Creative Financing 101

From the AP:

Pot-Growing Takes Root in the Suburbs

In Coldwater Creek, a middle-class housing development outside Atlanta, the neighbors mind their own business and respect each other’s privacy — ideal conditions, it turns out, for growing marijuana in the suburbs.

Police this month raided an utterly ordinary-looking red-brick house on the block and broke up a pot-growing operation with 680 plants arrayed under bright lights.

“You’d never know from the outside. I guess that’s the idea,” said Doug Augis, who lives with his pregnant wife and a toddler in Coldwater Creek. “That doesn’t give you a really good feeling.”

Around the country, investigators are increasingly seeing suburban homes in middle-class and well-to-do neighborhoods turned into indoor marijuana farms. Typically investigators find an empty home, save a mattress, a couple of chairs, some snacks in the fridge and an elaborate setup of soil-free growing trays.

Georgia, the latest busts averaged about 200 plants per house. With each plant yielding $4,000 on average per harvest, that works out to about $3.2 million per year, considering the plants can be harvested every three months.

Nearly all of the grow houses busted in Georgia were connected, police say. Fayetteville resident Merquiades Martinez — a Cuban immigrant — and his wife, a real estate agent, are accused of recruiting other Cubans to buy homes that cost $300,000 to $450,000.

In another elaborate scheme, more than 50 houses with thousands of plants recently found in Florida were traced to marijuana financiers in New Jersey who offered “relocation packages,” with 100 percent financing for the homes. Buyers would agree to operate a grow house for two years, after which they could sell the house and split the profits with their backers, or keep growing pot.

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8 Responses to Creative Financing 101

  1. investorDavid says:

    Maybe my old school Berekeley should teach this course for Finance majors. :)

  2. investorDavid says:

    I still think that Pot should be legalized – arthritis, glocoma, etc.

    I think that many of the drugs on the market by Pharmaceutical companies should be banned and illegalized.

  3. commanderbobnj says:

    investorDavid Says:
    March 31st, 2007 at 9:27 am
    I still think that Pot should be legalized – arthritis, glocoma, etc.

    I think that many of the drugs on the market by Pharmaceutical companies should be banned and illegalized
    __________________________
    Do you really believe this “Mr. David” ??—-You, a somewhat ‘intellectual’ fellow of this message board and a family man to boot, would think that making that drug legal is a great idea ?

    It goes to show that once a liberal fool -always a liberal fool—-Especially the pseudo-intellectuals

    P.S.—-And as far as attacking the private enterprise Pharmaceutical Industry—There are Many, Many people alive today thanks to their advancements in LEGAL DRUGS—-Maybe in your family and the others on this board. I know positively in MINE !!!

  4. investorDavid says:

    commanderbobnj,

    I never claimed myself as an intellectual. Fool? maybe.

    Ever considered why pot is illegal? is it possible that pharmaceutical company can’t make any money off it?

    Sure, there are many good drugs from Pharm. companies but there are also many bad ones.

    There are many benefits to pot in terms of medical usage.

    As for “legal drugs”, ever thought about what makes it legal or illegal?

  5. investorDavid says:

    In addition, making pot legal doesn’t mean that everyone will go out start smoking pot.

    Alcohol is legal but my kids don’t drink it. I took my older son to a wine tasting and he hates the taste. I know that he won’t drink alcohol for a while.

    Our war on drug has not been successful. We can legalize the “illegal” drug industry, tax them, regulate them and use the profit to educate people.

    Turning blind eyes doesn’t make it go away.

    we have to face the problems and deal with it rather than pretending it doesn’t exist.

  6. investorDavid says:

    commanderbobnj,

    Just so you know, when you discuss an issue, you don’t convince the other side by calling names. There is something called common etiquette and basic human decency. Ever heard of it?

    Your entire argument is based upon..

    “Do you really believe this “Mr. David” ??—-You, a somewhat ‘intellectual’ fellow of this message board and a family man to boot, would think that making that drug legal is a great idea ?

    It goes to show that once a liberal fool -always a liberal fool—-Especially the pseudo-intellectuals”

  7. commanderbobnj says:

    Boy, Mr. David, touchy aren’t we—Liberals are usually like that when they are challenged on the illegal drug issue—You so-called argument-response above –(Let’s see THREE REPLYS!–WOW !)is the usual dribble about “the government” distributing and ‘TAXING’ IT !!——–Taking the money and “educating people about it”” !!!What a laugh!!—-Sure, just like taking the cash from the cigarette industry and “educating people about the dangers of smoking–Where did that money go ‘Mr. David’ –HAH ??—Most of ‘IT’ has gone to liberal ‘social-programs’ that the States cannot afford..

    You Mr.David,Do not know me –nor I,you–But I can tell you this, I have been alive more years than you; I am considered by most of my friends and others to be a walking ‘history book’ ; I have experienced and closely observed pre-1960’s American Life before vietnam and the drug culture and what it has done to the young people of this country and when I read total ‘unawareness'(I am being polite in your case)of the drug issues,then I feel that I MUST state the other side of what I consider to be contributing to the downfall of this great nation.

    The “government” on all levels for the past 40-plus- years has totally failed us in the so-called “DRUG WAR” —That I will agree with you.- WHY is this?—-Well, as many have said: “,.just follow the money trail..” Too many people in high places making too much money in it: Pot, Crack etc.

    I would ‘talk’ more about this , but I have a dinner date later, gotta’ get ready…

  8. investorDavid says:

    commanderbob,

    1. I hope you had a nice dinner date last night.

    2. Been busy with my kid’s water polo practice and game.

    3. It’s actually Dr. David to you. :) haha

    4. Should be make alcohol and tobacco illegal?

    5. War on Drug didn’t work. We should find a better answer than just massively wasting money on futile effort.

    6. so what is so bad about making marijuana legal? You certainly won’t smoke it even if it’s legal.

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