can you live on your "retail" lot if you open up shop?

"Ashkevron;13491288" wrote:
There is no 'no bills' aspiration or reward as far as I know.

There is one to reduce bills. It might be either an aspiration reward or the aspiration trait for either of the money aspirations.

I think it's a trait you buy with points.

"solarstorm;13491241" wrote:
okay ... one question tho ... i want to open a small shop -- but how do i be able to afford because i don't want to use the money cheat ... wahhh -- i want to build it start up ...

I had to use the money cheat to open a shop right away. It's quite expensive and doesn't make profit very quickly from my experience. I would start out with a normal job (Tech Guru is recommended. It pays the most) and save up your money before building/buying a shop and quitting your day job.

How do i get a retail lot if i click the ... no change lot type comes up?

"Sophielola;14967021" wrote:
How do i get a retail lot if i click the ... no change lot type comes up?

If you go to build mode on the lot, you can choose the info option on the top menu (House with an i). It will allow you to change the lot type there.

Yeah, I wish we could have a retail lot as a home, lol. Right now my painter has a gallery/studio appartment (I converted one of the 2 floor houses in Willow Creek, but she technically lives with her brother, so anytime I'm not actively playing her she ends up there, and he also has a ghost rooomie, so it gets kind crowded :-P Waiting for a "live anywhere" mod to fix the problem.

"Galemalik;c-15844217" wrote:
Can you have a business at your own lot just like sims 2?

No.. Your business must be on a separate lot. However, you can make that business lot your home and pay bills via phone.

You guys do know that you can click on the door and "lock for" and then do everyone but household and then customers can't get in.

I build a home above my shops and have my sims live there. I don't give my sims any other jobs to keep them on the lot. Also if you put a mailbox on the lot you can pay your bills from your shop.

Tried doing it that way with a family that owns a bakery. Unfortunately, one of the adults was a townie with an ambitious trait and got really tense. So she has a job, which she can work from home. I'm definitely going to just have them live above the bakery after reading this thread. It will simplify things. They haven't had a chance to open up this week with the toddlers needing attention, so they're losing money.
The famiy with the vet clinic lets their employee run it alone most days, and since getting it started used up most of their money, one of them has a job. I'm thinking a family of 4 doesn't need as much space as a family of 8 though, so may have them just live at the clinic.

This is something that I miss SO MUCH from sims 2, I loved being able to have a 'in home' business. Like having an 'apartment' above a bakery and such. It was so much fun. To do so in 4, I basically buy the smallest lot that's completely barren then move my sim over to the actual lot where the business is being built. My latest game had a couple (with children) living on the same lot as their clinic. This was the (starter) set up.

https://78.media.tumblr.com/0c4608a2149ba55a14619982b93bec88/tumblr_inline_ozyhm0a0Mi1ueo9io_500.png

https://78.media.tumblr.com/d8b364bac1f3b16b58827ef9e0c75218/tumblr_inline_ozyhm7UfQY1ueo9io_500.png

When the children came along, I simply extended the area a bit and added on a bedroom. It was very small but it worked since it was only two children that were usually at school and when home were helping in the clinic.

(BTW, that clinic was built by Trstmeimaliar (origin ID) if you like the lay out)