Clarification Needed: Land - Regions, Islands, Reservations

Hi, I've checked through the main pages, the knowledgebase, and the forums looking for answers to some questions. Unfortunately, of what little I could find, the wording was not precise enough to answer my questions (ie, it was missing some details, and could be interpreted either way).

Here are the questions:
1. What exactly is the impact of a 'region reservation' ?
-Does it increase your land tier costs immediately or only when you develop ?
-When you are ready to develop, what are the costs of "buying the region" ? Or do you already own it and start paying land costs immediately ? Or is the region actually "Island space" - and all you've done is reserve the right to build in that location ?
-Documentation is a bit vague - At first it seems like it is a parcel of land and once you win the bids, you'll get it as soon as it shows up someday. Some documentation makes it seem like it shows up immediately. On deeper reading, it looks like it's actually a placeholder to put an island down someday.
-Are you automatically the "Region / Estate Manager" for this region ?

2. Islands (using small as an example, that's all I looked at)
-$1250 setup, $195 monthly bill - that part was clear.
-Are you "Region/Estate manager" automatically for your island ?
-If you parcel up the island and sell off parts to other players, does your land tier rate go down ? Or does it always stay the same ? And do you stay as "Region/Estate Manager" ?


I'm going to go back and review the Island FAQ a 3rd time, maybe I missed something the first 2 times. Any answers here would be appreciated, though - I'd like to see about perhaps buying an island or region someday, but I don't want to do it and then find out I misunderstood what it's all about....

Thanks in Advance !

Hi Sasha, yes, buying land can get confusing!

When you make a reservation, it's just that -- you're reserving a space on the grid for future development. You won't be charged the full price of the island until you tell us you're ready to bring the island online. Once the island is online, you will be billed for the set-up. Tier billing begins one month later.

When your island is delivered, you will be the Owner. You can also be the manager, or you can designate someone else to be the manager. This designation gives them a lot of control over the island, so your manager should be a trusted partner.

Selling off land on the island to others doesn't change your monthly charges. You will still be responsible to Linden Lab for the monthly land fees. You can offset those fees by what you collect from your customers, but you will be responsible for the collection of those funds. You will still be the estate owner, and as part of the land sale you should have created a 'covenant', or the terms for use of land on your island estate.

http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=094
http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=272