Land Buying Extreme Frustration

Hi all...

I've been on SL for a few months but this last week I created a brand new Avatar and got myself a premium account thinking I was all set to embark on the adventures SL has to offer. Well I've finally snapped and though I've done a lot of looking around I'm just not finding the information I require.

I have 512 in available land holdings and I understand that this permits me to purchase up to 512 Square Meters of land and not have to pay a monthly maintenance fee on it. Ok, that said and done, I have tried my darnedest to figure out how in the heck I'm supposed to go about getting land. I checked out the buy-land feature of the SL website only to find that those are for the $1,675 squares to purchase with $295 monthly rental fees. I just want a nice clean clear 512 Sq. M. plot and I'm not even all that particular about its location.

Where in the world do I go to pick out a piece of land to buy and cheaply? I cannot find any information on that and when I ask around in-game I often find myself with shrugs or someone offering me a piece of their land for an outrageous fee.

My enjoyment of SL is quickly souring now that I've spent a lot of time checking out houses and all manner of "prims" I can incorporate on my own land and yet I cannot find cheap peaceful land. Am I just overlooking something here?

I considered canceling my membership this morning out of frustration but decided to inquire here as I know I must not be the only one confused by the land-purchasing procedure. It has GOT to be a lot easier to buy a chunk of SL to play around with than this, especially if I'm paying nearly $10 a month to do so.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

In-world, using Search>Land Sales and limiting to Mainlaind on the drop down menu. Then you just tp around until you find something you like. Some people also use the map (there's a yellow icon on parcels for sale), but I've never tried that.

Heh...

The one "search" that I completely forgot to "search".

Just tried it and I love the fact it also lets me do a search for 512 Sq. M. and indicate how much I have or am willing to spend in L$. I have about L$5,000 and a quick search just revealed a buttload of parcels for me to check out.

Thank you very much for the fast response. I just felt a great load lift off me. Frustration is a very powerful emotion...

Thanks!

LL depends on you buying land to survive, yet does little to help you negotiate the process. The experiece you had is proof they need to work on their communications. As if we needed more proof of that.

Be careful what you pay, there are a lot of land sharks out there wanting L$5000 or more for just a little bit of land. Haven't looked lately so I am not sure what the going rate is, but I paid L$6.3sm for my land and that was a hot deal.. I bought a 512sm parcel next door to my land for the additional prims that cost me L$7.4sm and I thought that was high at the time. If you can find anything from L$7sm and down I think that would be a good deal. Don't be hasty and watch the prices.

Couldn't agree more. I am led to believe they are trying to improve search but the land search is a mess, it requires more search functions for a start and then when you realise the first few pages are piffle, moving quickly through them produces an error.

Are they land sharks or just people trying to see what the market will bear? I don't judge people for marking up their land. If it's too high they will have to lower it or get beaten up by tier.

The OP seems to understand how to search by price by meter now , so chances are he will find something in his budget. I agree there is no need for him to pay more than L$7 a meter at this point in time.

I plan to be patient. My initial searches since learning how to actually perform a search have revealed what appear to me to be "cracks" of land squished between towering for sale signs and advertise here signs and free porn here signs. I'm starting to see the "value" in actually paying for a huge piece of property just so you can breathe freely when you do build.

But come on, paying several hundred to several thousand real-life dollars for an in-game virtual property is seriously over-rated.

I'm viewing this as the next big dot com crash as I'm starting to see properties in SL that are going for many thousands of real life dollars...

And I agree with the LL bashing over their inadequate information and orientation. I'm actually a degreed computer programmer in RL so most things computerwise don't bother me. But lack of information is just that - lack of information. And I have been very, VERY irritated by the constant frustrations I've experienced in learning how to manage myself in a "game" like second Life that has been around for a number of years.

Back to the question at hand of this thread... I am going to take my time as I have definitely seen some very overpriced land sales now for small plots that are really next to worthless. Not much fun building a house on a square of land that is completely surrounded by an overwhelming number of hideous structures, billboards and more or less built-and-forgotten-about riff raff.

FF, Keep searching. There are good plots out there. You may have to pay a few bucks more for a nicer area, but judging from you last post, that seems like a better idea than buying a bigger plot and paying higher tier every month.

I felt the same way about the mainland, so I ended up buying a full sim. Sure is nice to have nothing but beauty all around me. Whether it will end up being worth the $1951 I paid for it remains to be seen.

