Questions about houses

This may have been asked before and/or sound stupid but...

How can you tell if a house you buy isn't gonna fit on your land. I don't mean prims and such, but the actual physical shape. Like...I've been looking at houses for my 512sqm plot, but what does all the "20x20" an "16x20" stuff mean?

Thanks for the help

The "standard" size 512 lot is 16m X 32m. However, there are a lot of parcels that aren't those dimensions. I usually find out the size by getting the coordinates of one corner, and walking to the other corner and take the coordinates there. Then I repeat it for the other direction.

When I was new to house buying, I only bought at places that clearly stated: This house will fit on a 512 lot. lol.

Ace's Spaces has a good selection of homes that will fit 512 lots, of different sizes, and their prices are very very reasonable.......you might want to check them out. You can walk thru models and get good idea of each home.....and they are low prim~!!

Brilliant! Thanks guys. Now I can find out what I need to know. ^_^ Off to the house hunting!

What Damien said.

The 20x20, and 16x20 is the home's footprint in meters.

Coordinates are also in meters.

So to make sure a house will fit your land, first measure your land.

I do it like Damien does. Stand at one corner, and write down the coordinates, then walk to the other corner and do the same. When you do both sides, you'll have the length and width of your parcel.

Then you can look for a building that fits.

Some standard dimensions for plots:

512: 16mx32m
1024: 32mx32m
2048: 32mx64m
4096: 64mx64m

But to be safe, measure yours as sometimes a plot is an odd size.

Seconded (thirded?). I always survey parcels I buy. I find the best way is to place poles in each corner of the plot, and calculate the length & width that way. You can snap objects to the grid, but you don't have to be that accurate as parcel dimensions are always in multiples of 4m. I find it helpful to know the coordinate for the centre of my plots, too, very handy for placing skyboxes.

Oh, I know mine's an odd size..cause I'm just that special and odd myself XD

When you go to build, turn on Show Property Lines and verify that everything fits one more time. You can cam up and look down on the property to make it easier. I have a rather complicated combination of a platform and two BSD Arch Houses as a skybox. If you're building a skybox, make sure (1) you are sitting down on the house when you fly it up the Z axis and (2) don't put anything in the house until you have flown it to the right altitude. It will make it easier later. BTW you're also going to want a Flight Feather or flight assist script if you spend time in a high altitude skybox. Have fun!!!!

It depends who you buy your home from, but many creators have free 'footprints' that you can rez on your land with View > Property Lines switched on, so you can see whether the house will fit.

...yada yada yada




Hehe Thanks for the tip! I've found several that i like...problem now is choosing just one xD

I have 2 houses the same from there, one small that fits a 512 and one large that fits a 4096. Same house just larger proportions. They have a circular staircase that's a killer but I got used to it.

I know I don't have an in-world store yet (I am dancing the hell out of some poles to try to round up the funds I need); but I do offer what I believe is a unique service: If you see a house you like in my XStreetSL store, but aren't sure if it will fit, or even if you'll like how it looks in your neighborhood, then send me an IM in-world. I will come to your property and rez a copy of the house in question (assuming I have the permissions to do so).

There are also free houses at some of the freebie malls. (Eta that was meant to help, not to undercut anyone. I hadn't read the thread past 1 reply)

Type 'low prim house' in search/places and you will find various shops that sell low prim ones. L-O-C-K seemed to have a lot of variety for fairly cheap.

Heck you could make a 4 prim house if you wanted. Hollow megaprim for the shell, flat roof, flat floor, and door.

Shadow, I bought a nice little cottage for my 512 plot a few weeks ago - very happy with it. I'll send you a LM for the place I had it from when I'm in world. When you go there look for the 'Lil Cottage' area - theyr'e all grouped together. Low prim too - mine (if I remember right) is 17, including security door and tintable windows.

Just one room, but it suits me fine - my own place to change at or just chill. After all, you don't 'live' in a house in SL like in RL.

When looking at houses or items of a certain size, I am aware that the creator does not always cite the dimensions. What I do in such situations is build a "footprint" out of prims to the size that will fit in my space. I link it together (if larger than 10x10), and then WEAR it.

I look absolutely ridiculous wearing a series of flat linked prims around my waist, BUT, it works well. I then TP to the demo of the item I'm looking at and compare sizes with my prim footprint.

Obviously if rezzing is permitted on the demo region, I rez my footprint. Moreover, if I'm patient, I will IM the creator. And finally, I have also walked the edges along the demo item, noting the coordinates and doing the math.

I suppose it's always depending on my mood. But I do understand the annoyance associated with not having the measurements of a build you are uncertain as to whether or not it will fit in your space.

Good luck.

You could, but be aware that hollowed megaprims can mess with your camera if you try to alt cam around inside them. There are workarounds, like using furniture or pictures or your av as a focal point. But for only two prims more, you could use four megaprims for the walls, plus one each for floor and ceiling. (I am embarrassed to say that this solution did not occur to me until I saw someone else using it, but I am glad to be able to pass it on.)

If you cut and hollow one of the walls appropriately, then you have a place for your door, as well. I'm not aware of any way to cut a door out of a prim that's already hollowed and oriented to work as four walls. I almost never use doors, anyway, just set a LM inside a skybox and teleport in and out...