Newbie question

Hi guys!
Ive been a premium member for a day now and a normal member for 4 days so im still learning the ropes!

Anyway, Im keen on buying land but im not sure what to go for, Ive realised that its not as cheap and as easy to obtain as i thought so if i am goning to buy a plot to build a house on id rather get somewhere I really want...

anyway got any tips?

Thanks, Michael

Hi Michael

Most people will probably suggest it might be a good idea to rent before you buy land. You need to have some idea what type of land you need, ie homestead, openspace etc. But there's lots of people on these boards with experience and good advice.

Hello Michael....

I second that idea....rent first. The best reason to rent first is to allow yourself a learning curve with how to arrange items......It's a lot easier to handle goofy mistakes when they don't effect property and builds you 'own' or created yourself.

I rented about 3 weeks into my second life....found a neat 2 story apartment and figured out how to place furniture (it was tedius learning all the edit tools and how to master them).
Renting was cheap enough...I think I paid 300L per week..... then I progressed to a rental house...again.....really fun....learned a lot more (and didn't delete or 'take' my house by mistake which is a royal pain in the butt if it happens...and it's happened lol)

Eventually I got brave and bought a parcel of land.....shopped for a cool house.....and set to work landscaping. It's a $ commitment to own land and not something you want to jump right in to. Also.....be really wary when renting or buying in SL....lots of scammers who pray on new folks. Do your research.....talk to neighbors in an area your interested in.....do a LOT of exploring.....there soooo much available .... it's really worth it to take your time....learn the ropes, and wait until you find a place you absolutely fall in love with!

As Bella said, take your time. If you buy land and it's not what you wanted, it can sometimes be hard to get rid of it, so take some time to learn SL first.

Take time to find out what your interests might be in SL, as this will very much affect what kind of land will suit you best (and there are a LOT of options). You might want privacy, or a place to drive a vehicle, or a love shack, or a shop, or a nature retreat, or a place to build things... once you have an idea what you want to do on your land, you will be in a better position to shop for it.

In the meantime, here is a great place to start for information:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Land_Buying_FAQ

thats exactly how it happened for me too, started with a little rental house, didn't even know what prims were lol. Learned about prims, moved to a bigger house with more prims. Eventually I wanted some land to landscape and put up a house of my choice. I remember being so scared, but it's soooo much fun.

Same thing happened with land, started little and wanted more and more prim.

So start small Michael and work your way up.

Or just remain homeless for a few months. Many of us do... I've owned land off and on over the last 2 years; I went for a year without any home at all. They're not absolutely necessary in SL. But since you're already paying for Premium membership, I'm going to disagree with the above posters and say "get your money's worth." I'd go out and buy a little 512 meter parcel, so that you don't have to pay tier to Linden Lab, or rent to anyone else. Just play on that and have fun before you branch out. Might as well use your Premium membership! And welcome to Second Life.

learn all you can about land brfore making a decision... and I would explore, take classes at least a few weeks before being concerned about land, if at all.

someone in the sim I am in was wanting to sell some land, not sure if they still have it for sale or not (or still want to sell any)

if you are still interested in buying mainland please contact me and I will see if they still want to sell

1) Go for land that borders protected Linden Land (or water) on as many sides as you can and can afford.

2) Coastal areas tend to stay unblighted as does land in old established sims. If you have time ask a few residents that own land nearby to ask what the sim is like mostly.

3) Visit the plot and see how laggy the sim is.

4) Try to pick sims that are mostly residential builds, it will not guarantee it won't go commercial but there is less chance.

5) Try to pick sims that do not have lots of little plots for sale

6) Check that the land can be flattened to a reasonable degree before you buy if possible or if not buy plots that looks ready to drop a house on already if cleared of objects.

Hope your searching goes well, and if you decide to rent, please IM/PM me as I have space available in a lovely sailing sim and can customise the size and prims to what you might need.

Put the wallet down! Now that you've gotten your account established, give yourself about a month to learn the ropes. Learning land values, what location you like, getting used to the exchange rate and learning how to build are good things to do now.

Once you have a feel for how the economy and real estate works, you'll be a bit better prepared for getting your own land and establishing a permanent residence.

Though sometimes, particularly along plotted but not completed Linden highways, there's a lot of small plots along the road abandoned by ad farmers. Sometimes you can pick up a plot behind one or more of these former ad plots and join the two together, which has the potential of giving you more space for your money and allows you to rejoin otherwise useless plots to a larger, more useful plot, which will help your resale value down the line now that the 2m² plots are essentially worthless on their own.

I agree with Oryx. Just don't buy or rent land yet and be homeless for a while. When I came to SL I wanted to learn how to build and lived in sandboxes for a few months. You learn all the ropes there: how to communicate with people, how to build, how to search, how to make money and how to counter griefer attacks.

Just type in 'sandbox' in your in-world Search window and look what sandbox is best for you. Then read and learn everything there is to know about owning land and search or ask questions on these forums. And when you are convinced of buying land, then pay for a small 512 sqm plot without paying monthly tier.

Certainly can be the case but was trying to keep it simple for the new person Plus ethically people can have issues buying from extortionists.

Oh, I totally understand the simplicity factor, I was just pointing out that waiting it out and learning what to learn for can work to one's benefit.

I've seen several plots on auction blocks when near adjoining plots for sale in recent weeks, and came across one the other day named Abandoned Land and owned by Gov. Linden.

I own estate land, off the mainland. This means I do not need to be a premium member to own it, and I actually don't really own it, someone else doesn, I just rent 1/3 of their SIM, and pay a weekly tier. Which can just as much as be a rent fee.

$ 9.95 per week, and weekly or monthly payment. And that get's you 20.000 m³ and 1280 Prims.

For the rest you just get a sandbox. The island I'm at is called Sea Starr. it has 3 split parcels. Some of my neighbors come and go. You don't need to stay. Just stop paying if you want to leave the island.

The prims amount seems low. But if you know how to use low prim items, then you can build a city

Since you are already a Premium member, I'm going to go against the flow here, and against my usual advice.

Buy a 512 plot somewhere. Land prices are inching back up, so the chances are that you'll be able to sell it later at a small profit, when you're ready to move to a new and larger place.

You don't want to pay a ton for it. This is a "starter home", a place to experiment with building and arranging prims. Really, anywhere at all would work...but spend a little time cruising around and looking at the mainland For Sale listings. You may find a gem among the trash heap of bottom-priced parcels.

Even if the land itself is hilly and rocky and surrounded by ugly builds, the sky may be clear and the lag low...a good place for a skybox home.

I'd say, yes, rent before you buy,

but before you rent, go exploring SL.

Wait until you fall in love with a place,
and rent there.

my advice...if at all possible, save yourself a lot of grief and buy an island.

Copy cat. Lindal obviously doesn't read everyone's posts.

There are now many parcels being sold for 100 L or less by private estate owners, with just the monthly tier owing, that it seems hardly worthwhile to look at mainland just for the 512 sqm premium member benefit. My friend, Marm, will give a dozen reasons why not to buy and she offers exceptional value.

Do a search also for "bonus prims" and sometimes a nice parcel can be had for a good price.

I have my eye on a nice place in a trailer park. OK, not elegant, but it is cheap and has its own charm. Sort of.

Have lived on a yacht and just payed slip tier. Was on a homestead, had a sandbox, but next is a dirigible.

So many different adventures to chose from.

Can't, sweetie...I'm too busy writing them!