About Renting A Place in SL

Hi guys and girls,
I was wondering what are the reasons for people renting houses with prim allowance.

Starting from the point where each SL Premium member can have a First Land for L$512 one off payment with no tier fees and 117 prims. What makes premium members rent a villa/house instead simply putting up a house on their First Land plot, no rent due.

I know Basic Members cannot own land, but as their weekly salary is only L$50, and unless they have some well paid SL job, they won’t be able to afford a L$400xWeek Villa. So a L$400xWeek villa, in most cases is not marketed to Basic Accounts I guess?
Unless I’m missing something, I would not be surprised if I am

So back to Premium members.
You can own 512m2 of land and either build or buy a nice house and stick it in your plot.
No monthly rent and no tier fees. Why are people renting elsewhere?

Is it because some of these rent places are in locations (nicely shaped plots and great views and close to amenities or nicely away from main traffic) that are much better then your First Land plot?
Is it because your current land is currently being used for business like holding events, shops etc.. and you need a place to stay without adding to your tier fee limits?

L$400 = $1.6 per week = $6.5 per month (ABOUT)
L$500 = $2 per week = $8 per month (ABOUT)

With an additional $8 per month on your tier fees you can hold (on top of your First Land) 1024m2 of land with 234 Prim Allowance

Or if you only add 512m2 to your First land it costs $5 per month tier fee for a total of 1024m2 with 234 Prim Allowance

I would be interested in knowing what motivates people into renting L$200 to L$500 per week villas to better understand SL Economy

Thanks

It could be a number of things, including what you mentioned. I own land, but I used to rent an apartment in Grignano. My land was wooded and natural, a natural escape and I spent most of my time there. But, it was cool to have an apartment in the city too. I didnt go there a lot, but it was neat to have a place with a different atmosphere to call my own, even if via a rental agreement.

Some rentals these days do seem high priced for the basic user budget, but many of the higher priced ones have a lot of advantages to the prim use they offer and privacy. I noticed that the more expensive places for rent are usually worth it with nice plots away from neighbors.

There are inexpensive and even free rentals, but you may find your neighbor is right through the wall. With the 20m chat range, your privacy may not be what it could be. There are lots of places for rent out there, take your time and shop around for the price and service your looking for. Have fun exploring as you shop for a place.

Honestly?

Basic Members used to be able to afford to rent based on their ratings bonus stipends.

Now, I don't know any renters, Basic or Premium, but I'm willing to bet (a whole L$1) that renters were Basic accounts with high ratings.

I know basic account members that make good money off sales of built items in rented mall booths. They too fall in the market of house / apartment / even land renting.

Renting in SL only makes sense if land is expensive. And for L$5 a meter, its cheap.. Butt Cheap.. There has to be something special about that lot to rent land on it.

A lot of folks rent out apartments and such to avoid paying tier fees. Easy.

LF

Also the high price per week can be the fact that it is in a Mature Sim. I also agree with LF..some just don't want to pay land teir fees.

As a basic with a business I rent. I'm not keen on spending rl money on this thing and they don't accept my cards anyway....

Those slackers.... They need to pay, this isn't a Hostel. lol

I rent a plot that is expensive for many reasons. First being that I do not want to pay tier fees, that doesnt need any explaining. Second is that the 512 lot doesnt give you much prims to play with, therefore I would prefer to rent a piece of land that Im not paying RL money for and Im able to not have to count my prims when I want to buy somthing for my land. Where I rent is also a mature sim and it is a sim that only has rentals on it, it is very nice not to worry about lag!!!

So I dont think not wanting to pay a tier fee makes me a slacker. I am a soon to be single mother of 2 this is my escape late at night, so yes it is only 5 dollars, but it adds up quickly lol

Since I have gotten into the house renting business, I see people have all kinds of reasons for renting.

First, the 512s are almost without exception in the bottom-of-the-bucket locations. Either they are in the middle of nowhere, or are badly recycled released land next to ugly builds or worn-out snow sims, or if new, they usually pack 6-8 of them in a square so that they all build cheek-by-jowl surrounded by big estates and they look ugly, they sell out under the slightest pressure, and they either remain an eyesore or get gobbled up -- it is very tempting to sell your $512 land for $4000 to anyone who really wants it. I recall once sitting on a 512 surrounded by a griefer on a 512 who got suspended and never returned to remove his ugly build; a trial account who left something unfinished and never returned; somebody's alt who apparently just forgot they had an alt -- well you get the idea. Sitting in 512 land is like being in Atlantic City in August.

In about four months of playing Second Life, I've only seen one 512 on the waterfront on prime real estate -- which I hang on to for dear life. I saw another plot I thought was "funny-looking unfinished waterfront" back in my really clueless days and then found out it was in the middle of nowhere. I don't know why that particularly nasty trick is played especially on new players -- sticking 512s on the edges of sims where you can't really tell how they go, but in time you learn that the unfinished seams will not turn into real waterfront.

All but a few pre-fabs seem to take up at least 90-100 or even more prims! To achieve anything like a house, builders need prims. So there is a lot of incentive to move to a larger spot where you can decorate.

There is a huge amount of volatility in the game. By renting, you don't get stuck in an uncertain climate with land you can't unload. It's a great fear when you're new.

By renting in a rental group you can get a lot of advantages -- extra 10 percent bonus of land for the group, dwell distributed to the group, etc. And you can come and go with more freedom, you can still set the land to home and have a music URL, etc. Really, you can do just about anything you want by buying by renting instead.

By testing out a rental house on a larger lot you can see if you really want that size and are willing to start ponying up the $15 or $25 extra for it or more.

most of the reason for renting have been right on the money. I know several people who rent and they all have a great time with it. Yes, I said a great time. Why? because their apartment is part of a prominent building on the landscape (i.e. centrally located, filled with people to meet and greet) and a decent elevation for viewing the sim. Don't underestimate this... we've all visited a friend's 512 plot that was surrounded by large buildings on all sides. It's less than cozy feeling. Like putting a utility shed in the middle of Times Square.

~Lefty

thanks guys...

surely something to experiment with


Cheers

We have been in the rental business for a long time in SL. There are so many reasons why people rent. A fair amount of our renters DO own land, however some use it for business, some don't want to be home "alone" on a plot somewhere. They like a sense of community (I'm like that) some enjoy renting because of the environment. Some do not own land & don't want to buy it, I think that's actually the minority of the renters we have had. Some people simply don't like to build but they love a sense of "home" We have also had people who are big business owners come to reside with us to get away from the "everyday" of the main grid. Also, the homes are already built & aren't going toward their allowed prim limit. So they can just focus on the objects they put IN the home & not the structures. With weekly rental there's no "commitment" either. when you want to move you move. No worrying about selling land or tier fees.

& I am sure there are even more reasons then what I listed here

i rent land without buildings (although i can offer a building if someone is so inclined - i'm an architecture grad student, i think i'd do ok

the reason people rent from me is because they can pay a similar monthly fee that they would pay to LL but they do not have the hassle of tier and they do not need to be concerned about the volatility of the land market and the hassle of selling.

people pay me upfront for the month. at the end of any given month they are free to move on with no worries about holding on to land in their tier.

some who rent from me have paid in paypal. my current renters seem to be very succesful content creator and pay in L$.