightclub computer here too)

The drone upgrade is cool but of course its not as useful for making money.

Anything under the extras tab and also the garage may not be of importance or interest to you, if you want to save money, don't buy them as they aren't required to do the heist or have an impact on the MCT functionality.

 

My verdict; heists and business capabilities in one is nice, just pricey overall, but most likely worth it over time

 

11. The Mobile Vehicle Properties

11A

Yachts

They don't do a lot of things for the price they are, I got mine on discount but in general I would say they are not really worth it. Hot tub is cool, bar is cool and interior is very unique, unlike the other ones I'm about to talk about the yacht does not get destroyed and you don't die when inside it and someone uses the orbital cannon, however certainly people don't use it as often as it used to be done. But it's nice to know that the most powerful weapons in the game can't even destroy it or kill you if you are inside it.  You can use it as a spawn location, but who knows where the yacht will be on the map.

 

The facts; the yachts for a while didn't offer much but recently got missions that (regardless of the pay), completing them does allow you to move/fast travel for only $10,000 with the yachts instead of the original $25,000. There is even some VIP work missions for the yacht called "piracy prevention", I would not say all these alone justify even the discounted price I paid (the Aquarius yacht is biggest and most expensive, normally costing 8+ million, and I got mine for only 2 million), but if you think differently, be my guest and buy it.

 

Opinion; cool in theory but nothing really makes the price of them justified.

 

My verdict; don't buy it unless you don't care about money, or just have a ridiculous amount of money

 

11B

MOC (mobile operations center)

The first of its kind vehicle which would be followed by others after it, the amount of missiles it takes to destroy the truck(regardless of hauler or phantom custom, I prefer the phantom but better yet you can call the phantom wedge to pull it and really be dangerous) is unmatched by anything in game (but you need to detach the trailer or it will be weaker) and overall for what it is and the first of its kind when it released, its definitely cool and worth it in my opinion.

 

The facts; You can upgrade the trailers 3 bay areas. The command center, living area and personal vehicle storage space all are only going to need 1 bay, however you can have an empty bay somewhere. The weaponized vehicle workshop takes up 2 bays, but both this workshop and vehicle storage can only use bay 3 and in the case of the workshop, bay 2 as well. If you have the command center, you cannot use or go into passive mode with the MOC. The weaponized workshop upgrade has a workbench that lets you modify weapons, both the normal ones and the mark 2 upgradable ones. It also has a weapon locker which means you can show or hide various weapons to have a custom loadout of weapons you actually use(some activities will disable your custom loadout) The co-op missions can unlock trade prices for some vehicles but these missions are of course optional.

 

Opinion; its worth it, not for the missions it gives you access to, but for the upgrades the trailer can have(not to mention some neat liveries).

There is no insurance if the MOC is destroyed, which if someone else destroys it, means they don't pay insurance as a punishment, but instead it de-spawns in free-roam and respawns at the bunker.

 

My verdict; definitely buy it unless you hate the bunker stuff, but really you have nothing to lose.

 

11C

Avenger

You can only buy and store it if you have a facility, but you may prefer it over the MOC. This is the second iteration of these vehicles, the Avenger has VTOL, so runways are not needed to land it, it can be upgraded like the MOC to have a weapon workbench and vehicle workshop, along with flying and autopilot which will keep it hovering in the air and not fall to the ground. You can also add gun turrets like the MOC, but you do not have the option to store a vehicle inside it. In my personal opinion the interior is not as nice, its a military flying vehicle so I don't expect it to look luxurious but felt the MOC trailer just appeals more.

My verdict; VTOL aircraft with weapons inside and out, if you have the money or really like aircraft, its a must buy

 

11D

Terrorbyte

In order to buy and own this truck, you need to have a nightclub, the floor dedicated to it is free and automatically added when you buy it. It has drone upgrades, it has a weapon workbench and storage to keep/upgrade the now infamous flying bike the pegassi oppressor. More importantly though it allows you to manage some business stuff from anywhere the terrorbyte is, just be in the back and in a public session. 

