Land Price Question

Does anyone know where I can find the current price's for land?

search button, while inworld is how i do it

I'm sorry, I should be more specific. I'm trying to find information on the current going rates for land. So like 512 sq. m. generally goes for and so on. Up to a sim!

Thanks and sorry I wasn't clear before!

that's ok. i gotcha. my answer stands.

you can manipulate the buttons by either land size or $ amount.... and compare wut people are asking RIGHT now.

It would still be the inworld search.It can be specified whether you want mainland or estate, and PG or mature. I believe there are filters for price and land size, and the columns should also be sortable. You would type 512 in as the minimum size, and then for the lowest priced one, you would sort by $L per sq. meter or just the price.

I've done just that (compare land price in the search) and have a "fairly" good idea about cost and things. But I just wondered if SecondLife, Linden Labs or anyone else might know off hand where I might find some info on it other than in world.

I can make an educated guess, but with land I'm currently selling and plan to sell and buy in the near future, I'd like to be fair to the buyer and try and profit as well.

For instance, I have a 9216 sq. m. for sale and I've set the price for L$175k. I'm trying to figure out if I've set it at a fair price. I've also dolled it up with buildings that bring in income as far as tenants rent and a mini mall...things like that. So is my price fair or am I way out of the ball park?

1024 sq. m. I've seen go for anywhere from L$20k to L$40k depending on location. So even with the lowest of L$20k for 1024 x (times) 9 = 9216 sq. m. = L$180k. So according to what I've seen with the in world search, I'm way under the price I should be asking for my 9216 land. Does that sound about right?

Thanks for all your help!

just this week, i bought 1024 for barely under 11k. and i think that was priced too high.

$20K for a 1024 seems pretty high to me, but it depends a great deal on where the land is I guess. I generally consider 10$L per sq m a good price, and I look to buy for that or less but I am no expert. (Also, it may be fair to say that I am cheap )

OMG, I'm sorry...I've worked hard all day and am half asleep over here. I meant 2048 sq. m. for L$20k. Ok...re-figuring my calculations here.

Ok, so my land is worth "about" L$90k and even with all the work I've put into it? I'm selling all objects too.

I'm trying to grab the feel for SL land sales so I can get this right but make a profit too.

Thanks and sorry I've leaked my confused mind into the forum! lol I'm totally tired today from work!

Hey...cheap is fine! People work too hard for their money to pee it away!

That's another reason too I'm looking closer into this. I want to be fair to people, but put some money back into my mitts too. I'm not into scamming people and it makes me want to ring peoples necks that do it. People work hard for their money (I don't care what profession you're in). Plus...being a fair business person will bring back repeat customers and referrals.

I just want to do good business is all.

Thanks again!

Does "going rate" really matter? If you price it too high no one will buy it, OTOH, if someone does buy it, you, by definition, had the right price. I think it also depends on how quickly you want to sell. If you price it too low, a bot will buy it and you will be kicking yourself for not pricing it right.

Shame we can't run auctions!

In my experience, people don't buy the land for the build and the objects. They usually want to take the land and make it theirs, it seems intuitive that the build and objects would be "value added" but generally I haven't found that to be the case.

there are other attributes to take into account that might make the land more or less desirable. Is it in a well-established sim, or are there a lot of ads carved out? Waterfront, or hillside, snow or flat green? PG or mature? A big even square or a jaggedy cut L-shape?

All these can be determining factors.

I think this is right on. High priced land that sells isn't unfair or dishonest, it means that that it had that value to some person. You may have to wait though if that is the buyer you are looking for.

As others have said, there are many things (esp location, parcel shape, and the potential desire for expansion held by the neighbors). I should also have said in my earlier post that my 10L$ per sq m price is in a new sim. Higher risk = lower price.

try to find anything by the water, and your price practically doubles. i might try that next time. i want a big yacht!

