Buying Land on an Island?

Is it possible to buy land on an island?

Are all islands owned by Second Life players, or can land be purchased from the "Governor"?

Also, how does land rental work? If purchasing land, say, that is beach-front property. can it then be rented to others, and do others typically rent? (I'm asking this third question because I want to be able to offset the costs of my membership by renting a few plots of land, if possible.)

Thanks!

I believe that most islands are non-Linden owned, which means you'll be dealing with another SL user. Also, as far as I know, most island owners own said island to rent it out to other SL users, and thus won't allow you to rent out a parcel you're renting from them. So to answer your three questions (to the best of my knowledge)

1. Yes.

2. SL players.

3. (Typically) No.

Of course, there's bound to be an exception or two but the chances of finding them are....slim.

There have been huge debates over the meaning of the word 'buy' with regard to land.

Here are the key facts:
- All sim owners can reclaim private island land. We have a little button that says 'reclaim' that works on any parcel.
- All sim owners can mute you and ban you from the island.

"Buy" or "lease" or "rent" terms don't matter much, when push comes to shove - understand what a sim owner can do. Choose a private island rental carefully. I'm not aware of any really good recourse options for a tenant.

"Sim owner" itself is an interesting term. The Company can also reclaim islands from us and ban us, so, does anyone really own anything?


You can get land from the Company itself, but I believe what they do is auction only entire sims now (new land), or parcels that have been abandoned.


Renting land yourself: It can be done, certainly. It works the way you and your tenants want it to work - there are no hard and fast rules.

Renting on private islands (subleasing from the point of view of the sim 'owner') is sometimes banned, so be careful.

I ban the practise myself, simply so my sims aren't coated in a layer of subleased shacks and my customer service time doesn't go through the roof (sublease tenants usually go to the sim owner with hours of questions per week, leave rapidly and then the cycle begins anew).

People do rent, but there are two factors. One, the land itself and two, their estimation of you. If you are not well known, it's harder, but with time and effort that can be overcome.

The key point is to realise that renting land is probably the worst 'per hour' way you'll ever make money, anywhere. Do it if you love it or for other reasons (I love a community atmosphere myself) but don't expect easy money.

You will often be the one with all the answers for very new players. Have notecards ready that explain group land, placing unlinked sets of prims, how to set up a group, invite members, &c.

Good luck!

Thanks for the responses. That's particularly good info about renting land to others. Would you say then that it is easiest get an island and sell the blocks of land to others?

Also, what about these two questions...

1. When selling plots of land to others, can you choose how large they are? Can you divide up the island however you want? I know you can subdivide non-island land, but I'm wondering about cutting up the island into small and large pieces.

2. Do you typically sell someone a piece of land with a house on it, or let them go about getting the house themselves? Is it worth it to include a house (does it really even make the land more attractive to buyers)? (Note that I understand that houses sold are typically non-transferable, but I'm talking specifically about creating the house and selling a non-transferable copy to someone, like the home vendors typically do in SL.)

Thanks again!

Hi Xantarius

You should check out the "Lands Sales & Rentals" and "Property Sales & Rentals" in the classified section of these forums. You'll get some idea from what is on offer.

One big difference between the mainland (Gov Linden) and private sims is that the latter seem to have better parcel access via roads and paths (but not always).

Sim owners can subdivide any way they like, but they tend to have covenants and they keep keen eyes on the look of the sim, after all, if ppl leave because of problems the sim owners lose money! Land can be subdivided down to 4M by 4M (16 sq M), but most sim owners would prefer 512 and 1024 or even bigger parcels. The 4M might be appropriate for paths.

hth

carol

I personally rent land from someone if I need it. Many will rent out plots without the home and then you go ahead and put your own house on it. I prefer this as many places who offer you a home are very poorly laid out and not attractive. I would suggest renting with "Hiro Queso" if you can get a plot. I have had my share of bad landlorders and have never had any problems with this guy. (Bring your own house for his land.its just a bare plot)

I also rent out land with homes already on it; which is another option to look into. The sim is "Hawaii Kai" if you want to check it out. .... It is one of the most desired rental communities in second life.



I never understood the whole "buying" plots from another resident; it doesnt sound safe imo. I have seen one place where the guy sells plots with small homes on it, you then can either keep that home or remove it but if you build your own it has to pass his approval. ......... Kind of like getting a dog from a breeder- never feels like its completely yours.(Imo)

Others answered your questions in detail already, but I did want to add one little thing that I've never seen mentioned.

The majority of private island owners will ask that you pay their tier through PayPal rather than in L$. A not so obvious side-effect of that is the fact that PayPal will pass on your personal details to the person requesting the payment as part of the process.

Trusting LL with your personal information is one thing, trusting another resident who you only know by their in-world name and who isn't willing to share their identity back with you is an entirely different matter.

(Actually checking the PayPal site it seems to indicate it doesn't share anything except e-mail address, however, I did put through a PayPal payment one time where I was told they didn't need a name and address because PayPal already provided it to them. Could someone actually confirm/deny and I'll edit the post appropriately )

As far as I know unless you are using paypal under a registered business name your information is passed on. Not sure if your address is but your first and last name are.

In my case it was an item to be delivered by courrier; by the time I contacted them two days after asking how I should send my contact details I was told it was underway already. I remember thinking it was a very odd way to go about it since the address could have been out of date, or I could have wanted it shipped elsewhere.

My own post just made me go and look at the PayPal site for a more solid general policy but I only came across a general "aims to protect the privacy of its members and will only share your email address, etc" so I edited in case it turns out they only share details in certain specific circumstances.

Sorry for hijacking the thread .

The question of Marc Bragg versus Linden Lab may bring this all into sharp relief as Second Life is asked to stop using the world "sale" and "ownership" and "land" as they are misleading to what is really going on.

Can you go a little more into that?
Are you saying that, if buying land, it can simply be taken from you by the person who sold it to you? If so, do you get your money back? Do they have to pay you more for the land than the amount you bought it for in the first place?

I guess "Buying" from another resident (Not the kind where you buy an island from them and they transfer it to you...) but the ppl who use the term 'buy' certainly can reclaim the land which is why i mentioned idont see how that is safe or how that is considered buying


If you think about it i guess if you buy from LL you really dont own it, you just earn that right of region/estate tools.

So, if I read that right...

Buying land, say, on an island, from another player - the player can kick you off the island and reclaim the land for themselves at any time.

Buying land, say, an entire island, from SL (Governor) - Linden doesn't take the land away from you (unless, of course, you stop paying your monthly fee for said land).

Is that correct?

If the part about Linden not taking land back IS correct, is it safe to say that they CAN take the island back, but they typically never choose to exercise this right, unless you give them cause to do so (i.e. - getting your membership taken away, failing to pay monthly fees, etc.)?