Land Question

I was looking at buying some land yesterday and I used the find land feature. I flew out and looked at a piece of land I was interested in. I flew exactly to the big red stick, the marker, whatever it's called.

It was water. I mean, the entire thing for sale. It was all water. Can you buy water? Not waterfront, I mean, it was in the middle of a river. Why would you want to buy water? Did I make a mistake and that wasn't really what was for sale?

Jess

you can buy land that is underwater yes

some do this for various purpose, submarine building, some just ignore the water and build house basement in it

water can be used nicely, never dreamed of a floating house?

Yes Jessica, you CAN buy and sell water property (or more accurately UNDER water property). Also keep in mind that terra-forming might bring the land back up OUT of the water (but not always).

Another piece of advice... when buying property with buildings on it, look UNDER the buildings. In one of my first land deals I bought a property with a very nice house on it. Well, the house was built over the water. Turns out that 1/2 of the property was underwater.

Ah, Jessica, I remember having the *same* question.

Yes! You can buy water all right. It's simulator land like anything else. I like unique topography like water and hills, in fact, more than flat land because it encourages creativity in building.

Imagine, for example, a palace or store that was suspended 30m above the water. Think of the unique architectural opportunities that exist there. Also fantastic for building deep in the sky? Ever seen those huge elaborate sky buildings hidden at 500m? Water matters not at all to them.

Remember that traditional architectural paradigms are comfortable but unnecessary in a realm where nothing need be dragged down by gravity. Let your imagination go crazy, forget the rules. Failing that, you can make an underwater cottage.

Have fun.

I was thinking about buying it and putting one of those houses on stilts... I thought that would have been neat, but I don't know, it was just an idea for the place. I was actually kinda convinced that it wasn't really for sale because it was water.

I don't know, it was just an idea, I think I would want something more conventional to build a house on though. The stilts idea would be neat for about a week and then I would miss a more real house.

Jess

I wondered the first time I saw water for sale too -- first I thought it was a mistake, then I thought it should be listed for less than land -- what could you do with it except park a boat on it if you bought contiguous land? That was back in my greener days where I had not learned of the boundlessness of human folly and spite. People buy water for all kinds of reasons, and putting up a houseboat casino, a skyscraper, an artificial island, the teleporters to a skybox, an underwater build, a deck -- are only some of them.

Water is a very dangerous thing in SL. People often buy water and flip it because they know it will be desperately sought after by someone with land nearby who are suddenly very aware of their need to protect acess to their land, obtain prims, or just prevent view blockers.

I've seen some players make builds on water in front of waterfront land owned by someone else and completely prevent their physical access to their waterfront (sure they can fly, but the whole purpose of a boat is to be able to sail out of your own property. I've seen hideous builds go up on small patches of water, owned by people who lag entire sims, while everyone else with beautiful waterfront homes and properties stands helplessly by, and the Lindens claim there is no TOS violation.

Since seeing these pernicious episodes, I now look at water and study its many misuses before I do anything else in looking at a land parcel for sale.

I've seen people use a tiny square of water to put in huge builds that aggravate everyone else around them. There are no physical laws in SL like RL so you don't have to worry about the "weight" of a building -- anything can float.

I like the houses with stilts. While you may think you'll get sick of them, they offer some privacy and view possibilities that others don't. And frankly, you can get sick of anything you have in SL within a week, but fortunately, you can change it pretty easily, especially if you rent.

if it's for sale you can buy it.

as far as the value of it keep in mind that people sometimes buy land to build on and sometimes buy it just for the prims that come with it. even the ugliest most inconvenient lake bottom or sheer cliff side could enable you to build more somewhere else in the sim.