I'd second that. In most cases people want to buy the *land* and then use it as they see fit, and whatever is placed on the land in just in the way.

Don't expect to sell a lot of value-add by what is placed there. I would think this just makes selling the land harder.

The surrounding and the other landholders in the region are much more important: Any camping site or ad farm nearby will significantly reduce the value.

Having said that, I would thing that a price around 10 L$/sq should be marketable. Anything above that ... expect it to sit around a long time ... there's soooo much land on sale on the mainland already!

A lot of what you set it for is determined by how fast you want to sell. If you want to sell it instantly, set it for L$9.9 a meter. If you want to sell it in a day or two, a little higher. Or you can hold out and see if you get more. Note that the higher the price, the fewer the people who will see it on the land search because very few wade through more than a few pages of the lower priced listings. So if you set it higher, be sure to list it on the land sale thread page in this forum. As part of your listing, let them know it's being sold with objects.

And be sure to IM the neighbors in your sim and let them know it's available. Oftentimes someone is looking to add land or prims to their current holdings.

There is plenty of land for sale at around 10L$ - 10.5L$ per square metre - so all you have to do is decide how much over that rate you are prepared to pay / charge for any particular piece of land because it has special qualities like being roadside or waterfront.

Thanks for all the info. I'll get some points out first.

No ad farms or nasty clutter for sure. But I did doll it up and make it into a little bit of a profit land by having renters there. Yet, I can see your point. The main reason I decided to do it this way is to provide something to a non-builder or one who lacks creativity or time. So maybe in real life that might work (because building just doesn't appear the next day as it can very well do here in world).

I'll IM my neighbors for sure, that is a great suggestion. I do have it listed in the SLEX and have made many posts in the forums (land sales) too, but with no luck.

My question now is this. How in the heck does one profit from land sales without trying to rip off someone else? I do agree if someone is willing to pay a higher price, then that's the value they see. But what if it's some newbie that truly doesn't understand the value of our land?

I'm having a moral struggle and have become kind of disappointed and frustrated. My main goal is to make money (USD). Enough to exchange out from the game. Yes...lol...I did have hopes to become the next Anshe Chung, but I don't get how to do this. Although I wanted to be different from her in how I deal with land sales and also how I present them. But I do see your points about building on it and selling it which makes it kind of a bad deal. Not unless I build something huge, like the person who built Amsterdam and then sold it on eBay.

I know there's a niche out there somewhere and my guess would be it's in scripting for now. But here again, I have no clue about scripting and have little interest in it.

Oh well...any suggestions would be so appreciated at this point. I'm kind of at a loss and that's why I cam to my fellow SLer's for some advice!

Thanks to all for your contributions. They are really helping me out.

I enjoy SL very much (outside the bugs, downtime and buying money issues) and truly would like to quit my day job and pursue this full time.

I've found I'm not to shabby in the fashion industry, but I so love building. I'd really like to earn that way if I can. But we'll see!

There's 2 completely separate land markets that you need to keep in mind, and I don't mean mainland vs. estate. There's the SL land market that you should explore thouroughly when you are looking to buy your first plot. When it's time to sell, you need to look at the overall market, but also look at the sim that the land is in as if it was the only land in existence. For the current residents in that sim, if they want to expand without relocating, it IS the ONLY land in existence. In my sim, anyone who wants 1024 of my land had better be prepared to spend 6 figures. It's a full sim, and I've got plans for every prim I've got left. If you have land in a mostly empty sim, then you will have to price according to the greater SL land market, but don't shortchange yourself in a full sim by paying attention to what people say "land in SL" is worth.

To further emphasize this, you can check out the Spirit Fens sim. There is only 1 plot for sale there that is big enough to be useful (I forget the exact size now), and it's asking price is 1 million. It's surprisingly small for 1 million, and I'm used to southern California land prices. I don't think they will get 1 million for it, but they are not crazy to be asking for it, especially if they are in no hurry to sell.

