third draft second revision:

i think i've incorporated most of the comments. let me know if i missed any.

i need help making the rental notecard.



Land Buying Advice for New Residents (10May2005)

Land Buying Advice for New Residents

Hello and welcome to Second Life!

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

Summary (detailed comments follow after):
-00- Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware
-01- You don't have to buy land for Second Life to be enjoyable.
-02- Owning land means you have to pay monthly fees.
-03- "Renting" versus "Owning" Land
-04- Plot size matters.
-05- Start with a Land for the Landless lot first.
-06- Location! Location! Location!
-07- You can buy land from Linden Labs directly through the land auctions.
-08- Become familiar with land prices.
-09- Your Friends can help.
-10- Negotiate.
-11- Things change.
-12- If you have a problem... ask for help.

Details:

-00- Caveat Emptor

Buyer beware. Or at least be aware. Learn what you can about buying 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.

-01- You don't need land

To enjoy Second Life you do not need land. Owning land is best if you want to:
* Build permanent structures, like a home or business.
* The more land you own, the more permanent objects you and have out.
* Have a retreat for you and your freinds that's always available.
* Have more control over what can and can't be done and who can and can't be there.
* Play with the land tools. (Terraforming is a blast!)

-02- Monthly Fees

If you own any land, you will be paying a monthly land tier fee in US$. For details about this check out:
http://secondlife.com/land/index.php
and
http://secondlife.com/faq.php

-03- 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 is more like ownership; you will 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. For more information about renting read this note: note card about renting goes here

-04- Size matters

Avoid buying lots smaller than 512 sq.m. at first.

Considering that the smallest amount of land rights you can pay for is 512 sq.m., and that you can get 512 sq.m for cheap through the First Land program, you should only seriously consider buying a 512 sq.m. lot at first.

-05- First Land

Linden Labs has a program where new residents can buy 512 sq.m. for L$512. You can only do this if you have not previously owned land. More details at: http://secondlife.com/land/index.php

At L$1/sq.m. you can't beat this price, and you can eventually sell this land for a tidy profit. But before you do sell your land, learn what it is you can do with SL land. This is a great opportunity to do that.

To find first land:
- In the SL client, click "Find"
- In the Find window that opens, select the "Land Sales" Tab
- In the unlabedl drop-down menu select "First Land"
- Click "Search"

This should list the First Land you can buy. Sometime all the first land is gone; Linden Labs adds more land regularly so you shouldn't need to wait too long for new land to show up.

-06- Location! Location! Location!

When you finally decide to buy a new lot, go look at it. What are the neighbors like? Is it conveniently located for you? Do you like the geography? Does the sim host many events (which cause lag)? Is it close to your friends or favorite hang outs? Or what ever other considerations matter to you.

-07- Land Auctions

You can buy land directly from Linden Labs through the land auctions. Some plots available at auction will be priced in Linden Dollars (L$), and others in US dollars.

The auctions are located at:
http://secondlife.com/auctions/index.php

-08- Land Prices (L$/sq.m.)

Before you buy (or sell) land you really should look at the Find->Land Sales window. Look at what land prices for the rating and size you want are. Also, look at the auctions to see what land is going for there.

You should not have to buy at the highest land prices to get land you want, if you research land prices before hand.

-09- Friends

If you let your friends know you want to buy land, then they may help you find a good lot at a good deal. And it might be nice and close to your friends.

-10- Negotiate

The price listed is not fixed. The land owner can set the price to whatever they want. If you ask nicely, the land owner may lower the price for you.

-11- Things Change

Even after you buy your land, you will find that Second Life changes greatly from day to day. One day your neighbor is an empty lot, and the next it may be an ivory tower or an ugly box.


If you don't like what's there now, wait around, it might change to something new in a couple days.

-12- 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, 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.

* * *

Specials Thanks to:
Talen Morgan, Schwanson Schlegel, Camille Serpentine, katykiwi Moonflower, Almarea Lumiere, Darko Cellardoor, Zsinj Xevious, Cristiano Midnight, Billy Grace, Misnomer Jones, Rysidian Rubio, Planet Mars, Lisse Livingston

ok - new thread for the rental note card - I'll do a first draft

My attempt to simplify:

1. YOU DON'T NEED LAND.
There's plenty to do in SL without spending a dime on land. Visit clubs, friend's homes, attractions, and more. Join a group and enjoy the benefits of sharing land.

2. BUY LAND FROM LL AT AUCTION, NOT FROM LAND BARONS.
Land barons just buy it for the same price you could get it for at auction, but then add on a markup. So you're paying extra for ... ?

3. RENT COSTS MORE THAN OWNERSHIP.
The Rent Barons in the game would like you to believe that they're helping you out by buying your "First Land". But think about what it really means: you don't get true ownership of the land, or the right to resell. For $5 USD a month plus only L$512, you can own your own patch of SL, should that be what you want to do in the game. Why throw your cash to someone else when you can own?

