Sick of SL land prices being too high, cannot afford higher tier.

Ok, so I run a business with modest income in SL, about 10,000Ls a month including stipend, and i'm looking to buy more land to use for artistic purposes, design, etc.

So I check tier, going up to 25$ a month is 7000Ls a month, not too bad really, I can handle that.

Then I check the cost of a 4096 sized plot, 50,000Ls. That's my 3000 remaining Ls per month, for 16 months. Or I buy 178$ worth of Ls. Money in RL I simply do not have.

Sorry, but that's outrageous. That's 7 months the tier cost in the price of the land itself.

Anshe Chung, Azure Islands, and several others will rent you land for about the same tier as LL but with 0 or very low upfront cost.

I've had bad experiences with renting from other people on private islands, you don't actually OWN that land, if they want to throw you out, you get thrown out, if they want you to follow their new rules you have little choice, if they sell that sim it's "Too bad, so sad".

Plus my income would go down i'm sure if I had to change my location, which is a landmark in every item i've sold to date.

And on top of that I think it's silly that I would have to go with private land because LL can't get the price of it's own main land stable.

Maybe renting land is for you? ... Most if all landlords don’t charge you an upfront fee for moving in.

I don't believe in self advertising, so I wont name names, but the landlord I manage for charges the same thing that the lindens charge for tier... so if you want a 4096m plot of land, you pay $25 US via paypal or the equivalent in L$ based on that days price.

The benefits that I see in renting (I rent as well) are there are rules for the islands, management staff to enforce the rules, beautiful builds and landscaping, like minded neighbors if you get into a themed sim and none of the mainland lag. Not to mention the lack of initial outlay of money and the head ache of trying to sell when your neighbor puts up some screaming nightclub or skinbar.

There are a few very well known land lords, and many not so well known, do some homework, and you might find that renting is a great option for you.



Edit: As for a landlord kicking you off the island, I haven't ever come across that on my islands... and if most landlords made the scamming their clients a common occurrence they would develop a bad reputation quickly and be run out of business. There are rules to any land agreement, for both parties. It is good to get references from current renters to get an idea about how the land lord runs the islands.

There are plenty of 4096 plots priced far below $L 50,000 I just checked IW and found 2 nice ones for under $L 25,000.

Also take into consideration the increased income you may receive from expansion of your current operation.

Frankly I also don't like having someone else make money off my efforts. There is a reason I own my house in real life instead of renting.



That would be 0$ most likely, I want this for artistic uses, not profits so I expect no income adjustments.

Or is SL only for capitalism and greed anymore and we should forget about art?

I presume you yourself don't charge more for your merchandise than the lowest price buyers wish to pay.

Land is a commodity -you want it , you find the best price and you pay for it. If you dont like the prices dont pay. I dont know what you make or sell but what ever it is I want a shitload of free for artistic purposes. What? You wont give them free cuz you make your living of them or eve give me a deal cuz the amount I want isnt enought to warrent them? But wait , isnt that what you want LL to do. My advise with all do respect suck it up and stop whining

I'm finding 4096 plots about L$30,000. Unless its a particularly special plot, I'd say 50k was expensive.

The region just behind me - Sikkima - has a lot of plots for sale, which you might want to check out.

I too find purchasing land expensive - but a lot of it is down to the price LL set in the first place which the land barons sell from plus their profit. Sometimes you do get a bargain though, there were some 4096's at about 20k in Search.

Lewis

Actually I charge very little for my goods, go look for yourself.

Lasivian - as Schwan and Lewis mentioned - you shouldn't have to pay $10/square meter to get property.

Is your location flexible, and could you do what you need to do in a PG sim?

If so, you should be able to find land for at least half of the price you described above, if not less.

If you're already in a premium location, and you simply want to expand, then yes, you're stuck paying the going rate for your area. However, that works both ways. That also means that you could likely sell your existing land at that premium rate as well.

It would seem that way to many - without sex, money giveaways or camping chairs/dance pads its hard to get anywhere - but there are, thankfully, many of us in game that can see beyond the dross to real quality builds worth visiting.

Lewis

would you consider Redear "premium" space?

hehe - not a clue. I'm not familiar with that sim.

Things that might make something cost more:

-Mature Sim
-Waterfront
-Roadside
-Some sort of natural beauty, like a Linden waterfall
-Limited supply of for-sale parcels in your sim

If any of the above apply, it often increases the value (and cost) of land.

An example of an 'inexpensive' area:

-PG
-Snow Sim
-Landlocked
-Plenty for sale

There wasn't anything that fitted my current design ... but you do have some nice stuff.

Lewis

Do you have a mortgage or pay property taxes? They are making money from you.

People in SL rent land so that they may arbitrage the difference between their tier fees and your rent. The typical SL landlord does not even break even on their $1250 USD +++ investment for 12 months or more. That is assuming 100% occupancy, and no dead beats. The end result to you is no difference in tier payments and no upfront land costs.




Sounds to me like you want to play SL with no out of pocket expenses, good for you! I suggest expanding your current business until it can subsidize your artistic endeavors.



I don't think SL has forgotten about art, art in itself will not pay the bills. Now if you properly market your art, perhaps it will.

Land prices are pretty stable and are at their lowest prices since early 2004. Remember that LL sells land wholesale and it costs the buyers ~ $L 6 / meter, anything cheaper than that is a bargain.

Redear is

Non-snow
Mature
Landlocked
About 1/4 for sale
Kinda flat

people are asking about 3500 to 4000 per 512 lot there, more for bigger lots.

You gots to pay to play. Just like IRL, baby!!

Those along with interest could be considered my Tier costs.




There's a problem there, i'm trying to not be greedy with my pricing or what I offer, but I can't count on any other market to not try and be greedy selling anything to me.




But we both know land in the new sims to the right of the mainland have been selling at 10L per meter.

What kind of response are you looking for?

Land is bought on sold based on the whims of the market. If you are going to use land for non-commercial endeavors, it will cost you.

I think it costs far too much, and Linden Labs is doing too little to manage it.

Or maybe they are, but you're just not happy with the out come?

I'd love to know what they think of it actually.

So you want what?

Cap on land pricing?

Piggyback on zoned concepts with different land prices based on zoning (Commercial, Residential, Non-Residential/Non-Commercial, Red Light District)?

Some kind of tax deduction based on perceived intangible community value of a location?

Increasing $L/m as the amount of land a group/av holds increases?

I have never met a "manager" who thought they were doing a crappy job... nor have I ever seen one slap their own hand and say "oh! I should be fired!!!"

On a less snarky note, it's not the Lindens setting the prices... its the people buying the land, if no one bought it at the prices set, the sellers would have to lower their prices.

So don't go barking up the Linden tree exclusively... it takes allot of dancers to put on this great show called Second life.