P is for Property, not Paleto Bay

This has been mentioned more or less in the previous parts of this collection, but it is worth emphasizing it again since it is a mistake that so many players will make:

Do not buy a property located near Paleto Bay only because it is cheap, when such location has a very significant disadvantage.

More specifically, you should never consider Paleto Forest Bunker if you want to make money with it, no matter what kind of offer on it is available to you.

Properties Near Paleto Bay

On the Maze Bank Foreclosures website in the game, there have been five properties near Paleto Bay as of this article was written: two Clubhouses, one Facility, one Arcade, and one Bunker.

In the Clubhouses Guide I said that the location of your Clubhouse should not matter at all in most cases, so it is definitely fair to buy any of the two Clubhouses in Paleto Bay. Remember though, the cheapest Clubhouse is the Great Chaparral Clubhouse on Route 68, not any of the two Paleto Bay Clubhouses.

I have mixed opinions on the Facility. As the starting point of all Doomsday Heist missions, the role of a Facility’s location is comparable to that of your Apartment’s place in original Heists. Sitting at the corner of the map, the Paleto Bay Facility is not the best choice in general. However, it is the optimal Facility for The Bogdan Problem’s Finale. Some players keep redoing that mission because it is easy and has decent payout. If you are interested in redoing it too, then the Paleto Bay Facility is a reasonable choice.

The Arcade is used for The Diamond Casino Heist, so its purpose is similar to that of Facility. But, if you want to do the Casino Heist, then you should avoid this Arcade. Most of the Preps for the Casino Heist take place in Los Santos or the southern part of Blaine County that is close to the city. The Finale will of course require you to go to the Casino in East Vinewood. By choosing another Arcade in Los Santos, you will save yourself and your teammates a lot of time.

The Bunker is free for Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack owners, but you should never claim it. We will get to this in a moment.

There are also some MC Businesses near Paleto Bay. They are not being sold on Maze Bank Foreclosures, so the screenshot above does not include them. Because Paleto Bay is not a suitable location for business properties, and the cheapest MC Businesses are located near Sandy Shores, there should be no reason to buy them at Paleto Bay.

Paleto Forest Bunker

I will give more details about sell missions from the Bunker later, but here is one thing: you can either do a near sale to Blaine County or do a far sale to the city of Los Santos for 50% additional cash bonus. The set of missions for both types of sales is the same, so the only difference between them is the distance you need to travel to complete the sale. Thus, for greater profits, players should always choose to sell to Los Santos.

Paleto Bay is located at the northernmost corner of the map, so it is the farthest destination from the city. To sell from the Paleto Forest Bunker and collect the maximum payout, you need to drive the delivery vehicle(s) to the city first, which can take four to five minutes, depending on the type of vehicle you are given. Keep in mind that all Bunker sell missions are timed, and some of them only gives you 15 precious minutes. It would be very hard to even complete the sell mission in time when you get multiple drop-offs and vehicles. Should you use this Bunker, you will have horrible experience with your Gunrunning business.

People who can claim the Paleto Forest Bunker for free thanks to the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack might think they can use this free Bunker temporarily just to make enough money for a better Bunker, but this is not a wise decision. Recall the hidden cost of the upgrades required to make your Bunker profitable. When you move to another Bunker, any upgrades you have purchased will not be transferred, so you need to spend another $1,753,500 on the necessary upgrades for the new Bunker, which is roughly equal to the price of a Bunker closer to the city!