Buy Mainland Sim? Where?

Okay, very stupid question...I want to buy a class 5 Mainland Sim...nope I don't want an Island...I want good old fashioned Mainland. I find all the info geared to Island owners and the info is extremely confusing. Can I order a mainland sim from the Lindens? Do I have to buy what is on the grid? Auction?

Thanks!

You can either get what is currently on the grid or what is being auctioned off. If you must have class 5 then bidding for new lands is your best bet.

Thanks Yosef!

A few ways:

one is to network with friends that may know a friend of a friend.

put a bid on one that is up for auction, via the auction page at the main website www.secondlife.com

you could offer to buy a full mainland sim that is currently occupied. If you do offer to enough folks you may get a bite.

you can also look at the LAND SALES tab. Make sure you toggle down to MAINLAND so you are not scrolling through ESTATE land. Check the server number via the Help menu to see if its a later arriving region to the mainland.

Most of all, if you dont mind waiting, patience will pay off. Good Luck!

oh btw, are you the Morgaine that was in the RP region above Baekje?

You could try checking with the large land dealers like Sarah Nerd, CP Costello, Elanthius, etc. to see if they have any full sims in stock. My last mainland sim purchase was through CP, who happened to pick up a sim I was jocking to buy directly from the owner that I had heard through a friend was supposed to be for sale, but the owner dumped it before I could make her the offer.

LOL...Yes, Xplorer...I am...long time no see! Hope you are doing well!

Okay, now this comment has me completely confused? I you speaking of the Land Search option in-world or an option elsewhere?

Thanks!

In world, I believe.
You can also filter that search for land size larger than 65530 and it will only list full sims. (65536 is max squar meters)

Yes, in world, under SEARCH.

Just as Yosef also commented, click the box and type a minimum number of square meters you want to search for. Say if you dont mind buying a region that has roads, you can type in 59000 and see what full sims are available.

*Thinks she needs more sleep and less SL as she slaps her forehead in epiphany* ...uuumm thanks! I knew this *she says sheepishly*

I have a question.

What is the upside of buying a full mainland sim as opposed to an island. The mainland sim is going to cost a lot more isn't it? Somewhere around $2000US or more average I believe.

As I'm typing this I'm thinking the upside is that people do not do terraforming which can cost alot and they do not gear the mainland towards a particular theme, saving alot of time and money. Although, if I did by a mainland sim I would want to all of that, in which case I would just by an island.

I guess people mainly buy them to resell or rent them out as is (either residential or commercial)

Tier fees are USD $100 a month cheaper.

Ah okay.

Better profit margin. Charge the same (as an island) per month for tier purposes and make back your investment a whole lot faster.

Terraforming costs a lot?

As Ciaran said the upside to mainland is the tier cost. The downside is that you do not have estate owner controls on mainland.

Aren't there builders out there that charge in the thousands to build your island?

I once saw a $300,000 quotation for a full themed SIM build and a years service.

Yes US dollars, not Lindens

Terraforming costs nothing. If you buy a mainland sim though, odds are pretty good that you can only terraform +/- 4 meters from what LL set the land to. If you have an estate, you can move the land from 0m to 511m using a variety of tools. Inworld, the tools let you go +/- 100 meters. You can also control the level of the water table, from 0m to 255m. Finally with estate land, you can change the actual textures of the terrain; on mainland you either have the textures LL set down, or you use prims to cover the land up.

The difference in tier from mainland to estate is I suppose the price one pays for the added controls one has on an estate.

-Atashi

Sort by size and you can instantly see if any full mainland sims are available inworld. Other brokers who deal with full sims are JR Unknown and Ray Burdenya. But if you IM Sarah Nerd, she can get the word out that you are looking. She is the #1 authority on Mainland.

If you want to try your hand at getting one via auction, which is always the cheapest way to go, keep checking this page: http://usd.auctions.secondlife.com/

Click the US$ Land Auctions link on the left side to see the full list of what's available. They release new sims every few days. Be sure you visit the sim first to know what type of terra and layout you are bidding on, because you can only change the level of the land +4/-4 meters.