One danger reported on this forum that might not crop up with a 512m but worth watching for: Seller sells the property, but not the 4 sq. m. or 16 sq. m. parcel he has thoughtfully carved out of the center of it, making it virtually useless unless you pay umpteen gazillion L$ for the hole in your donut of a property.

Besides land sharks, there are also land skunks...

Now I understand the bad scents at the "neighbors" spot....

Morwen.

FF,

It might take you anywhere from 3 minutes to 2 weeks to find your dream spot. It's definitely out there; just be patient. Be sure to take LandMarks of the places that you really like, so you can pop back there quickly to compare. Good luck and have fun!

Oryx is right here.... patience is a key word.

I bought long ago about 800 sqm in my current sim and I was lucky, because it is a rather nice sim.

But it took me more then 1.5 year to buy all the land in that sim I can hold for a monthly tier of 40 US$ (a bit more then 1800 sqm). And even better, I managed to connect it all into one nice spot.

So yes, patience is a key word.... Patience in getting your first spot. Patience in expanding it.

But above all... have fun.

Morwen.

I have no doubt that if You take You time and look around You'll find the parcel thats right for You. If You want to avoid the ads on mainland well, It's impossible to stop. You may buy the perfect lot and then someone buys the lot next to you and spam farms it. A few good things to look for...

1. Land without a linden owned strip in the center. Those "roads" with the jagged edges tend to attract spam ad dealers.
2. An older or just already established sim. One thats not 90% for sale still. If the sim is already lived in and well kept by happy residents, it has a better chance of staying that way for awhile.
3. make sure you you turn on show property lines. (the world tab on the top left of your screen, and then scroll down and click on property lines). With them on you can see how the sim is divided and see any already divided 16-96 meter lots that have been cut up and just havent been sold and had ads put up yet.

You said You had about 5K to spend on a lot and in the current market you should be able to get a spectacular lot for less than that. I'd say anything in the 6-6.7L a meter lot is really fair right now. Best of luck.

I am sure that you would use another term Raymond, but when I used the word hmmm before in here to describe him, I was told to call a spade a spade. He has 16sm plots for sale for L$5000. Let me know what you would like me to call him and I gladly edit my reply. As far as the L$7 thank you for letting me get one point correct.

Maybe I should just sent you my replies and let you edit them for me before I post them. Believe me I dont judge people either, but I know that you are judging me just by stating that comment to me.

Ad farms.... *giggles*

Just this happened...

Between my land and that of a neighbor there is some land for sale. Someone bought a small piece of land there to place a add farm.

So my neighbor placed on her side directly to the ad farm a very nice wall.... and I did the same on my side (yes, I have to find a better picture for mine yet). So basically no one will ever see this add farm...

Think the owner will not be able to sell it like this...

*grins and walks off*

Morwen.

You might want to look on the southern continent (Jeogeot) or the unnamed Eastern continent. These continents filled out early this year, and there are some established neighborhoods. I know of some land for sale in and near my sim, Vyacheslav, and some of it is nice, especially in Malyshkin and the sim north of Vyacheslav. I would stay the hell away from Zamyatin.

Wow thats rather harsh. Obviously You don't know Raymond very well. He is just a kind hearted person, who tries to be fair to both sides and mediate. You totally read him the wrong way.
And fyi the most common terms for those types of dealers are spam lot dealers, spam farmers, or spam lot extortionists. They are very different from a dealer that just prices a normal sized parcel to high for Your taste. I suppose land shark would be use to describe people like me. Maybe You should re read his post and have a little more understanding before You flip out next time. You took his kind mediation as a personal attack. I AM judging You so feel free to go apeshit on me. At least that would be justified unlike Your response to him.

Crikey! Yes.... that doesn't look like a good sim!

Some poor bugger is trying to sell a 512 plot in the middle of it... good luck to him!

I just realized...

The OP may look into the sim where I live as well (I live in Maia).

There is land for sale there. One side you will have me (and I think I have a not too bad looking plot) and on the other side the place of a builder who makes the most beautiful asian style building.
You will also have the truly awesome land of August nearby (That man knows who to build!!!!!).

Morwen.

I have edited this post for you. See below.

Wow. You must really like me or something.

Awww... we all do, Raymond! *hug*

Except when you do that laptop trick.....

Remember how when you were 5 and when girl's liked You they punched You? Well I have grown out of that phase and just punch the people around You now.