Money is scarce during the initial hours of GTA 5's story mode , making it hard to purchase vehicles , weapons , and other flashy items such as properties from the get-go. Thankfully, this money-making guide explains 10 unique ways to earn money quickly and easily in Grand Theft Auto 5 , as unfortunately, there are no infinite money cheat codes available in-game.
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So, if you're running short on cash and need an extra few dollars to afford that shiny Grenade Launcher or Super Heavy Armor , we have you covered in our guide to making money in GTA 5 below.
The best way to make a lot of money in the story mode of GTA 5 is to complete Lester 's stock market assassination missions . Our Assassination Investor page details the steps required for developing your finances beyond the Billion dollar mark
The old trick of buying low and selling high still applies to GTA V . Keep an eye on the news as well to see which stocks are doing good or bad.
To make a quick return, save your game and then shut off autosave. Invest all of your money into a stock that you think is on the rise. Go to your safehouse and rest without saving (or wait roughly 45 seconds) and check your portfolio to see your profit. Keep checking the stock until it peaks out and then sell. The more money you invest, the better the return, and if the stock does poorly, just load up your previous save and you will have all the money you invested without any repercussions.
Note that Franklin 's Assassination missions are a fool-proof way to invest wisely and make some serious cash, so wait until you finish the story mode before you complete them so you can invest the most money with all three GTA 5 characters .
Before you complete the construction assassination invest in Gold Coast . The share price almost doubles in value after the mission . The biggest payout I've found ?in the stocks yet.
Before you complete the Mission Legal Trouble , ? invest in AirEmu and sell it after the mission Legal Trouble then invest in the share FlyUS because it will fall dramatically. Once you complete the mission Meltdown ?(a few missions later) the share price will return to what it was pre Legal Trouble. An example from my game, pre Legal Trouble the share price for AirEmu was about $200, FlyUS was around $25. Post Legal Trouble AirEmu went up to about $275 and FlyUS dropped to $12. Once the mission Meltdown was completed, FlyUS went back to around $24 which doubled my investment.
People who have just visited an ATM generally have a bit of cash in their pockets. Just wait around ATM for people to withdraw money and rob them with bare fists or Suppressed Weapon .
Escape the area before cops arrive!
Money is very hard to come by in the first few hours of GTA 5. When you need money quick, consider one of 20 GTA 5?Robberies .
Convenience stores and corner markets are prime, soft targets for a stick-up. Walk-in, aim a gun at the cashier, shoot around him to impress him and make him faster, grab the money, and escape before the cops arrive.
Stake out a few favorite stores and look for handy hiding places nearby. Park your Vehicle facing toward the street just outside the store. Grab the cash, hop into your ride, and scoot away to your alcove. By rotating between a few familiar stores you can pick up a decent bankroll.
Some stores have two registers. By firing your gun into the second register you can force more money to pop out. Be sure to wait until you’ve got all the money from the first register before shooting to avoid alerting bystanders with the sound of the gunshot.
You can also rob gun and clothing stores by pulling out your gun and aiming it before entering the stores. Although the store's employee won't empty the cash registers for you, simply shooting them open yourself will provide you with the money inside.
Caution when robbing the same store multiple times as the clerk may get a gun, and is not afraid to use it.
Be aware that robbing stores within a short period of one another (less than 48 minutes) will increase the stars you earn from robbing. Ex. after robbing 2 stores, you will earn a 3 star wanted level and so on.
Street races are an excellent source of income whenever Franklin is low on money. I would recommend getting a Coil Voltic electric sports car and customizing that up as far as possible. Using Franklin's unique special talent it is rather easy to win any of the races . Just trigger the special talent before each sharp turn or in each critical situation (e.g. dense traffic) by simultaneously pressing L3 and R3 and going around corners at full speed becomes real easy. Don't forget to switch off the talent again as soon as possible to keep your yellow talent power bar filled. And always make sure to have the yellow bar maxed out before starting a race.
Not enough money to customize your race car? Just trade it over to another character by parking it at a convenient location (e.g. Trevors place), switch characters, go to the location and the car will still be there. Then customize it and trade it back.
Avoid the temptation to purchase Vehicles and Weapons you don’t need in the early sections of GTA 5. The ability to fill your newly-purchased economy-sized garage with custom rides is enticing, but every dollar you spare hijacking a sedan is a buck you’ll have available to buy things you really need.
Steal a couple of choice cars and store them in your home garage, and rely on theft for reliable transportation. Likewise, select four main Weapons, (short range, long-range, sniper, heavy), that you favor, and stick with these until you complete your first Heist . And always prioritize weapon purchases over Vehicles. Weapons are far more scarce.
There’s real money in the first Heist , enough to give you a hefty Stock Market bankroll. If a Heist is something you're interested in trying, our Jewel Store Job walkthrough will guide you through everything you need to know about completing the heist successfully, as well as collecting all the best and most valuable Jewels that are hidden in the center cabinets on the island near the register.
Be sure to hire the best available Crew on any Heist. They end up saving more than you spend on most occasions. Even after completing the jewelry store heist , there are still several more heists available through the story missions , most of which provide you with a greater reward.
In the beginning hours of the game, one of the easiest ways to make money is to rob an armored vehicle. They appear randomly as blips on the minimap while you are driving around. Take out the drivers, then blow the back doors open with a gun or C4. Collect the money, which is often worth over $5000, then escape the cops.
You might even be lucky enough to catch the security guards bringing the money to the armored truck beforehand, in which case the job is that much easier. Take out the guard carrying the cash, take the money, and run.
There's a chance for Michael to meet an investment banker in the afternoon (noon - evening) on the road from Pacific Bluffs to Chumash. He is standing beside his broken car on the roadside and asks to take him to the airport. You have exactly two minutes to do that, and if you do, the banker gives you an investment tip ? buy Tinkle (TNK) shares on BAWSAQ . If you do that right away, you can expect 30% profit the very next day.
Please note, the following GTA 5 money exploits may have been patched and potentially no longer work. So, if you have tried all of the methods above and you're still looking to earn extra money, you may have some success with these methods if they're still working, which we can not guarantee.
A user had reported that if an armored car can be taken by Michael without firing a shot, and if subsequently the police are quickly evaded, it may be possible to create an endless cash loop. Park the armored car in your garage and save the game. Then blow the doors off, leaving the car in the garage . Loot the car, then return later. The car will still be there, repaired, and restocked with cash.
Scattered around the map (mostly offshore/underwater) are special Hidden Packages containing anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000. Luckily, there is an exploit that you can use on the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, that will allow one character to collect any specific package numerous times. To exploit this glitch , follow these directions:
Repeat the procedure as many times as needed to gain enough cash. With patience, you can easily collect up to $2 million in 30 minutes just on the glitch alone! This only works once, so if you leave the area and come back, the package will be gone.
Rockstar Games issued a patch soon after the glitch was exposed. With the 1.01 update, you can no longer repeatedly pick up the packages. Once collected, they are permanently gone. If you wish to use the exploit, delete the update patch from your console and disable automatic updating (this will also disable your GTA Online access).
Do the exploit as much as you can while the system is offline and the game is version 1.0. Keep in mind deleting updates could cause incompatibility issues with your save games and possible corruption - use it at your own risk.