Neat life hack. If you need more space, there is a tried and true solution. Simply declare the apartment next to yours as part of your people's historic homeland. Then proceed to occupy and annex half of your neighbor's apartment.

https://youtu.be/Vx4UwjKCW5Q

Sorry about the Google affiliate there. You can make a pretty good container garden on a south-facing balcony. I even had an ok setup on my north-east facing 5th floor balcony.

As far as buying a house goes, if you are in the US, I would wait. People are going to be underwater on their home soon and will be desperate to sell them...into a market that is saturated and few buyers with the cash to get one. Give it 2 or 3 years is my advice, and you'll be able to get a better home cheaper.

I bought my house last year, knowing full well that trump could win and would tank the market and make me underwater on my mortgage, but I don't really care since I don't see the home as an investment that needs to pay off, I just need to be able to afford it.

There are indoor grow tents available for $100-400.

I'd probably put one of these in a spare bedroom if I had one, or at the very least next to a window in case I need to manage humidity on a short notice.

How cold are your winter temps? I was looking at building a greenhouse that would connect my garage to my house, it would essentially give me another zone of hardiness for my plants and add a month or so to both ends of my potential growing season. Plus, being able to grow without needing pesticides and herbicides (or at least not nearly as much) is a huge boon on its own.