Buying Land. So confused

I have people tell me this and that about land and when I go to Linden Labs to buy it, it aint' that way. Now I know you can buy from others and I think that's my only reasonable option at time time.

I'm vampire, just started my own clan way before I was ready to do so but it just kind of got thrust down my throat.

So this is where I'm at now I and I will deal with it.

I was told I need an Island.

Is an Island always a full sim? Please explain.

I can't get an island homestead from LL unless I have a full region/sim right? Region/sim/sever all the same thing?

Can I buy and on the mainland from LL.

I'm going to need at least 3000pims. I'm thinking in the 1/4 sim range at this time.

Is an Island really less likely to have lag problems? I can only have 20 Avi's on it at at time?

I know this is a lot but looking at what people tell me and looking at LL its not making a lot of sens to me.

Thanks so much!

No I'm not an alt, just a wicked sense of humor.

Based on the statement above I would recommend you rent to start out. No up-front investment that you have to worry about getting back if things change and you have the flexibility to expand or down size very easily.

You can rent a homestead, but that is where the 20 avatar limit comes into play. There is a hard cap on avatars for a homestead sim. For that reason i would stay away from a homestead.

The 3000 prim minimum dictates a few things. First, yes, that means about 1/4 of a full sim (a full sim has 15,000 prims).

Some sims are not "full sims" in that they come with just 1/4 the prims, but still use up the full 256x256m area of a sim and run their own instance of the sim software; these are called "Homesteads." You can't buy a Homestead from LL all by itself; they're only selling them to Estates that already have at least one full sim. So you lease them from one of those Estates. (They may call it "buying", but it's not, really. You get a lot of control over the sim, but if the Estate owner decides to, s/he can just kick you off at any time. So it's good to deal with owners who won't do that.)

Or, you can buy a quarter sim on the Mainland. I can't imagine any reason a vampire clan shouldn't be happy on the Mainland--or at least as happy as anybody else is on the Mainland. The up-front cost of Mainland is more than an Estate, but you really do "own" the land, and you pay tier to Linden Lab, not to an Estate, so you won't get kicked off unless you really run afoul of the LL Terms of Service. Recurring tier at the quarter-sim level is cheaper than any Estate leases you're likely to find. You have much less control over Mainland, however, and if you get a bad neighbor, life can be difficult.

You'll almost certainly buy Mainland from another Resident, but once you've purchased Mainland, the seller is out of the picture and you're dealing directly with LL. There are only very rarely 1/4 sim sized parcels available at auction directly from LL, and there's no advantage to buying Mainland from LL over buying it from another Resident.

A Mainland sim can hold 40 agents at a time--shared among all parcels on that sim. A full sim on an Estate can be configured to hold many more (up to 100), although large numbers are rarely practical. An Estate Homestead is limited to... I forget, probably 20. (There are even wimpier, mostly decorative sims, called OpenSpaces, that hold even fewer agents and fewer prims and just aren't what you're going to want.)

Mainland tends to be laggier, especially at ground level, mostly because the sim has neighboring sims and because there are many more textures that have to load. Homestead sims are laggy for a different reason: they run up to four Homesteads on one CPU core (I think usually three, in practice), so script processing especially may be affected by other Homesteads sharing that CPU.

All that said, I like Eli's suggestion: Rent first. You can rent on Estates or on the Mainland. ("Renting" Estate land isn't really distinct from "Buying" on an Estate... in either case, what you get is temporary, and determined by whatever's written in the covenant--as interpreted at the whim of the Estate owner.)

There are two ways to buy land direct from LL. Buy an entire private estate region ($1,000US to purchase, $295/mo service fee)...or buy a mainland parcel through the Land Auction page on this website.

However, I wouldn't limit yourself to buying from LL. Most land is purchased from residents.

There are two basic types: Mainland, and parcels on private estates (also sometimes called islands, or "private islands". If you buy a parcel on the mainland, you pay the resident who owns it...but then you pay your monthly tier directly to LL. You must have a Premium membership to own land on the mainland, so figure that cost into your budget too.

When you "buy" a parcel on a private estate, you pay the owner a purchase fee (sometimes this will be waived, or very minimal, like $1L). You also pay monthly rent to the owner. Because the owner can leave town overnight, or even kick you out without warning, you should research the owner before renting land from him or her. There are, however, many very honest and reputable private estate owners.

Being a vampire doesn't affect whether you need mainland or an island...but you might want to look for vampire roleplay areas, or vamp/gothic themed regions, and buy or rent there.

How much land you need depends on you. Do you just want a place to stash your coffin? Or do you want to build a big gloomy castle? The more land you have, the more prims you can have there. A basic 512 square meter parcel supports 117 prims. An entire region can support over 16,000.

I don't know much about the Bloodlines game or the clan situation...but if you're looking at land because you say it's necessary for something that has been 'thrust' upon you way before you are ready for it, I'd agree with Eli about renting first. You really can't rely on others to fund your payments for tier or lease. If funds are of no consequence for you, then by all means, do as you please but no one should be able to 'force' you into a situation where you have to make a fairly large outlay of real life cash if you are not ready for it.

Does whoever put this upon you have some land for sale/rent, too? (rhetorical question...just be sure that you are 'ready' to pay for whatever land you may decide to rent/purchase and don't expect others to be 'chipping in' to help out.)

You don't need a premium membership to buy an island or rent on an island.

Premuim membership is needed only if you want to buy (not rent) on the mainland.

So, you're the head of a vampire clan, eh?

Now's the time to find out just how tight your grip is on those souls. Sit down with your clan members and find out how much each of them is willing to pay to buy and maintain a clan "home". Form a group for your clan...groups can own 10% more mainland at a given tier level.

One of the nice things about a private estate is that the owner can set the time of day. This is an advantage to vampires, who are not often seen sunning themselves on the beach.

What all does your clan plan to do? If you are going to advertise events that involve explicit sex and/or extreme violence, you should be on land with an Adult maturity rating.

Thanks! That helps a lot right there. Knowing the downside of a homestead helps a lot and that mainland gets around it. I appreciate the time you took for this post.

There that's what has been confusing me. The mainland vs. the private estate. Understanding those two terms will make a huge difference for me.

I will eventually buy my own private estate but my clan is too small at this point for that. I own a nice parcel know but there are restrictions. I can have a castle but only at 500M or higher. I doubt they'd like a commentary either.

I have 2000 prims where I am not for about 17,000. I'm kind of wondering if I can put up a megapim at 500m and put my castle on that. I'll have to check with my estate owner.

Thanks so much for the help.

Thanks everyone, each message had some good info in it.

I use the word buy but if I rent with enough control, I'm happy there, prefer it actually.

If you rent or buy on the mainland, I have seen a lot of complaints from other about lag. If there objects with laggy scripts or are high in resolution then that's going to lag my land as well. No? That's the upside of a Homestead.

Understanding mainland vs private estate is what I needed. Thanks!

look at carpe noctum island, it's for rent... homesite 20 avatar limit. which is cozy //
lycrons vamps dragons fairys trolls drows freakish halfman half bat avatars welcome.

I've had a few stay over for a bite to eat..

I did go with an Island Homestead. Its an awesome place with a Volcano. now if Only I could afford a castle or two.

Rent some land till you work out how much you will really need.

Try Benski's place, he created some very nice castles and is affordable as well.

You can afford this castle?

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1734344

No need to buy 15000L versions if you just want to play a bit.

I do vampire castles, graveyards and furniture etc, though admit not the cheapest.

If you have a full homestead you could have a castle and a graveyard then fill the rest of the land with dark woods.

I had popped on here to recommend an estate that is very vampire friendly .. but too late