better to buy or rent land?

I'm still a newbie, but I'm hoping to eventually set up a little cafe in SL with live music, art installations etc. It would be a very small venture, and having looked around at plots of land for sale, I don't think I'd need much more than 1024sqm.

I'm now trying to figure out whether I need a premium account to set up such a venture, or whether I can rent land and keep my free account. The whole land buying thing is confusing me, tbh. I don't quite understand how the tier system works - http://secondlife.com/whatis/landpricing.php says the tier only applies to land you own over 512sqm. I get that. However, according to the table on that page, I can't figure out whether I would pay $5/month or $8/month for a 1024sqm plot (I would have thought it should be $5, but the table is laid out in a way that confuses me, and I want to make sure). Can anyone shed any light on this?

Also, could I own a 512sqm plot somewhere (thus not paying any land use fee), and then later on, purchase a further 1024sqm plot somewhere else, and still have the initial 512sqm discounted? Sorry if these are confusing or obvious questions.

If I was going to buy land rather than rent it, I'd like to set up a premium account soon, to give myself a bit of time to accrue some Lindens before buying anything - hence me asking these questions now. I'm aware that I'll probably read this post back in a week or so and think "duh!"

If anyone is expert in these matters and wouldn't mind offering some advice to a noob, please let me know

You would pay $5 a month for 1024. $5 for 512 with a bonus 512 free. This is in addition to your premium membership.

If you own a 512 and later buy a 1024, that would bump you to $8 a month, unless you sold the 512 first.

I recommend you rent for a while. Good luck with everything. Please post more questions if you have them.

Yes. But also know that prims (your building blocks) come with the land. Owning 512sqm in one sim and 1024sqm in another sim, will mean that those prims cannot be shared between those plots. Which may or may not be helpful as you plan your growth.

Hi Lucinda

As Ray mentioned above, I would recommend you rent for a while to establish yourself. *Where* you rent is much less important than in RL, given the ease of teleporting, than advertising and getting your venture "out there" and noticed. That said, the type of venture you're contemplating may well dictate a location (the example I have in mind is Steampunk, which would narrow you down to a few possibilities to draw in passing trade as it were).

To "own" land on the mainland (i.e LL is your landlord), then yes you need to be a premium member. But you can also rent mainland from another resident, or rent space on an island - both of which will cost you slightly more in tier than directly owning, but for which you do not need to be a premium member, thus saving you US$72 (annual membership fee - it's slightly higher if you pay monthly/quarterly).

You really need to explore SL once you've developed your ideas and have an idea about ambience - fellow forumites can then point you in the direction of suitable sims that might fit your bill.

Inc