Acquiring First Land - best practices

Hello !

I'm about to buy some land.
It looks like I'm going to want to be in the 4096m2 tier
so I can use about 1,000 prims.

I know my best option will probably be to buy 512m2
of First Land, and then sell it right away to get extra
cash to help pay for the larger space.

I'd like to talk to a couple of people in-world about
exactly what the best ways of doing that might be.

Here in the forums I'd like for people to suggest
the top 3 people who would give me the best
advice, and a 1 or 2 reasons you think they would
be the best to talk to.

I'd also like you to give me 1 person you think I
should avoid because they would be dangerous
for me -- I dont want to hear personal attacks or
things like "so and so undercuts me so i hate them".
Give me 1 solid reason I should not trust them
for my land purchase.

I will be talking to all 4 people mentioned to get
both sides of any issues here.

Thanks,
Gabrielle

If you see a piece of land that you realy like and you can afford it, buy it.

If you don't like it, don't buy it.

If you think it's too expensive compaired to other similar land then IM the seller and make an offer.

Surina,

Thanks, but I know there is a LOT more to consider when
buying land... like sim FPS/lag, ease of access to telehubs, etc.

I'm not looking for specif buying advice here.

I want 4 names of people I can discuss this with in-world,
as I have several specific questions. 3 that you recommend
and 1 that I should avoid. I want 1-2 solid reasons you give
for each recommendation.

Let's not get sidetracked, please

Gabrielle

It seems to me the only other people interested in a small, 512 plot, in a first-land area, will be other first-land buyers.

If you plan to turn around and try to sell 512 sqm for more than $L 512, you'll have a pretty hard time I think. Better to save up and just buy a large plat in one go.

It would be against forum rules to name anyone that you should avoid.

Ultimately you should be choosing land on the basis of whether you want/like/need/can afford it, not by who is selling it. That's all I was trying to say, (badly).

My recomendations would be:

Look at the Land for sale on your main map. Don't pick randomly from the 'find' list. You can tell at a glance whether the surrounding area is heavily developed (good chance of high lag) or is surrounded by lots of other plots for sale.

Still using your map, look at how popular the general area is. Are there large clumps of green dots indicating a club nearby? (lag)

Once you TP to a plot, make note of the journey from the telehub to the plot. Are lots of sky builds rezzing in your path as you fly? Are there security scripts bouncing you around? Do you have to fly over a high lag sim to get to your sim? All these things will affect the number of visitors you may get later...

Sorry... I'm kinda new here.
I sure hope there is really not a RULE that prohibits people from
getting consumer advice on potential pitfalls (including people)
that might be out there.

Please point me to the URL where this rule is posted
so I can see what it all includes.




Yes.. all of these things are good to know, but as I said...
I am new. I do not have the skills to do this very efficently.
I do not have the technical know-how of how to accomplish
everything I may need to do, and I am QUITE aware that
I certainly do not know much about how land works, what
makes a good buy, and who knows what other questions I
should even be asking!

For this... I'm looking for an in-world real estate agent.
Someone know knows very well how land works, what to look
for and what to avoid, and who's been dealing with land enough
to already know good plots of land I might be interested
in which will save me tons of time!

For that person's time in assisting me, I plan to buy from them.

Being a cautious buyer I know to "shop around" ... even for
the person I will trust as my real estate agent! -- and that's
why I ask for a few of the best choices.

So, again....
Who can recommend some people to talk to in-world about this?

Thanks,
Gabrielle

Who ever you buy from will mark up the land 3x to 5x the original price - you will grossly overpay for the 1,000 prims this way. The knowledge they have gained is more valuable to them than even a large markup since land buying (not selling) practices are their real trade.

But its up to you...

The TOS on the form define the rules, but I think you are not supposed to engage in personal attacks or disparage reputations, including SL residents.

The names I know in RL are:

Anshe Chung
Kavai
Anita
Bob Bravo
Shaun Altman

If you asked me who I trust I'd say each of them (to be who and what their av is at the moment), but if you asked me who I'd buy from then that's different.

Shaun would be an interesting avatar to meet in any case, and seems to be very approachable. He buys for investment purposes, so he might be more wholesale than the others.

I think we all knew how new you are to the game by your last thread. You really need to look around more and see how SL operates along with forum rules and policies.
As far as finding a realestate agent, I am one of them. Asking people to give you names of agents good and bad is really not something anyone is going to willingly do.
I personally don't like your atitude here in SL, as you never seem to take the time to analize the daily and long term operations of the community.

My advice to you if you want the cheapest land in a good location is to go to the land auctions section of the site here. You can bid on the land that everyone else bids on to resell. So it is like you are getting it wholesale. In auction you can get land as low as L$2 a SQM if you are lucky.

