Abandoned Land

I'm flying around SL and I can't count how often I see parcels that are gorgeous, even waterfront, or what have you, and sometimes huge parcels too. And they are marked "abandoned by so and so; not for sale. Gov. Linden maintenance."

So I'm wondering, first of all, why? Why do people abandon their land?

Secondly, why not even give it to a friend?

Third, how do we try to buy this land? Surely something is better than nothing, or unused land, and we can buy it from Lindens? Or not.

I don't understand this giving up land for nothing...shrugs.

Some people get fed up or impatient I guess. A guy had a 2048M parcel, rented my 2048M parcel next to it so he basically had a 4096M.

Then he im's me to tell me he's moving to a homestead, thanks and all that and when I go to check things out he's abandoned his 2048 as well as giving up the rental. Really odd how some people just don't seem to realise they can sell their land, I think they think it will take too long or something.

As for buying said land, LL auction it off. However if it's smallish and you border it on three sides, if you're lucky less, then sometimes you can put in a support ticket and they let you claim it for a very reasonable price.

After it is abandoned by the owner, eventually the land falls under Concierge Department will seize the land, wipe or clean it up, sometimes they will revert it back to the original look and then a Linden employee will set it in queue for sale on land auctions.
I think the reason people abandon it is a lot of reasons and sometimes, it’s a time thing.

I get the feeling if something screwy happens to my payment process and it isn't resolved quickly, all of my land would wind up abandoned and my avatar and inventory deleted. As I've read elsewhere, fine way to treat someone who has been a premium member for a few years worth of payments.

if you see an abandoned plot you are interested in, you can file a support ticket and ask for it to be put up for auction. Usually happens within a week or so.

I've asked for, and gotten quite a few nuisance plots, and even one or two that were several hundred meters--but under 512. The trick is, you have to border it, and have the best claim. If you have a neighbor who has an equal, or even better claim, you still might be able to get it if your neighbor is willing to relinquish any claim to it.

Creating a ticket and asking about it sometimes pushes it ahead in the que.