Real Estate Business Idea - Your Opinions Wanted

There are always posts in the forums about sl land buying and selling, in addition, I was talking with a person yesterday who wanted to sell their land quickly to avoid paying tier and she was very disappointed to find out what the prices currently were for a quick sale, these have me thinking again about how someone could actually develop a 'realtor' type business in sl.

I look at mainland everyday, as I know others do, and have a fairly good grasp of prices. However no one seems to care what I have to say when they are buying, however when they are selling they do care and tend to be unhappy.

The problems, as I see it, is that when the majority of people buy land in sl they pay too much and when they sell they either sell it too low or at some ridiculous price that it will sell only if they get very lucky.

How do you think people would respond to a sl business if I charged say 500 or 1000L for land buying advice and help in finding land? Am I just out of my mind thinking this might work or are there people who might be interested in this type of service?

I will gladly tell anyone anything they want to know about buying or selling mainland for free. With margins so tight, 500-1000 could go a long way towards buying a plot versus giving it to a person for their advice.

I don't think both of these things can be true at the same time, simply because every transaction has both a buyer and a seller. So for every single buyer who paid too much, there is a seller who got a very good price for their land. And for every seller who sells too low, there is a buyer who got a great deal.

Of course there will always be deals where the buyer and seller both THINK they got screwed, but in my experience there are just as many where both parties are happy with the sale price.

As to your question, I'm not sure how you would conduct such a business. Would the person pay you in advance and trust you to provide a high-quality service in return? Or would you send them landmarks to potential parcels, and hope they send you the fee once they've made a purchase?

In the end, I'll have to side with Ray here. There are quite a few people with a talent for finding good parcels to buy who will do it for free just because it's fun. But if you think you can market your sevices in such a way to have success in the extremely competitive land market, I wish you the best.

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I dunno Raymond. You willing to help lots of people everyday, day after day, for free? How much time will you lend each of them in their search for just the right plot or lowest possible price?

A rental central type sales place would appeal to me.

I don't get a lot of requests, so right now, as much time as the person needs. I love talking land and helping people navigate the process. I wouldn't fly around with them, but hopefully give them enough advice so they could find a parcel on their own. But I am talking about general advice like what to look for and what to avoid, versus someone like you who can steer people to specific plots due to your expertise on what is specifically available right now out on the grid.

What happens is someone who is not very experienced with virtual real estate ends up buying high and selling low. This happens more in private island estate sales where a good slice of the profits for estate owners can come from abandoned land. Someone falls in love with that generic island parcel with palm trees for L$10/sq.m. Three months and two SL marriages later, they've decided to move to Gor Island #237 and want to sell for L$12/sq.m. After all, they deserve a little profit on their investment, right? After three frustrating weeks, no one has shown any interest and the price has been cut in half to L$6/sq.m. Still no buyers and that big L$10,000 monthly tier payment is due in a few days. What to do?

It's also relevant for mainland many times. Though it certainly isn't as bad. No covenants, uniform tier schedule, plenty of people who will buy the land below a given price. But a significant minority of land owners don't even understand the basics of the SL land business. Many don't even know the difference between mainland or private island estates or that there is a land search engine for example. So they end up dumping the land to bots or abandoning it to Linden Lab.

So basically the winners end up being estate owners, land bots, experienced land traders, and Linden Lab, who all "buy" low. The losers are residents who enter the virtual real estate market with little experience or knowledge and often buy too high.

If You kept a really good eye on mainland You would realize the new lower prices are due to the current market and the fact that sim production is at a high. To give really good advice on land, You need to keep an eye on all factors. Sim production, auction ending prices, current mainland price, and the variable value of the several different types of mainland out there. Different terrains, different areas, extra terraformable allowance, waterfront, proximity to ads yadda yadda yadda. You have to know all the factors, and Ive been dealing mainland a long time and I still find things I can't properly quote now and then. Most people seeking land advice are generally new players and like Ray said 500-1000L goes a long way considering You can get a nice 512 for $3000-3700L right now. If someone asks for a quote on what I would pay for the land thats business. If someone ask's me just for advice, I would feel dirty asking a fee for talking and sharing knowledge.
I like Ray's answer the best. Ask Him. He follows everything closely and knows what he's talking about. He is smart and patient and he has always given me excellent advice.

Sorry, I wasn't considering private estates in that. Obviously purchasing land from and owner who can and often does repossess means a buyer can easily get a raw deal. Of course, it still means that another person, the estate owner, gets a good deal. So again, it's a one-to-one correlation... [people getting bad deals]=[people getting good deals].


I'm not arguing that there aren't winners and losers, just disputing the assertion that most buyers AND most sellers are losing. I know it's fun to rag on landbots, but the fact is that they are being run by actual people, and those are the people in the equation who are winning.

So perhaps the OP meant that most nice people buy too high and sell too low, and that it's the bad people who are getting the good deals? That would make sense... I know I've paid way too much for a parcel just to get a d***wad out of the neighborhood!

I agree. Here is the best advice that I give on a regular basis: IM Sarah Nerd.

Yes, but if you look at the individual people involved rather the individual deals, its a handful getting good deals and many getting bad deals. An individual landbot resident can get dozens of good deals per month while the residents selling the land are all getting bad deals. Same thing with an individual estate owner.

All pointing to why a realtor like you is much needed in SL. In fact, you are the only one doing it as far as I know, unless Robin takes the plunge. Keep up the good work.

People could often save money by paying the OP for advice on buying and selling mainland rather than asking a land trader for a quote or dumping land to a landbot or buying a lot of the overpriced parcels listed on the market today. Both the OP and the client can do well. Land traders, land bots, and estate owners lose.

For example, if someone had a halfway decent 4,096sq.m. mainland parcel they wanted to sell right now, they could probably get rid of it pretty quickly for L$27,000-29,000. How many average residents know this though? And how much would the typical mainland trader pay for it? L$20,000? L$25,000 maybe? At the very least, the person in this example is saving L$1,000 by hiring the OP, probably a lot more.

Thanks Raymond! I hope Robin tries too and does well.

Robin, I'm sure there is a good business oppourtunity here. Raymone can't possibly help everyone who needs help. The challange for you will be getting your name out there, investing in advertising, and making it clear you are selling services not land, otherwise potential customers will think you are just another land flipper looking to make a profit off of them.

Providing this service reguarly should give you a big advantage (knowing the market) over the average land buyer who goes out only occasionally looking for land to buy, or selling it and not knowing how much to price it for.

Yeah, I think the advice I offer up is more general and if you know the value of specific plots, it very well could be worth the fee you would charge. So now that I've had time to think about it, I'd like to change my answer. My new answer is "42".

I want to thank you guys for posting, I appreciate your views.

Don't sell Yourself short. I know very few people who follow land as well as You.

Methinks I'd rather follow you for awhile and stop this land nonsense.

Ive had a few drinks, I'm really touchy feely, and would be on you like white on rice and wear you out. Don't temp me.

brb, going to go set my sim for sale for L$1.

/me snatches up the land befor ray sees the mistake and put it back at markup for L$2

It was no mistake. who needs land when you have Nerd?

Congrats on the 100% profit!

There is a greater need for maximising land market knowledge at the higher end of the land market. People who are looking for 512m up to, say, 4096, are only going to be facing a difference of a few RL dollars / euros / pounds between a reasonable buy and a 'bargain'. Yet those at the upper end are likely to have more knowledge of the SL land market anyway. Land barons, however, while not needing advice, might need extra pair of eyes to search out suitable land for their portfolio.