Been here for over a year and ready to buy first land.

I'm about ready to quit my wild ways and settle down on a homestead of my own.
But where to buy!? Mainland, estate, islands?

Do I try my hand at the auction or wait until I've owned a bit of land and learned more about it?

I'm not looking to run a bondage club or anything, but am not offended by whatever my neighbours might get upto either - so does it matter whether I go PG or Mature?

Advice, please, from all you landed gentry out there.

Figure out your price range first. How much do you want to spend, then how much do you want to spend on monthly fees/tier after that? That's the ultimate importance. If you want help looking, I've got time.

well, Conan... shameless plug, but I'm renting out now on Fatimas Desire..... seriously there's a good wiki article in the Knowledge base that covers all you need to think about. Personally, having owned both mainland and now private, I wouldn't go back to mainland becuase of all the issues others have so well documented in various threads on here. If you DO go to a private estate, make sure you talk to existing renters to get a feel for what the owner is like, and what freedoms & restrictions apply - there's plenty of rental places out there, so don't jump at the first opportunity - take your time and make sure you'll be happy. Whatever you decide, have fun and I hope it works out for you

Inc

well, Conan... shameless plug and I'm renting/leasing now on Fatimas Desire.... seriously, there's a good Wiki article on the differences and what to look for [http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Land_Buying_FAQ]
If you do go to a private estate, make sure you talk to current renters/leasers and see what the owner is like, and what restrictions & allowances the covenant specifies. Hope it works out for you

Happy to answer any questions inworld....or on here

Inc

In theory I could afford a private island of my own in about two months, but that would represent a major investment for me - although the idea of renting out land to make back the tier fee is attractive. Of course, prices are looking like creeping back up, and it would be a lot to take on for a first land. Tier fees are not too much of an issue on a small plot.

Maybe I'll work up to a region of my own when I have had a bit more experience of owning land - in say a year or so. As for price range for intial outlay - I figure I can probably justify in the region of L$50,000 this month and maybe expand later. Ideally I'd like atleast 4096sqm too for that price.

Then again, perhaps even that is more than I need. At the moment I'm just looking for a place to hang my hat.

feel free to check out drakuls cove i have one vacancy left in my estate. And beware of getting addicted when you start buying land on your own if you go that route it does happen.

Oh, and waterfront would be nice. Looking at a nice plot in Speenu at 2048 for L$25,000 now. Probably gone by the time I get paid this month though.

Take it easy, make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew. If you're looking for a long term home then look around, suss out the neighbourhood.

If you have a premium account then look for a 512 plot just to get you the feel of the process, it's no extra tier fee if you buy mainland.

That's what I was thinking. I'm not premium yet but will be in a week or so. I've spent a year looking around, but haven't given any serious thought to looking at land since before christmas - and things have developed a lot since then.

Anyways, I've got two weeks before real life payday, so that should be time to get a good feel for what's out there.

As for the 512 sqm......that seems awfully small. Can anyone tell me, is a plot that small really worth having? I'm not looking to run a business from my land yet, so probably don't need that much space but still....512sqm seems awfully.....cosy.

Had to comment when I saw this. Even though I was a premium member, I had been renting an estate plot for several months and just last week decided to take a plunge and purchase my own land on the new continent while land prices were lower. What started as buying a 512m just to get my feet wet in the whole land purchase thing, turned into a 1024 when I found a parcel I loved for a good price. I bought it, feeling proud of myself, panned the camera out to view my new property line....that 512m parcel for sale right next to it was looking pretty tempting....So basically I went from getting my feet wet to a land addiction in the matter of about 7 minutes and I own a 1536 now. I was planning on buying another 512m in the sim to allocate the prims to the bigger plot, just gotta research exactly how that works.

Just so I understand tier correctly, the prices quoted on the website are for the total amount over 512sqm?

So where it says 512sqm is $5, that means I can own 1024sqm for $5 right?
Also, if I owned 1025sqm total does it immediately jump to the next point on the scale ($8 for 512sqm plus 1024sqm)?

Conan, a 512 is fine for 'hanging your hat'. You could always find a basically empty sim, buy a 512, and then potentially expand.

Ange, any parcel that you own in one sim will contribute to the amount of prims you can use on any of the parcels. For example, you could have 2 512s that don't connect, and use all the prims from both parcels on one sim. Look in the Objects tab of About Land; that's what "Simulator Primitive Usage" is all about.

I just bought land for the first time, and for me the issue wasn't the space (I was renting a skybox that was about 400m2, and I fit 4 distinct areas on 3 floors in that space ... as a place to hang your hat 512m2 works fine). The issue was prims, which are usually directly related to parcel size. You can find places that will give you more prims than usual for the plot size, but for me a 4K with over 900 prims was juuuust right.

It all depends on what you want to use the space for. I was ready to start playing with house building and I wanted someplace beautiful with interesting neighbors. I am extremely happy in my new place!

It sounds to me like you aren't sure yet what you'll be using the space for. If I were in that situation, I would rent something by-the-week, stick a prefab and/or garden on it, and invite my friends over. Maybe you'll discover you need more space for a big dance deck. Maybe you'll want a place where you can fly a biplane -- which requires a set of contiguous sims with no banlines. Maybe you'll decide you need more prims for a very fancy skybox in addition to your PG house and garden. Maybe you'll decide that you want to socialize with your neighbors. Maybe you'll decide you do/don't want voice enabled land. You'll learn a LOT just by renting.

I am worried by the reference to needing your RL paycheck before buying. SL money should be discretionary income -- that is, you shouldn't really mind losing it. I regard any money I spend in SL as entertainment expenditures.