You'd be surprised how quickly those full sims can become volatile when just one person decides to relocate. I have seen a stable & full sim go to 50% (or more) vacant & for sale within a week and start looking like a first land area, especially if one of the bigger landowners in the sim moves away.

Land has no objective "value." The closest we come to in SL are the minimums imposed by the costs of servers, overhead, and maintenance. Within SL, however, different people value land differently. The free market that exists works to make prices "efficient," meaning that people who value land more pay more for it and charge more for it, while those who value land less pay less for it and charge less for it. Your role as a land baron is to buy from those who value it less and sell it to those who value it more (you yourself value the land more than the seller, and less than the buyer, when "value" is seen in terms of L$).

Why might a person value their land less than others? Maybe it's more important for them to sell fast than it it is to get the best price. Maybe they've found another great piece of land and want to sell their first plot before buying the second to avoid a stiff tier penalty. Maybe they're unsatisfied with the lag in the sim. Maybe they don't like the club next door. Maybe they don't like the waving penis farm across the way. Maybe they're dominatrix has ordered them to sell below market. Maybe they want to buy a new iPod and if they can just get L$4,000 more they can cash out and afford it. Maybe they're upset at LL's customer service and are downgrading their account in a huff to make a point. There are a million reasons to sell low, none of which concern you.

Why might a person value some land more than others? Maybe she already has land in the sim, and just wants more prims to work with. Maybe he likes land along roadways because it's like having a yard he doesn't have to pay for. Maybe it's the Class 5 server the sim is hosted on. Maybe the name of the sim matches the name of something significant in their life. Maybe it's next door to a friend. Maybe the ocean view is stunning. Maybe it affords a chance to rez yachts for sailing in an inland sea.

To be successful in these terms, you need to buy land that most people would be willing to pay extra for, from one of the few you is willing to sell for less. (The other models have their own logic; some buy in wholesale lots and break it up into retail portions, some buy even bad land in mass quantities at rock-bottom prices and make their money in volume rather than margin, etc.). Only a subset of all SL landowners base their buying decision solely on price (i.e. lowest L$/m2). Most landowners are willing to pay more than the market low for better land.

Now, tell your guilt feelings this: By buying good land that is "underpriced" and marking it up, you are in a sense "saving" the land for people that value it more. Sure, anybody will take a nice 2048 beach lot with a protected ocean view, if the price is market bottom. But not everyone is willing to pay double the market bottom for the land. By buying it and marking it up, you are making sure that only those who really really want that piece of land (or one like it) get it. Naturally, you deserve to be compensated for the risk you assume, the tier you pay, and the service you perform.

Finally--don't quit your day job.

Thanks! You have truly helped me understand this and lifted me up a bit from my guilt! lol Really, that is very informative and so helpful!

I love my day job, thank God. But ya can't blame me for wanting to try and get something going for myself. Well, not "alone" as I'd work for LL in a sense. But maybe in years to come, I might be able to work something out. Never know what else SL might come up with. And hey...maybe I'll get my head out of my rear and learn some scripting too!

Thanks so much again...this really makes it pretty clear to me!

Hi Tami,

Unfortunately SL is full of folk wanting to be the next anshe chung, I think what holds you in good stead is you willingness to be fair as well.

Buying and selling land is ALWAYS going to work on a buy low sell high margin, in order to do that sometimes you have to be slightly harsh in your view as an earlier post says mark demand... if the demand is high you can price high based on that demand...however we are approaching a point where land will be the cheapest this to own on SL with LL dumping sims to auction on a regular bases, land sellers having to hold land for longer due to the downturn in new users and sales in general, of course tier isnt going down so the longer that sellers have to hold land the more likely they will sell at a loss.

Market value is also going to decided wether you sell your land or not....... L$10/m2 is the average now with some plots taking months to sell. I think the real question is wether land is the thing that you want to get into and how much are you prepared to invest.

Marty