My verdict; it makes businesses easier to operate and can reach and be spawned in more places than the MOC or Avenger, so its a must

 

11E

Kosatka

The newest iteration of MOC that really changed the game. Fully upgraded its close to 10 million dollars, but you definitely don't need it all just starting out. Sonar, missles, the weapon workshop and the avisa mini sub certainly are not needed, some would say the sparrow is a must and certainly its a good vehicle but the sea sparrow would have made more sense. Really the best thing about the submarine is the ability to do the cayo perico heist solo in around an hour making 1 million or more each time on average, by far making it a fast, easy and reliable way to make good money.

My verdict; Too much value to not buy it, you'll make your money back and much more beyond that

Edited March 10, 2021 by djpvsfan
spelling error fixes and more info, more coming in the future

[whywontyoulisten]

Meth is a better earner than Cash.

You ignored the Biker Contract missions despite them being some of the most enjoyable new(ish) freeroam missions in the game, that can also be played in Invite Only.

No mention of the Casino story missions, nor the Agatha Baker contact missions.

No mention of yacht story missions (or Piracy Prevention).

No mention of CEO missions, despite them being one of the most popular for grinders.

No mention of how a hangar at Fort Zancudo means you no longer get stars when entering.

The location of businesses totally does matter. Centrally located Biker businesses, and southerly Bunkers mean shorter distances to travel on resupplies, and more importantly the long distance sale missions that make you more money. A nothern bunker and northern/southern Biker businesses will make you travel from one end of the map to the other.

f*cking hangar.

[Airwolf359]

@whywontyoulisten Judging by OP's profile and content count, I'm not surprised there are a few mistakes.

 

TL;DR

Just scroll down to point 11E and buy the Kosatka.

 

Damn, that is one long wall of text. I didn't read all of it, but you forgot some important info about all the other stuff, like locations.

You are plain wrong here and location does matter in GTA Online. (maybe it doesn't in Red Dead Online, but what do I know about that)

 

If you own a bunker in Paleto, or a hangar (not hanger, FFS) on LSIA, I'm not helping you with it.

If you buy your hangar on Fort Zancudo, you get free roaming access to the base, and you can "borrow" the military jets, that is definitely something to put in this guide.

And your MC stuff had better not be in Paleto either. Either buy the location around Sandy Shores/Grapeseed, or the northernmost one in the city.

 

Since this wasn't a money guide, I won't comment here which order to buy them in, or how to save up for the first one, already did that in plenty of other topics, and I'm not going to rewrite this guide for you.

You posted this in the right place by the way.

Edited February 21, 2021 by AirWolf359

[djpvsfan]

15 hours ago, whywontyoulisten said:

Meth is a better earner than Cash.

You ignored the Biker Contract missions despite them being some of the most enjoyable new(ish) freeroam missions in the game, that can also be played in Invite Only.

No mention of the Casino story missions, nor the Agatha Baker contact missions.

No mention of yacht story missions (or Piracy Prevention).

No mention of CEO missions, despite them being one of the most popular for grinders.

No mention of how a hangar at Fort Zancudo means you no longer get stars when entering.

The location of businesses totally does matter. Centrally located Biker businesses, and southerly Bunkers mean shorter distances to travel on resupplies, and more importantly the long distance sale missions that make you more money. A nothern bunker and northern/southern Biker businesses will make you travel from one end of the map to the other.

f*cking hangar.

Thank you for your feedback, I was trying to mostly cover the properties main functions, not necessarily cover details about missions or little perks that they give you. I will include more info as this was not intended to be a final draft, My apologies for not mentioning these things to start. I am sorry it was frustrating for you but I didn't want to make it as in depth or lengthy as my post about gta o female clothing. I will edit in more details including some tweaks to my wording and update things that relevant.