Question about Buying First Property

I've been in SL for nearly two weeks now. I lvoe the game, have met great people, and am now wanting to own my very own little bit of SL. Would you experienced folk give me some advice, please?

All I want is a small house. How large a plot do I need? I have heard that the real issue is having enough prims - that I should buy land that allows about 300 prims so that I can furnish a house. I have also heard 1000 to 2000 square meters. From ads, it looks to me like the basic 512 meter pliot supports 117 prims, so, 1500 square meters or larger sounds like the size I want. Does this sound right?

I see forum questions about buying on private estates, and renting tier - lots of confusing things. Do I need to buy on the mainland to really own the property? Renting tier sounds like a bad idea to me. Isn't the land not really in your name, so if the person paying the tier wants to be unscrupulous, can't they just remove you from the property you purchased?

Next, mainland or island? My friend suggested island property because of privacy issues. Is this the general experience?

Any other tips?

Thank you so much!

Rhia

You are right about your prims. You get 117 prims per 512sqm. So a 1536sqm plot would have a prim allowance of 351. Depending on your goals for your home, you could get by with a 512 plot, but you will most likely find that 117 prims is pretty limiting. On a 1024 plot you can do a lot with 234 prims.

Basically you have to balance your desires agaisnt how much you are willing to spend on the tier, as well as the cost of the land. Fortunately, land prices have dropped (at least some locations) so with some effort you should be able to find a good deal.

As far as mainland versus private land, that's a whole another matter. You will hear many pros and cons on both sides of that issue. On the mainland you own the land, and are basically free to do what you please. The down side to that is that your neighbors also have that same freedom. I own mainland property and have no real problems, others have not been as lucky. As far as private land goes I would suggest reading the convenant on the land carefully before buying. Also spend a little time researching the land owners reputation. You will hear plenty of horror stories regarding renting on private land, but at the same time others will swear it's the only way to go.

The best advice is to look at your options carefully, then decide what's best for you.

Good luck,
Tex

Rhiannon, there's a lot of good info in some threads from recent weeks. You may want to go to the Search/Advanced page and search the Resident Answers for threads that have "first land" or similar in the title.

Take a look at these to start:
/327/86/205527/1.html
/327/54/185172/1.html

Rhiannon, the plot will depend on exactly what you want from it, if you buy land you will want a house, research this first and find a house you like, see how many prims this will use up, make sure you read all about the size of house, quality builders in SL will list exactly what size plot is best for their properties and exactly what prim usage it will take.



Yes, you will own that land and pay tier to LL and some would argue that is still renting, and yes in theory it is, but you have the security from LL that they will not pack up and go tomorrow.



This is really upto you, as already mentioned, only you can decide that, basically for every 512sqm you will get 117 prims, use that as a basic calculation.



Renting tier and paying tier to a landlord are 2 separate things.

Renting tier is an option where people have excess tier and donate it to your group for a little less than you would pay LL.

Renting land is basically the same as RL, you do not own, you may have various rights to that land, but yes, if the landlord is a rogue then he can turf you off anytime.

Renting is a good option for those that do not want to go premium and invest in SL land but want to benefit from what SL has to offer. My only advise is tread carefully and do your research if you take this option.



Mainland you will own the land from LL and pay tier to LL, you will have to be a premium member to do this.
On private Islands you can buy/rent land from a Private owner but this is much the same as renting but with different terminology, the risk, if the owner decides to leave SL then you could lose all. This seems to be pretty rare recently but can still happen. Regards privacy, a lot of Island owners put lots of work and effort into landscaping, design, architecture, various themes and security, this obviously will vary from Island to Island but in general you will have lots of privacy. (generally no passers by either or snoops)




RESEARCH, is the best tip, decide what you want to do, research and research, ask questions on the forum. But when buying be careful, do not always assume for example that you are buying a warterfront plot, it may look 100% waterfront but when all the so called waterfront is sold, then the water in front comes up for sale. This can happen if you are inexperienced and do not know what to look for.

On pastures green and flat, look around, are there any clubs or commercial activities going on, look at the surroundings, if you see a piece of land to buy and can't make a decision then IM the owner and ask if he will reserve it for a day so you can make your mind up.

But research and ask questions.

Welcome to SL and good luck.

Great tips! Thank you so much

To me, it's all renting. Don't pay your tier (on either the estate or the mainland) and you lose it all. There are no real "laws" governing ownership in SL. Even the Lindens can take your land away without a word or a reason (not saying they would).

