rental notecard first draft

Land Renting Advice for New Residents (10May2005)

Hello and welcome to Second Life!

Here is some advice that should make your land renting experience more pleasant.

Summary (detailed comments follow after):
-00- Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware
-01- You don't need land for Second Life to be enjoyable.
-02- "Renting" versus "Owning" Land
-03- Land or property?
-04- Mainland or island?
-05- Plot size matters.
-06- Location! Location! Location!
-07- Your Friends can help.
-08- If you have a problem... ask for help.

Details:

-00- Caveat Emptor

Buyer beware. Or at least be aware. Learn what you can about renting land, why you want it, and what you can do with it. The advice in this notecard should keep you out of most land trouble, but in the end you are responsible for your decisions. Renting is different from ownership - the landlord makes the rules and each landlord is different. Check what you are committing to before you pay.

-01- You don't need land

To enjoy Second Life you do not need land. Renting land is best if you want to:
* Have a shop in a popular place.
* Are a basic account holder.
* Want to live in a community with rules (a zoned community).
* Want to pay in Linden$ rather than US$.
* Want to move when you want.

-02- Buy or Rent

You can "own" SL land directly. If you own SL land, you will need to pay monthly tier fees to Linden Labs.

OR

You can pay for the use of land from other players on the mainland. You can also "rent" land from other players in island sims (off the mainland) which can be more like ownership; you can have access to land control features. Neither of these two options require you to have land tier, so you will not need to pay tier fees to Linden Labs.

-03- Land or property?

You can rent a bare piece of land or land that has been developed in some way. Developed land generally costs more and it may already have a house or apartment on it. If you want to build rent a bare plot of land. If you like the idea of just moving into a house then rent land with a house or apartment on. There are also many suppliers of prefab houses to choose from.

-04- Mainland or Island?

You can rent land on the mainland, or on islands with their own rules. Each island has different rules - *find out the rules before you pay*.

Some landlords will deed your land to a group of your choice. This will allow you more control such as terraforming, admit and ban lists. Some landlords may call this ownership and ask for an upfront fee (to "purchase". Some landlords don't and will deed to group for a normal weekly rent.

If a landlord calls the land owned rather than rented they may expect you to find a replacement.

Many islands are themed and have rules. You may only be able to build a house (not a shop or a club) or it may require you to build in a theme.

Some island rentals are paid in Linden$, some require US$ via paypal.

-05- Size matters

The more land you rent the more stuff you can put on it. With each rental you should be told clearly how many prims you have use of. With bare land it will be available in the About Land in the World Menu. Renting a house or a shop in a mall is different - clicking on the rental box will tell you the rules.

-06- Location! Location! Location!

Look at the land before you rent it. For a house you may want a quiet area away from clubs and things that cause lag. For a shop you may want the opposite.

If you rent on an island and it has events there is a possibility that you may not be able to access it - only 40 people are allowed on a sim at any time.

Location affects rental prices - the more traffic a commercial area has the more rent you will probably have to pay. PG land is generally cheaper than Mature land.

-07- Friends

If your friends rent they may know of places nearby. Ask around.

-08- Help!

The advice in this notecard does not cover everything that can happen in land renting. If you have a problem ask for help. Ask your friends, or if worst come to worst, search for someone with the last name "Linden. They are employees of Second Life and are there to help you.

* * *

say that looks familiar...
looks good to me... but i'm not qualified to comment on this aspect of land.
hopefully someone else will make good comments.

Well it's obviously cribbed in part from the land owning one..

I tried very hard to make it non specific and minus advocacy or vitriol.

Excellent Roberta! Looks good to me

You may also want to update it with the process/limitations or whatever of how to/if you can hold events on rented land, as those updates come in.

This would make a GREAT addition to the Helping H.A.N.D. (noobie yellow pages) if you're interested. Plse contacte me

I repudiate this card, I think it is biased, and ill-informed.

I urge the Lindens not to circulate it and to look at alternatives.

To cite but just one obvious error, in my rentals business, the rent is exactly the same on most lots whether you take our prefab or bring your own. I see it is done that way in other rentals businesses.

Once again, I don't think that those who are content-kings are in a position to be giving advice on the land business, a business which they loathe and despise, as can be seen from the fronting of the "buyer beware" and "you don't need land to enjoy SL" stuff.

your whole crusade against everyone and everything is getting tiresome.

shit or get off the pot.

DO something about... like give your notecards to Char Linden to see if she'll distrubute them. Or shut up.

i don't see you trying to gather information for an alternate notecard. no you'd rather play at being a heroine. well you aren't heroic. you're a small petty person.

oh and far warning, as a member of the FIC, i've told Char and LL to complete ignore you. And if you believe that... you need to go see your therapist post-haste. Printout some of these threads and show your therapist what you experience on the forums.

this looks like it's worth working in.

I haven't done the rental thing, but this statement seems misleading. It's strictly true with owning land, but not necessarilly true of rentals.



I think this is more true, but you don't necessarilly have permission to use all prims on bare land, right? I mean it depends on how it's being rented, I think.

