How to buy the store: rent, buyout price and mortgage

You win by owning the store’s deed. On Cozy (Price Gouge) and Normal (Mark Up) the store costs 12,000 credits until day 50; Hard costs 24,000 and Challenge 36,000. The Landlord sells it only on rent days, so day 49 is the last chance at the base price and for the Prodigious achievement. Prodigious needs cash: a mortgage hands over the deed with its last payment, and even the shortest term (8 weeks on Cozy) ends after day 50. On Mark Up, plan for about 15,100 credits earned by day 49: the price, roughly 1,600 in rent and the 1,500 permit.

Buyout price by difficulty

Difficulty	Price until day 50	Rise per day after day 50	Highest price	Reached on day
Price Gouge (Cozy)	12,000	+25	15,000	170
Mark Up (Normal)	12,000	+50	17,000	150
Thin Margins (Hard)	24,000	+50	34,000	250
Red Ink (Challenge)	36,000	+100	56,000	250

The current price is shown on the calendar. The Landlord only offers Buyout the store during the rent-day conversation, and only when you hold enough credits. Since update 1.0.0.12, taking credits out of the vending machine during that conversation unlocks the payment options immediately.

A day-49 buyout on Mark Up

Rent days fall on days 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49, and the Buyout the store option appears only during that conversation when you hold enough credits. Credits still inside the vending machine count once you withdraw them during the conversation (fixed in 1.0.0.12).

By rent day	Hold after paying rent	Spent so far on
Day 7	200 for rent, plus your stock	Wild’s Favor (200) pays for the first upgrade
Day 21	Your first business running	Water line (900) or Retired Winemaker and Retired Farmer (550)
Day 28	3,000
Day 35	6,000
Day 42	9,000, plus 1,500 set aside	Business Permit due when the official returns on day 45
Day 49	12,000, plus that day’s rent	Buyout

From day 21 to day 49 that is about 430 credits saved a day. Steam posters report 500–1,000 a day from a finished water setup; the money guide compares the businesses that get you there and the order to buy them.

1. Day 7: pay rent and spend the free 200 Wild’s Favor. On Mark Up it covers the Retired Winemaker outright, or 200 of the 300 for Water Trading.
2. Days 8–21: join the Appraiser Board (85) and complete one production line. Keep next week’s rent before each purchase.
3. Days 21–42: expand the line that already sells (a second Water Purifier, more wine bottles) before buying another Wild’s Network business.
4. Day 45: buy the Business Permit (1,500). A refusal adds Operating Without a License at 170 suspected-crime points on day 45; a goods donation also clears the visit for that week.
5. Day 49: withdraw the vending-machine credits during the Landlord’s conversation and choose Buyout the store.

Short on day 49

If you hold at least 3,600 (twice the 1,800 down payment), the Loan Shark offers the mortgage on rent days: 12 weekly payments, 13,160 in total, and no more rent. You lose Prodigious but keep Keys to the Kingdom. Paying cash later costs the rising price plus rent: on day 63 that is 12,650 plus two rents of about 290, about 13,230 and already more than the mortgage. Take the mortgage if you expect to need more than two extra weeks; pay cash if you will have 12,000 within one.

Failure	Result	Prevention
Credits short on day 49	Price rises 50 a day on Mark Up from day 51	Mortgage, as above
Contraband found at an inspection	Seized plus a fine; arrest if you cannot pay	Smuggler’s Bay; see inspections
Night robbery	Stock or credits stolen	Vigilant perk, or an Alarm System (50% base, +50% Performance stops every burglar)
Missed rent on Hard or Challenge	Run ends	Hold each rent before buying anything

Choosing a profitable start makes this easier; the starting scenario guide compares their credits, rent and unlocked contacts.

Rent

Rent is due every seventh day (days 7, 14, 21…). It starts at 200 credits for most scenarios, 240 for Hydroponic Farmer and Aquafarmer, and 250 for Fence and Gunsmith. After every rent day it rises by a percentage set by the difficulty.

Difficulty	Weekly increase	Week 4	Week 8	Week 12	Week 16
Cozy	2.5%	215	235	258	282
Normal	5%	229	276	333	403
Hard and Challenge	10%	266	388	565	826

Figures assume a 200-credit start. On Hard and Challenge rent roughly doubles in seven weeks, which is why an early buyout matters more there.

Missing a payment

• Cozy and Normal give you one grace period. The missed rent is added to next week’s bill, and the Landlord opens his next visit with a warning.
• Hard and Challenge have no grace period: missing rent ends the run with You Defaulted On Your Rent.
• Joe Wild sells Rent Grace for 100 credits (15-day cooldown). It is kept until you need it. See Wild’s Network.
• A Merchant visits on every rent day and buys anything that is not contraband, below market value and without your markup. His discount is 10% on Cozy, 15% on Normal, 20% on Hard and 25% on Challenge.

Mortgage

The Loan Shark introduces himself the first time you can afford the down payment, then returns on rent days while you hold at least twice that amount. Once you accept, the Landlord stops coming and the Loan Shark collects a fixed weekly payment instead.

Difficulty	Down payment	Weeks	Weekly payment	Total paid
Cozy	20%	8	1,233	12,364
Normal	15%	12	930	13,160
Hard	12.5%	16	1,615	28,840
Challenge	20%	16	2,370	44,920

These totals are for a mortgage taken by day 50; the terms are fixed when you sign. On Normal the mortgage costs about 1,160 credits more than paying 12,000 outright, and it stops rent immediately.

If you miss a mortgage payment, the Loan Shark takes items worth at least the payment. He skips documents, containers, stuck modules and anything inside a Smuggler’s Bay. If everything he could take is worth less, the store is repossessed and the run ends.

Business permit

From day 38 an official from the Station Trade Board warns that permits will be required. From day 45 he returns every week until you buy one.

Difficulty	Business Permit
Cozy	500
Normal	1,500
Hard	2,000
Challenge	3,000

Each week you can buy it, give a “donation” in goods (the amount grows by 25 plus 10 per week of the run), or refuse. Refusing adds Operating Without a License to your suspected crimes: 50 plus 20 per week of the run, 170 on day 45. Buying it unlocks the Authorized achievement. Budget the permit and the buyout together: on Normal, a day-45 permit plus a day-50 buyout is 13,500 credits.

What ends a run

Ending	Cause
Buyout	You pay the full price, or make the last mortgage payment. You can keep playing.
You Defaulted On Your Rent	Rent missed with no grace period left.
Repossession	A missed mortgage payment that the Loan Shark cannot cover with your goods.
Arrested or Executed	Critical contraband found, an unpaid fine, or an investigation sentence. See inspections and investigations.
Lynched, Framed, Bombed	−100 reputation with the Lower Levels, Security or the Revolution. See factions.
Augmented	Aug presence reaches its maximum on Thin Margins, Red Ink or with the Aug Menace perk. See Augs.

After a buyout, Joe Wild opens the Advanced tab of his network: the Hypertech Smuggler and Wild’s Endorsements, which raise every customer’s budget by 25% per level.