Building on Land

I'm shopping for my first piece of land and I want to get something absolutely crystal clear in my mind: I notice that on some parcels for sale there is a "No building or rezzing" icon on the title line, and on other parcels, this does not appear.

(1) When it DOES appear, does this mean I can't build anything on that parcel? I'd like to build a house. Why would anyone want to buy a parcel of land and just leave it empty?

(2) When it DOES appear and there is an existing house, does this mean I can't (a) tear it down or (b) add on to it, i.e., make improvements.

Thanks for your help.

The no build icon just indicates that the current owner has disabled building on their land. You'll get full rights to the land when you become the new owner.

If there is a building on the land you'll be able to return it once you buy the land, unless the building is sold with the land. In the second case, you become the owner of the building and can do with it as you like.

Check under About Land - the General tab - it will tell you if objects are included in the sale.

Also make sure that you understand the difference between estate and mainland land. There is usually a covenant in place at estates - check the About Land menu to confirm that there is/is not a covenant - and mainland does not usually have a covenant.

You may wish to read about land in the SL knowledgebase too - there is some really good information there about prims, managing land, security, etc.

Good Luck -2fast

Many landowners disable build permissions on the land for people other than those in their land group. If you are in the group and wear the group tag, you WILL be able to rez stuff there despite the "no build" icon on the title line.

If you buy the land and have full rights over it, you will be the one to set those permissions