You cannot buy property in GTA 5‘s story mode until you have completed the mission Nervous Ron. Before that, the Dynasty 8 signs around the map do nothing. After it, buying is simply a matter of driving to a property, walking up to its For Sale sign, and pressing the prompt with enough cash in the bank.
How the Purchase Works
Every buyable property has a physical For Sale sign at its location. There is no menu or website for this in story mode, so you have to go there.
Approach the sign, press the button shown on screen, and if you can afford it the property is yours. The money comes out immediately, so it is worth checking your balance before making the trip.
Character-Specific Properties
This is the part that catches people out. Several businesses can only be bought by one protagonist:
- Franklin gets Smoke on the Water, the Downtown Cab Co., the Harmony Los Santos Customs, and the LSPD Auto Impound.
- Michael buys the cinemas.
- Trevor buys the McKenzie Field Hangar, which unlocks arms-trafficking missions.
If a For Sale sign refuses to give you the prompt, check whether you are playing the right character. Our guide on how to switch characters covers moving between the three.
Other properties, including several bars, the scrapyard and the golf club, take any protagonist.
What Properties Actually Earn
Businesses generate weekly income that arrives in the owning character’s account. The figures vary enormously, from a couple of thousand a week at the low end up to figures in the six digits for the most expensive purchase in the game.
We would treat the exact weekly numbers circulating in community property guides as approximate. Rockstar does not publish them, and they are derived from player testing rather than documentation.
Some properties are worth more for what they unlock than what they pay. The McKenzie Field Hangar opens a mission strand, and the Sonar Collections Dock unlocks the submarine and the underwater collectible hunt attached to it.
Buying for Completion
Story mode’s 100 percent completion requires owning at least five properties across the three characters. If you are buying purely to tick that box rather than to invest, the cheapest qualifying combination runs to a little under $800,000 in total.
If you are short, our guide on how to make money fast covers the quickest routes, and selling cars is a reliable early earner.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does property buying unlock? After the mission Nervous Ron.
Can any character buy any property? No. Several are locked to one protagonist.
Do you need property for 100 percent completion? Yes, at least five across the three characters.
Does income keep accruing if you ignore it? Weekly income continues to arrive in the owning character’s account as time passes in game.