I suggest you do like everyone else in SL, and read up on all the help sections in SL before you go and start jumping in head first. You may just hit the bottom of the pool.

Big Hint.
say it again....

Bob Bravo
(notice I deleted the others)

I would caution you to get land advice from the same person you intend to purchase from.

Take a general poll of some of your friends - privately, through IM - get their perspective on where the best land is, and aggregate the results.

Note that 'best' is subjective, and what is a prime plot to one person could be utter crap to another. A lot depends upon what you intend to do with the land, and what you value personally as an individual.

Doing so will probably give you the most honest, and accurate answer

I would suggest you speak with Hiro Queso. He knows all about land and would be able to put you on the right path.

Alexa

Absolutely not!

Once you buy land (or contribute tier to a group) you are suddenly ineligible to buy it again.

If you can find a flat, green first land in a mature area, buy it and set the price $1000, it will be purchased by somebody within 15 minutes. (Most times of the day).

Set the price to $1500, probably still only 15 minutes it will be purchased.

Set it at $3000 and it might take a while, depending on what's next to it.

Buster

I will cite my own recent case as an example of first land dealing situation. Learn from it as you see fit.

I already own 8000m2 + on a cliff. but the lay of the land away from the cliff was not linear, chunks here and there, not easy to put a fence around, if you know what I mean.

Couple of days ago, on plot adjacent to mine was reverted to First Land. Lucky me, it would fit really nice with mine, as it would make a nice straight piece of land for me to build on. So I planned to negotiate a trade with whoever would buy the First Land.

As it turned out, someone came looking at the First Land as I was doing some building. I made my proposal to trade a bigger piece than 512m2 for the first land if that person would buy it. I showed the piece of land I proposed for the trade, which was already subdivided. It was right at the edge of the cliff. I answered all of that person's questions about land values, what makes for higher values, sim lag, sim FPS, how to build on a cliff edge, how to fit a prim that overhangs the cliff over the Linden land below without being "returned" every 5 minutes...etc...

that person was appreciative of my help and straightforwardness, and also really liked what I had built so far on my land. The trade was made.

My point is this. Look for similar situation: A big plot of land with nice, extensive buildings on it, with adjacent first lands around it. The owner of the big plot may want to expand or trade just because it would improve his land's layout. In my case, I was willing to part with a piece of land that I viewed less important to me but still had more value than a First Land plot.

Of course, looking for such jewels involves much exploring.. Maybe put a "request for offers" on the forum?

Just my two cents

Mostly just don't be in any big hurry.

Make sure that the lot you buy will work for you. Do you want privacy or a commerical space? Are you buying in a sim that no one will be able to enter because it has Tringo and Slingo running all the time, or or a sim that no one can get to because it is too far from the telehub? Flat or scenic?

Don't be afraid just to fly around and look.

And don't feel that you are stuck forever. People pick up and move all the time--but you'll never be able to buy this cheap again.

Try Prokofy Neva. I ask him all my land questions.

coco

P.S. I recently became eligible for my 512. I followed his advice on waiting for a plot to come up that I liked, and in a Sim he thought was good but I was in a bit more of a hurry than he was for me (and First Land was hard to find at the time, which was about 3 weeks ago, I think, and may still be), so I didn't wait even longer for waterfront, which was what he advised.

Well, about a week or less ago, waterfront first land came up and he im'd me to see if I knew anyone who could take advantage of that. I didn't, and of course, I couldn't having already bought mine.

In my case, I only use it as my store, so that's ok, plus the girl who got the first land next to mine sold me hers when she moved, so now I have two plots contiguous, which is enough for my store needs right now.

coco

Lets separate the question of making maximum profit from your first land from any other.

The answer to this is simple. You will obtain the highest price by selling to someone whose expansion plans are being blocked by a 512 already partly or wholly surrounded by his own land.

Such land comes up occasionally when someone who has lost interest finally has their land repossessed.

You need to be alert to find such an isolated, half-surrounded plot. No need to actually buy it. Just IM the owner of the surrounding land, pointing out its position, and asking him to make you an offer, stating that you are seeking maximum profit, and will deal with whoever offers it to you. Once you agree, you buy it with him standing there, and sell it straight on to him.

If it is indeed land he has been eyeing for some time, you might even get L$6000 or more for it. Don't take land in return, only money, which leaves you a free choice for your repurchase.

You could even advertise in the land sales forum that you are willing to purchase any 512 first land plot on request, and resell immediately for $6000. If you can wait a while, I think someone will bite.

And no-one will have been abused. Win-win situation.