renting vs buying

[~nail in the coffin~]

ok, so if you read my previous post you guys all know that i still don't have a place for my haunt (in 2007, fingers crossed). we have a local mall that is pretty much done for as far as stores go and i just saw a rental sign go up about a week ago. what are the advantages of renting a place for those of you who rent? and how long do you typically do a rental agreement for? i mean, us being new at this and all, how long would it take to set up? i'm not much worried about storage since we have some options as far as that goes, and they would be rather cheap. but we were actually looking forward to owning a place and therefore knowing where we would be every year. plus, we're looking forward to working thoughout the summer. i never really even thought about renting until i read some of kel's book. i was just wondering how many of you rent and what the reasons are. and how the heck would i go about contacting someone as far as this goes? i don't know, if i were a building owner, if i would rent only for 3 months out of the year. it seems like people around here are looking for year-long leases, but i could be wrong, i've never looked into it. any responses would be great!

[koch]

Hey there. This is our first year operating a haunted attraction as well. We were fortunate enough to find a building where we got even a TWO WEEK lease. WOW!!! Never even imagined that it would be possible.
We're building all of our walls off-site and then will just put them up when the time for us to move in giving us only two weeks to get ready.

Getting ready includes having the fire alarm installed, all walls put up (already painted and fire-treated), additional electrical work, putting props in place, signage, etc etc. So much work, so little time.

-Scott

[Jim Warfield]

Koch, be remembering to save some energy to actually operate your haunt.
One's attitudes about things can turn abit sour when we are extremely tired, or at least I have found this to be true with myself.
You will be embarking upon an amount of concentrated effort not normally undertaken by the average person. (not that you are average)
The tare-down would find no helpers because the fun was over when I was in the old JC's, darn lucky we weren't contractural renters, January was not a fun time to be doing this work, by myself......
Good luck!

[koch]

Thanks Jim for the concern. Already we've been butting heads about certain issues. It's hard being in a partnership. When you're on your own you yourself make all of the decisions. Anyhow, my partners are great, just too much work, so little time.

-Scott

[Xeverity]

I found an old winery which was great because the grapevines make excellent mazes but now we are in an out building of an old asylum.

Would love to have somewhere permament but this is life!

[ClusterOne]

If you can find a good place to buy that is not crazy priced, that would be ideal. But I think for most haunts renting a space or building is the reality.

As for doing it in a mall, just beware of all the mall managment rules you will have to obey. Like operating hours, security, clean-up, after-hours access...you will have mall managment to deal with, and you would hate to get send to mall jail!