Buying land

There are so many options I don`t really know what to go for.

What is the difference in paying tier fees to Linden or to any other third party?
How come some sell land and promise me I don`t need to have a premium account?

If I put down some money into buying a land I am not all too interested in having all these restrictions placed on me in how I want to use it. Be it terraforming, setting up a small shop etc. but most sellers seem to have such a long list of "do not`s" - where can I find what I am looking for ?

I also want to be able to resell it if I change my mind and want to move elsewhere, is there a huge difference in owning land on an siland and on the mainland?

So many questions, but I think I will start with these for now

There are two types of land:

Mainland
To purchase mainland you need to have a premium account and you pay monthly tier to LL depending on the size of parcel(s) you own. You can put anything you want on your own land and that also means so can your neighbours.

Pros: No restrictions on building
Cons: You could end up with a laggy club with shouting objects and camp chairs right next door. Premium account required. If you have problems with neighbours you are normally on your own.


Estate Land
These are private islands where you pay your the tier to the owner of the island, you don't need a premium account. Nearly all private islands have a covenant telling you what you can and can't do on the land.

Pros: No premium account required. You wont get ugly builds or laggy clubs next door. If you have problems with a neighbour than the island owner will sort it out. Better land terraforming.

Cons: Building restrictions. You need to make sure the island owner has a good reputation, you could lose your land (luckily quite rare).

As for selling, mainland you can always sell your land but on private islands you have the check the convenant.

No, there's no difference, other than you actually have to manually pay an estate, vs LL simply charging your card on file. Sometimes there's a difference in the price, but it varies from estate to estate. It may be cheaper to go with an estate, but you have the tradeoff's discussed below.


That's because you don't have to be premium to "own" estate land. Only mainland owners need to be premium.


The mainland. There are no restrictions on mainland except PG must maintain PG ratings on all items/actions on PG land. This has a double-edged knife type of issue with it: You can build all you want (within prim limits) in any way shape or form. But so can your neighbors, which may or may not be aesthetically pleasing to you.


Estate land in some cases requires the estate's owner's consent to sell. Mainland: no restrictions.

In the end, either you find a covenant you can live with and go there, or you buy mainland. In either case, visit as many places as possible to find what you are looking for. Visit places you may not be interested in, just to see the difference; it may end up being exactly perfectly wonderfully beautifully *IT* for you, or it may just be the absolutely worst thing you can imagine. Get a feel for the places (i.e. neighbors, lag factors, visitors, etc) by checking back often.

My current spot, I talked to four or five neighbors before I actually bought the land. And I visited several times at different times of the day to gauge the lag. And it's perfect, for me.

I hope you find the same for yourself.

Good luck!

A

You may want to contact Sarah Nerd inworld and ask her for her notecards on land buying and the difference between estate and mainland. In addition to those helpful notecards, she may be able to answer any questions that you have.

You only need a premium account for mainland, not for estate land.

For no covenants, buy mainland. You pay tier to SL. If you ever decide to buy more land, not necessarily in the same sim, mainland is an advantage. All you have to do is upgrade your tier. If you rented from a private island then you have to pay 2 separate entities unless you rent from the same island owner.

If I wanted a home only, I would consider renting from a covenant type sim. If a store, I would seek mainland, unless you buy your own island.

wow, I would not have replied had I known so many responses would have come through lol.

There wasnt a reply so I clicked to reply and it didnt take me THAT long to type the post. lol.

funny.

Thanks all for the replies so far. I see both options have pros and cons.