So it's a matter of deciding on up-front costs versus long term costs, risks involved, as well as the more subjective things like location, neighbours, etc.

It's clearly a very personal decision.

EDIT: the other thing I'll say is that like me, you are new. Will the shine wear off in a few weeks or months? Consider simply renting for a while to get your legs, and see if you're in SL for the long haul. After much consideration, that's what I decided to do.

Love.

Oh, and you can live on 512 plot of land (I do), AND - you don't pay tier on that 512 plot of land on the mainland. Any tier. Get a 512m on an island and you pay tier. Get 513m of land and you pay tier. Something to consider, there are some good plots of 512m land out there and there are some good prefabs that fit 512m (though I built my own dwelling).

Lexxi,

What sort of house and furnishings can you have on the 512 plot of land? Was it really hard to furnish the house in a way that you found comfortable or was the 117 prims relaly suffucient?

Why do you pay tier on an island? Is it that the person who originally bought the island is playing the tier for the entire island to LL, then collecting tier from each individual owner so that I would be paying tier to the person who bought the island? Does this mean I don't need a premium accoun to own on an island?

Thanks again!

Rhia

Oh, sorry - you pay tier to the Island owner on an island (not sure if all call it "tier", but I haven't seen any that do not have some type of payment to Island owner that is similar to tier, though sometimes it is weekly instead of monthly, but you can, most times, pay for more than a week at a time).

I made my 512 plot of land into a park, and the park used up a lot of prims. I also had already started making 1 prim furniture, so I have something around 30 (or slightly less) prims left right now. Most of the prims being used for the park.

What kind of house? It is a hidden house - I made it look like a hill, and there are rocks and trees on my roof. The door is hidden.

Don't need a premium account to own on an island, that is correct.

Oh, if you aren't premium, I'd hurry and get of one of Sarah Nerd's free places - that's where I started off in a free apartment. And then you can set it up like you want as you continue researching.

i would recommend that rhiannon rent somewhere first. i rented for almost 6 months before i dived into real estate.

by renting i got a feel for prim limits, neighbor problems, etc. all of which helped me decide whether to take the mainland or the pi route.

i took the former and now own 1/4 of a sim with, with only 1 exception, very nice, friendly and considerate neighbors.

I have found that between 1024 and 2048 M2 is a nice size for a starter home. You get 117 prims per each 512 M2 that you own. 4096 M2 will hold a very nice typical SL home, fully furnished.

I used to sell a low prim Tudor Cottage that was all of 9 prims, and had one window, vaulted ceiling, a peaked roof with eaves, and a scripted door. Put that on a 512 M2 lot, and you'd have plenty left over for furnishinhgs and landscaping. But it's a very small, modest cottage. No more than a bedroom in the woods.

A 'nice house' might be between 100 and 200 prims, depending on how big and how many rooms.

My current home is a detailed Japanese castle, and is well over 600 prims. But I live on 10,000 M2.

If you are already paying for a Premium membership, and if you buy mainland, you subtract 512 M2 from the area of the land that you own when calculating the monthly maintenance on that land. On the other hand, to buy land on a private island, you need not be a Premium member at all. If you add up what you pay for Premium, subtract what you get back from LL as your weekly L$300 stipend over the course of the year, and subtract the value of the maintenance on that first 512 M2 of land on the mainland, you still pay more for owning that land each month than someone who pays no Premium dues, but owns the same amount of private island land.

You don't "pay tier" to LL when you have land on a private island. But you most likely DO pay a similar monthly maintenance payment to the sim owner, who in turn uses that money to pay his or her tier on the whole sim to LL. So most people call it tier either way, even when it isn't paid directly to LL.

Wow! Thank you all so much for the great information and tips!

Rhia

I avoid the mainland at all costs, I will only go there if I absolutely have to! They are usually lagged and swarmed with hideous builds, floating prims and junk all over, I actually find it quite depressing.
The only way to get land on a private island is through a 3rd part, and it most cases, it is no different than having land through LL, you never really own it.
The difference is... at least they way I and most people run their estates are... you don't need a premium account, they are zoned, either commercial or residential, you can pay with L$ or USD, and there are some minor restrictions like no eye sores and such.
There are also alot of benefits, the view, the support, little or no lag.. etc.
The only main difference is you are paying the estate owner not LL, either one can take your land at will. Although if you go through a well known or established estate owner, I don't think you will have that problem at all.

