Where can i live?

Hi, I'm New to SL and i noticed that you can get various free homes. I was just wondering if anyone could help me?
I have a number of free homes in my Inventory, where do i put them so that i can live in the house?

Thanks, Mannequin Sapphire.

You buy land.

Technically, you rent it, be it from Linden Labs or a private estate, you never really own it since you have to pay a monthly amount. You can get a 512m2 parcel of land "free" of maintenance tier (the monthly payment) if you become a premium member. When you're a premium member, gues what? you pay a monthly fee.

You DO NOT need to be a premium member to get land if that land is on a private estate, you only need premium if you want to obtain land on SL mainland (Linden owned).

Land is available in PG, Mature or Adult regions, different regions have different allowed uses.

If you just want to look at your house, play with it, etc., you can go to a sandbox. There, you can rez it temporarily. How long it can stay there depends on how often the sandbox cleans up. It's usually a matter of hours.

In any case, no matter how long that it, it's good practice to pick up your things before you leave a sandbox.

If you can't find a sandbox, send me an IM inworld and I'll send you some landmarks.

.

Also, it's a good idea to not buy land until you have found your feet a bit. There are a number of things about land ownership which can be confusing even for oldbies, and it could be a better idea to rent somewhere for a couple of months until you have more of an understanding of how it all works. You could either rent somewhere with an apartment already on it or an empty plot and put down your own house.

If you choose the latter option, the first thing to do is rez your house in a sandbox and find out how many prims it has, and how big a footprint it needs. The more land you own or rent, the more prims you can put down, so it's a good idea, at least when you are starting out, to choose a house or apartment with as few prims as possible. That way, you will have spare prims to fill it with your stuff.

How many prims will you be using?

How many hours will you be online?

On Land or Skybox?

How much drama do you expect to get involved with?

Based on answers, I might have a temporary spot you can use.

Oooo! A *survey*! Can I play too?

Going to suggest a few things based on those.

1. Only get land if you intend to spend a lot of time in it. Once you become a landowner your social life might go down a tad as you get obsessed with perfecting your home. Its a lot of fun, but not as social.

2. Skybox is best - for many reasons. Its good to have a garden or something at ground, but you'll be a lot happier (and so will your neighbors) if you put the home hidden in the sky. If you want to be social there - just put a friendly garden at ground. But its not the best place to be changing your underwear, even on mature or adult land.

3. Mainland land ownership is almost always less drama. You don't have anyone else as master of you. On mainland your drama is based on how much time you spend putting your nose into your neighbor's business. But by contrast, on a rental on an estate - you have more opportunity for a community to join.


I don't think you should rent first from a land baron as was suggested above. I think you should get a premium account as soon as you are sure you like SL enough to stick with it, and buy a 512 plot on mainland.
- the only concern is learning how to know where to buy.

That's just about making sure most of your neighbors are either homes or small shops (never get a home next to a high traffic mega store - they'll lag you to no end and give you zero community).

You can go for 'anywhere land', protected road, protected water, or 'on the water'.


I personally think you are best getting something that is difficult to make flat. Its reverse thinking - if its hard to make it flat, your neighbors are not going to have cluttered builds at ground. You can put up some trees, a scenic gazebo, and the be happy in your skybox.

I'm on protected road, which is another favorite option for me - one side of my land cannot have a neighbor - its always unbuilt grass (they call it a road, but it appears they forgot to build one - and I'm happy with that).

- Once you own your own land, its your own space to do whatever you want. I think this is a better option than renting for a new person, because it makes you feel more like a piece of SL is yours. Owning and maintaining it is not that hard - and can be a lot of fun and a good way to keep you logging in through that 'newbie hump' after the excitement wears off and before the dedication kicks in.

Land upon which to set out a house is going to be a little bit pricey.

But for the interim, as you might be a bit new, I would offer this:

There is a region, Caledon Oxbridge, where you can take a room and set up a few things, make yourself comfortable for a time, and have a 'home base' and a bit of privacy while you learn and get acclimated to the world.

Plus lots of information there that will answer other questions you might have. All 100% free.

Haha! And there you have it - you will probably get a slightly different opinion from everybody you talk to. Somebody will come along in a minute and tell you to make a group for the 10% land bonus and somebody else will tell you to rent tier. There will then be a big kerfuffle about mainland versus estate, PG versus Mature versus Adult and on it goes...

All the advice given above is good, if contradictory, perhaps especially Pussycat's tip of not getting land of any type unless you are going to spend a lot of time there. I know I am a lot less sociable since I have owned land.

If it was me, I think I would go with Des's offer. I have never heard a word said against the guy, and I have heard tremendously good things about the Caledon community.

About 800 to 1000L for a 512 plot on the current market.

Up to 1500L if it is protected road or protected water.

More than that is over-priced or something in a special region (like Bay City or Zindra). You don't need to live in a special region until you are ready to understand and take part in micro-politics.

Sure Qie - Correct Answers get you a nice little quiet spot to use until I'm ready for the prims

I'm not a land baron - and wasn't asking for rent - just had an extra corner not in use.

Yes, there are literally hundreds of 512's available now for about $3 to $4 US, so Desmond's comment was puzzling. (Not that his offer isn't a handsome one--it is, and anyone new to SL would do well to take him up on it.)

It's not the purchase price that matters so much, it's the tier. Even with the "free" 512, there's the ongoing commitment of the premium membership cost.

I myself am wary of 512 land. Much of it on the mainland might be a good starting point IF you intend to buy more. BUT, depending on where it is, it can be a real nightmare too. Basically, anyone can buy the plots around you and you can end up a small house in a very large pond.
I have been in SL since February 2008. I have never bought land. At this point, I doubt I will ever buy land. I rent. However, I didn't even do that til my second month in-world. Renting has its own benefits--if there is drama, you move. I have rented at the good, the bad, and the terrible. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where you are comfortable putting down roots, but this is true for "land ownership" also.
It all depends on one's priorities, as has been alluded to here. Renting allows you to try more of a variety of different communities if that's your thing. Sure, you have more freedom to do more of what you want if you "own" land, but I myself can't see shelling out RL money for tier fees and all that jazz. I put in $25 USD every month and make a little on the side via sporadic sales of my builds. Plus, if something goes haywire, I have a lovely SLandlady who takes care of it. I don't have to do a thing except let her know.
If your budget allows and you really want to try land after a month or so, then I say go for it. IRL I am a full time older college student and I simply cannot afford it. Nor do I want that much responsibility. After all, there are still restrictions even if you DO "own" land, and for me that doesn't justify the extra cost.

If you want to get a "taste" of having an own house, I believe Tracey Sassoon from the Alady shops has some scheme for free rooms or housing for *females only*. It's probably in her profile picks, or otherwise somewhere on a sign in her shapes shop.

Desmond Shang = one of the good guys

Things may have changed since I was new in April of 2007. Back then, ALady had 'Noob Island'. You could get a free apartment there. Catch was, it wasn't yours in particular. If on any given day, you could find an empty one, you could go in, and use it; anyone else could come in too, and did. Couldn't rez anything or call it yours. But hey it was free, so..... Wasn't female only either, so maybe that's changed now.

Join SL in a premium, $72/year and you get tier on a small (512) plot for free.

You have to buy it initially but after that you pay nothing except your membership fee, which comes with other perks.

Land is really cheap right now in general. You can get a decent plot for as little as $1000-$1500 Lindens or so. That is four or five dollars U.S.

All good advice. Just dont buy PG.
I never regretted buying my land in Mimas. It's been great fun!