You can actually do a lot with 512sq.m. of land (remember you can build up to 768m high), but the thing that kills you if that's all you have is prims. There are lots of cute houses that will fit just fine on a 512, but good luck finding things to furnish it without wasting all your prims. (Sculpted furniture is a godsend for the prim-starved.) 512m gets you 117 prims, unless you're on an island that gives you a prim bonus (and does it without 'overbooking').

I decided after, like, three days that 512 is too small for me....even with me wee cottage I fell out of the door right into my neighbour's parcel. I've got 2,560 sq metres, and it's enough for a house, a garden with waterfall, a pavillion with a honking big waterslide, and a fab pavilion as meeting place. I live on the mainland, but I never consciously decided doing so. And apart from the guy with that lighthouse (who has thankfully removed the light now!), we've never had any problems with neighbours or prim litter.

Yep, you always get 512m 'free' with a premium subscription, and the $5 tier is for an additional 512, or 1024m total.

Note that land use fees are based on the maximum amount of land owned at any one moment during the month, so if you owned 4096m for one day and then sold 3072 of it right after, you'd still get charged for the full 4096 for that month.

And finally, yes, if you own even one meter over your tier limit, you get charged the full price of the next tier. Note that the smallest unit of land you can own is 16m, so it's more like 1040m would move you into the next tier, rather than 1025- but you get the idea.

I agree entirely, but I've just spent £1250 (US$2500) on sending my fiance on a 10 day trip to Chicago for the SecondLife Community Conference this month and the decision to look for land was spur of the moment, so I didn't budget for it. I'm pretty sure I sent her off with more US$ spending money than she really needed too.

Normally it wouldn't be a problem. The tier fee on a 2048 is about the same price as two lattes in Starbucks here in the UK (we get a bad deal in many ways, believe me) and I spend more than the equivalent of L50,000 on takeaway pizza in a month. The old waistline could do with less of them anyway.

Plus, it also takes 10 days to send money to my paypal account too, due to UK banking sillyness.

As a lifetime account holder with 4096m free tier, I recommend you rent on an island with covenants. The mainland is an eyesore; I finally sold off my land after hopping from place to place trying to get away from the ad-farms and unattended (ugly) or attended (ugly and laggy) clubs. I'm currently unlanded as the game is too frustratingly buggy for me, but if or when I return, I'd likely rent.

Thank you! I wasn't sure if it had to be set to group or change any settings. Thanks again for clearing that up. I didn't want to have to set it to group. I've heard too many horror stories on here about group land.

Conan,

There's a 4096 Island on the South East corner of Nautilus, due south of Devolin Mal (Might be called "Strawberry Wild?" that is pricey, but absolutely beautiful. I don't have access right now, but I'm sure it's higher than 50K L. If you just want to homestead on it, I could give you a substantial "incentive" toward buying it. I'm serious. I'm not the seller, but it's the last potential plot that could impact my tenants' views. I'm not horribly picky about other people's builds; I'm really into people's creativity and freedom: I'm just trying to fend off some kind of crap Borg Cube appearing one day right outside my windows.

That offer only goes for Conan. I can just see the scams rolling in.

IM me in world after about 6 pm SL time if you want me to show it to you. There are other beautiful plots around that you might also be interested in (but I'm not as worried about since they're not so close)

havent you been paying attention mate? i thought you would have read a thousand of these threads by now.

If you've got the cash, check out Orwood, there are some really nice plots there, I looked at some before I crashed out on an Island. If it wasn't for the island I'd be there now..in fact I'm still seriously thinking about it. There's a river island (I was seriously thinking about buying the entire island) and a peninsula which are particularly good. The seller (who I've spoken to and seems pretty reasonable, and no..I'm not on a percentage) does appear to be throwing in a Jacqueline Trudeau yacht also (I've got one..nice touch)..

It's on the Old Continent and so the neighbouring areas seem pretty settled, not too many malls, casinos or ad farms in sight. If you're into sailing apparently there's miles of river water which sounds good to me.

Buy one of those plots and you just might have me as your neighbour..oh well can't have everything..

Go house shopping first and make a nice list of what you think you want, and then rent a 512 for a week or so to see what the prim limits really seem like. I have just over 1500sqm and it covers my workshop and small store- but I'm one of the rare people who think a pair of comfortable chairs and a 5 prim (including crud to sit on it) conversation piece table is "home". I spend most of my prim count on micro prims to work on my jewelry in the comfort of my own parcel and enough trees to totally forest all but the two 10x10 footprints of my shop + workshop.

I'd love to bump it up- but I'm honest with myself- the only thing I'd do with more land is leave more of my "work in progress" crap laying around in my workshop instead of putting it away and building more trees... neither of which is worth increasing my tier by 7 USdollars haha.

I'm really glad I bought 512 and bumped my tier up slowly to my comfort level one 512 at a time. I have a reasonable tier payment and enough prims loose to let me skip playing in sandboxes the majority of the time.

(edit) Oh, and if you buy in pieces- try to buy in a sim that will have room for connecting up the plots (Probably Nautilus or Corsica) I got bought around and currently can't put down a 20x20 footprint in any one place. Kinda inconvenient if my shop expands. If you want lots of open space though- I really do *love* how open it feels to have my two major plots across a linden protected "road" It makes my 1500sqm feel much much larger even if I can't put any trees between the two.

Okay, I've looked around now and seen two 4096sqm plots that I like.

Plot 1 is in a single sim private estate with canals - L$28000 to buy, $25 a month tier, 900 prims

Plot 2 is in FairChang, a private estate consisting of about 30 or so sims - L$47000 to buy, $44 tier but a whopping 1837 prims

Plot 2 is more expensive to buy and the tier, however the area is beautiful, I can sail and fly my airship to my hearts content and I get double the prims.

Good deal, do you think?

WE want you to buy the second one so we can have fun with your airship....