As far as land size, I, personally wouldn't reccomend anything under 2048m unless you are certain you will be able to buy more land around it INCASE you want or need to expand..

From a completely different perspective...

I've only been around a couple of months. I upgraded to Premium and purchased a 512m spot on the mainland. I do not have to pay any extra each month as the 512m tier is included in my premium membership cost.

My closest neighbors are about 4 plots away and they sell rugs and some furniture. Other than that, all of the land I can see in any direction is empty except for the for sale signs, most of which are not too hideous. The lag isn't too bad. I've only ever had one guest and she was looking at the property next to me and came over to say hello.

I have played with some freebie/low prim houses and they work nicely on my land but I'm mostly interested in making my own stuff. (Right now, it's probably best that I don't have neighbors because my "house" is a run down shack with a rusted metal roof!)

Mainland property is perfect for me. There's no covenant telling me what I can and can't do there so if I decide to build a house and live in it, I can. Or, if I decide down the road that I want to go commercial, I can do that, too! Plus, for me, this was kind of starter land. It doesn't cost me any extra so if I decide I want/need something bigger and better I won't feel bad about just letting this sit.

I will say that if you're looking for a community to live in, mainland is probably not for you. There's very few area's that I've found that have that neighborhood feel to them. Odd's are pretty good that if it's not right now, your neighbor will probably be a shopping mall in the near future.

G

By the way, Lexxi, I like the idea you had for house hiddeni n a hill. It sounds like you found a way to maintain your theme of a park while adding a cozy living space.

Nothing under 2048? That's roomy. But I see your point - if I'm not sure I can add on later, I should start with enough to fit future needs as well as current.

Thanks, Gayle. I may start with at least 512 M2 on the mainland also...it seems I was so excited about the game that I already paid for a year's premium membership, so I may as well get some use out of that 512 free tier.

My first plot was a 512 on the mainland. I found a great 20 prim 2 room house at Hearthstone homes, and furnished it well before maxing out.
there are some good low prim houses out there depending on your needs.

Here's a question: if one was going to buy a small 512 to put up a sky box above the clouds, are there any particular areas to avoid? Does all that spinning crap on the ground have a negative effect when you're 350 m up?

Love

Hi Rhiannon. I was like you.

I wanted land, I did a little research (not enough) and I became a premium member and proceeded to buy a 4k parcel on a private island. LOL obviously I didn't do enough research since I now know I didn't need to become a premium member to own land on a private island. There are pros and cons to land ownership and rentals just as there are pros and cons to private islands and the mainlands. I am trying to sell my original land on the private island (wish me luck I am going to needed it) as I have relocated as a renter to a friends new island as things should be better for me there on this private island.

But ...

Since I had this premium membership, I recently kind of thought I'd put it to good use and pick up that 512m tier free parcel. Who knows what I will do long term with this land but I view it as kind of a backup. If I ever want to get off of the islands I am on, I can always use this land. Or I could use this land as a store. Anyway I looked around at mainland 512m lots and most of what I saw did not interest me. Then I came upon a new mainland sim and a series of 512m lots were up for sale at a fair price on a hill looking down towards some water. These plots were a little more expensive than the cheap stuff I was originally looking at, but the cheap stuff was cheap for a reason and I really didn't pay that much. So I found this small but cute 512m parcel of land on a hill and it currently looks down up on this great forrest of palm trees (the forrested land is 8k in size). I really don't care what goes on behind me but I am crossing my fingers that what happens below me doesn't turn ugly. I say all this because you never know what will happen on the mainlands and things happen fast. I was the first person to buy off of the land speculator and within a day someone else bought next to me, put up a house (not pretty but not that ugly) and a ban line. Then two sets of people bought behind me (there is a an empty 512m lot between us), and they both built some less than pretty walls for their respective stores and also proceeded to erect ban lines. Then the land owner down the hill and to my right who used to have a really nice house, torn up his house and built some stores. Finally while there is still currently nothing built on it, the vacant land immediately behind me was bought out by someone who came in and bought pretty much all of the vacant 512m land and joined them all together and now I sit here and I wonder what will appear behind me. The great palm tree forrest that I look down on still remains, but this land too is for sale. Fortunately it is not cheap land and it may take a while to sell. But I know sooner or later someone will buy it and who knows what will happen to it. I'm sure the palm tree forrest I love looking down on will be clear cut one day. What will replace it is anyones guess.

So ...