4. CHECK OUT THE MARKET PRICE BEFORE SELLING YOUR FIRST LAND.
A lot of Rent Barons will try to buy your land, but offer much less than market price. They'll try to convince you to both sell your land to them AND donate your land tier to them. Be careful of this kind of "deal" -- some things *are* too good to be true. Before selling research the market price and don't sell for a dollar below it.

again, for this notecard, i'm trying to avoid telling people what to do. i'm trying to give people information so they can decide for themselves.

what you wrote is a rather biased view of land renting.

I'm not a newspaper. I'm allowed to express bias. I believe that owning is more cost effective than renting.

Besides, if I'm right, then avoiding "bias" falsely presents renting as being of equal value as land ownership and therefore misleads newbies. That wouldn't help anyone but the rent barons.

oh...
i thought you were making editorial suggestions...

Hey, this is pretty good! This is exactly the sort of thing that we've been looking to have for Live Helpers to give out to new players, and/or keep in the Library of notecards.

This attitude sucks, and is representative of a major FIC bias.

Cubey, do you have a free 4096 or two? What supports Abbott's Aerodrome? Um, isn't that land? Oh, is that just air? But don't you have to own the land under the air??

So you don't need it to have fun? Well, would you like to just give it to me then?

I utterly reject StoneSelf's draft. If the Lindens adopt and circulate this card, I will be screaming foul regularly and often. It is biased, and written by people who have no stake at all in this subject, but are using the land issue to advance their own ideology, which is anti-commerce and anti-land.

Oh no! We can't have that.

I utterly reject your own draft, which is biased and written by people who wish tio prey upon newbies with unfair and unethical land practices. You are using the land issue to advance your own ideology, which is anti-consumer and anti-fun.

I don't prey on newbies, newbies are my happy customers. I have no complaints from any newbies. These are false charges.

I don't have any unethical land practices, you'd be hard put to find a single one.

I am not anti-consumer, but pro-consumer. I think the consumers can be empowered to buy land and sell land in confidence that this is fun, and they don't have to be looking over their shoulders at a bunch of leftist socialist tekkies who hate land and land dealers while they are having that fun.

Ardith, go back to sleep. Nothing of the order of Bedazzled has appeared in the game yet.

Yeah Prok's name should be acknowledged and I noticed mine was droped.
No justice, no peace!

Prok - chill, LL won't adopt this as anything OFFICIAL.

It will be circulated throughout the land via the various networks - aboveGird and underGrid.

Contribute to the process to have your voice heard - offer up concise language.

I'd disagree with this point just because there *are* some really great buys after auction. Most of the auction parcels are really large and lately bidding has been fierce.

If you're looking for brand-spanking new land, then auction is the way to go. But average people and smaller land traders buy and sell land all the time at prices that are below auction prices. It's also the best way to buy land in an established sim so that you have some indication of what's going to be around you.

Prokofy, go fuck yourself. We have no need for a pot-stirring beligerent.

It's looking great Stoneself!

I don't know if you forgot my suggestion, or just decided not to use it (which is fine! hehe), but I still think a small mention about amount of prims available is tied to the amount of land you own. It was not an issue I think when the very very original card was made. At any rate, I would probably put it under the "Size Matters" section if you were to add it.

Just my thoughts!

I'm suprised any sane individual can claim that renting is more effective than outright ownership. Real life demonstrates this to be clearly false, such as the difference between rent paid to a landlord versus having a mortgage and actually building equity in what you're paying to own.

Oh there I go, being logical

Seriously, renting only makes sense if your commitment is temporary. For most, owning makes more sense given the scope and depth of different projects, and land management to achieve them.

cross revision error. I'll fix it when i get back online.

does this cover it? or do you think there needs to be more?

seems more of a "why you use land" point than a size matters point.

-01- You don't need land but you probably want it.

To enjoy Second Life you do not need land. Though it can make things much more enjoyable.

Owning land is best if you want to:
* Build permanent structures, like a home or business.
The more land you own, the more permanent objects you can have out.
* Have a retreat for you and your freinds that's always available.
* Have more control over what can and can't be done and who can and can't be there.
* Play with the land tools. (Terraforming is a blast!)

rent is one of those things that occurs because people need/want things before they can afford it. want in sl more than need in sl, but much the same nonetheless.

Maybe add a suggestion about when/if the time comes to sell land, please try to remember your neighbors when you put out your FOR SALE sign(s).

Consider making your sign(s) visible but not convulsion inducing (<--attempt at humor) to your neighbors, and name the land something catchy and market-able, because it will show up in a search for land for sale too..

fen-

hmm... good advice. but i'm trying to focus the card on information and less on ettiquette.

Why don't you write up a formatted section, to see how it looks?

I disagree. The way most rentals work in SL is you pay exactly the same amount to your landlord as you would pay LL in tier costs. You get the daily dwell, you get full permissions on the land, you usually get an area with less lag, you do not have to pay anything for the land upfront.