I would change this to: "The advice on this notecard will help, but in the end you are responsible for your decisions".

A notecard this brief cannot possibly keep anyone out of land trouble, but it is a good exercise that is worth doing.

Isn't this true in general, not just about islands?

Live help, post on forums, e-mail support.

It probably isn't a good thing to tell them to look for anyone named Linden. I mean i don't want them bothering developers or other tech Lindens. You could tell them to go to a welcome area maybe and look for a Linden Laison.

most of the online lindens are usually liasons... their jobs are to help residents.

Then at least it should say "Look for a Linden online".

I believe on Island Sims you have the abillity to choose how many avatars are allowed on the land, to help with lag, where as with mainland sims its 40. But its a max of 40 on any sim.

Although that may not be the point

Is the 40 avatar max a new rule?
I had 91 avatars on Aasim once.

I think it looks pretty good Roberta!!

I admit I thought I was reading the "Land Owning" card at first though. I get the gist of making them similar in layout and content. Maybe make the names of each section a bit more different though. Somehow? hehe.. Just so a person doesn't think they opened the same card again and closes it. Though I could be the only person that would get confused. Wouldn't be the first time. hehe



And Prokofy.. Go jump in a volcano! Ga'l is hungry.

i stole some of shack's comments for the rental card for the buying card.

i made some of the suggested changes.

i added a paraphrase of a comment that robin made during the townhall: "The main difference between ownership and renting island sim land is that the owner can at reclaim the land from you at anytime." it's sounds really ugly.



* * *

Land Renting Advice for New Residents (11May2005

Hello and welcome to Second Life!

Here is some advice that should make your land renting experience more pleasant.

Summary (detailed comments follow after):
-00- Caveat Emptor - Renter Beware
-01- You don't need land for Second Life to be enjoyable.
-02- "Renting" versus "Owning" Land
-03- Land or property?
-04- Mainland or island?
-05- Plot size matters.
-06- Location! Location! Location!
-07- Your Friends can help.
-08- If you have a problem... ask for help.

Details:

-00- Caveat Emptor

Buyer beware. Or at least be aware. Learn what you can about renting land, why you want it, and what you can do with it. The advice in this notecard should keep you out of most land trouble, but in the end you are responsible for your decisions. Renting is different from ownership - the landlord makes the rules and each landlord is different. Check what you are committing to before you pay.

-01- You don't need land

To enjoy Second Life you do not need land.

Renting land is best if you want to:
* Have a shop in a popular place.
* Are a basic account holder.
* Want to live in a community with rules (a zoned community).
* Want to pay in Linden$ rather than US$.
* Want to move when you want.

-02- Buy or Rent

You can "own" SL land directly. If you own SL land, you will need to pay monthly tier fees to Linden Labs.

OR

You can pay for the use of land from other players on the mainland. You can also "rent" land from other players in island sims (off the mainland) which can be more like ownership; you can have access to land control features. Neither of these two options require you to have land tier, so you will not need to pay tier fees to Linden Labs. The main difference between ownership and renting island sim land is that the owner can at reclaim the land from you at anytime.

-03- Land or property?

You can rent a bare piece of land or land that has been developed in some way. Developed land generally costs more and it may already have a house or apartment on it. If you want to build rent a bare plot of land. If you like the idea of just moving into a house then rent land with a house or apartment on. There are also many suppliers of prefab houses to choose from.

-04- Mainland or Island?

You can rent land on the mainland, or on islands with their own rules. Each island has different rules - *find out the rules before you pay*.

Some landlords will deed your land to a group of your choice. This will allow you more control such as terraforming, admit and ban lists. Some landlords may call this ownership and ask for an upfront fee (to "purchase". Some landlords don't and will deed to group for a normal weekly rent.

If a landlord calls the land owned rather than rented they may expect you to find a replacement.

Many islands are themed and have rules. You may only be able to build a house (not a shop or a club) or it may require you to build in a theme.

Some island rentals are paid in Linden$, some require US$ via paypal.

-05- Size matters

The more land you rent the more stuff you can put on it usually. With each rental you should be told clearly how many prims you have use of. With bare land it will be available in the About Land in the World Menu. Renting a house or a shop in a mall is different - clicking on the rental box will usually tell you the rules.

-06- Location! Location! Location!

Look at the land before you rent it. For a house you may want a quiet area away from clubs and things that cause lag. For a shop you may want the opposite.

If you rent on an island and it has very busy events there is a possibility that you may not be able to access it while the sim is crowded.

Location affects rental prices - the more traffic a commercial area has the more rent you will probably have to pay. PG land is generally cheaper than Mature land.

-07- Friends

If your friends rent they may know of places nearby. Ask around.

-08- Help!

The advice in this notecard does not cover everything that can happen in a land deal. If you have a problem ask for help. Ask your friends, Live Help (help menu->Live Help...), on the forums, e-mail [email]support@secondlife.com[/email] or if worst come to worst, search for someone online with the last name "Linden". They are employees of Second Life and are there to help you.

* * *

Specials Thanks to:
Roberta Dalek, Pendari Lorentz

Omit the first at.

changed in the note card.