DO NOT BUY ON THE MAINLAND if you value the current looks of the land since things change so fast in SL and you never know what will be there tomorrow. I am enjoying my little 512m recreational lot. I have built sort of a garden, I've pitched a tent on it and have this cool fireplace. I hope I don't lose my view looking down the hill. But if the land turns ugly, well since I don't really live on it, I am not afraid to change my garden into something else.

Here is the slurl to it in case you are curious:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Batfish/14/237/37/

and yes I realize I am publishing this to the world to see. But I don't care if this turns into a squaters hangout. In fact I encourage people to come squat at my fireplace and in my tent. It's not like I live on the land and they really can't do any damage to it. However, please obey the "No Drama" sign on this property. LOL ...

PS: 117 prims does not go very far unless you are careful using low prim objects. Unfortunately my fireplace is not low prim. But it is worth the prims.

Lots of great input! My thanks to all of you!

Umm.....I had a slight mishap in looking at property for sale. Someone says I went into a house that wasn't for sale and accused me of stalking someone!

As far as I know, I never went into the house where I am accused of stalking, but I can't be positive - I went into a number of properties that were for sale. No one was home in any of the ones I looked at. I certainly meant no harm. Is it usually this easy to inadvertently get into trouble?

Someone else suggested that next time I'm house shopping, stay out and just pan in with the camera. In retrospect this makes a lot of sense, but I guess I'm wise too late on this one.

People can be jerks, I never understood it, yes it can be found as rude to come into someone's home uninvited, but most people mean no harm and don't know any better =/
If someone's privacy is that sacred, they should get their own island, live in the sky, have ban lines or whatever, instead of allowing people to freely enter only to cuss them out =/

Hi, Rhiannon
I currently own about 3585 altogether all on mainland. Sunni owns a plot that is 2560, and my alt owns 1024, which is on the newest Sim (um, I think it's Corsica), but 512 of that is only for the extra prims. However, considering that I'm paying for 2 premium acccounts plus $20 in tier, I think I'm going to sell my alt's 2 512's in Corsica, and cancel her premium membership. I've been checking out private estate land lately, because all around I do think it's cheaper to "rent" on there than to own on mainland. I could rent a 4096 for less than I pay altogether now. I don't have any problems in either area where i'm located, so have no problems with owning on Mainland. But I am space & prim-addicted so a larger area altogether would benefit me more than the parcels I currently have. So, don't be scared of owning on Mainland. It's really not that bad...just check the area out closely first. So far, I've been very lucky with no spinning ad plots anywhere near either of my avies' homes. The main fun for me was decorating, so believe me, 117 prims was just not enough, and both of my homes are relatively low prim...I think one is 38 prims and one is 22, and they're both fairly nice. Really, the amount of prims you want to use and what you want to use it for is your biggest consideration if you ask me. Mainland can be just as nice as PI or PE land, if you look around enough. There's tons for sale right now, and the prices are widely varying. I have seen 512's ranging from $L3500 to $L10,000 (which I think is really, really way to high for a 512, I don't care where it's located), so take your time and look around. I rented a small house first and decorated that, but it wasn't enough for me after a month or so. I just had to have "my own" land.....lol.

I'll give what is now my stock advice about buying land: If you need to ask basic questions like this, you're not ready. At two weeks, you're certainly not ready unless you've been spending eight hours a day in SL.

There are lots of subtle complications, lots of details. Just look at all the notes about people being ripped off. You need to learn how group permissions work, what sort of security you need, the risks of lag, the risks of bad neighbors, the easy ways to accidentally sell your land for 2$L (so that you don't), the difference between furnished and unfurnished, what fair prices are, how you can unintenionally annoy the neighbors, fair prices for homes and furnishings, how to buy at auction, etc.

And at two weeks? Lots of people come on for a week or two and then give up. I assume you're past that stage. But other people come on for several months, and then get bored. You should at least stick around long enough to form some strong friendships with other people who own property, and see if you you really want to be investing money in this game.

You're looking at dropping $40-50 US, plus monthly fees, to buy land. More to furnish it. That's not a huge amount for many people, but it still feels bad if you make a mistake somehow and lose it. You're also going to invest a lot of your time, some of which will be spent climbing the learning curve whether you like it or not. You're better off climbing the learning curve on free stuff, before adding your own money into the mix.

I think I'm starting to agree with you, Kidd. I'm thinking I better take another two weeks or so to do due diligence before I plunk down my L$.

Thanks, again