Newbie needs ultrabasic land info

I have a premium account, and I understand this entitles me to buy up to 512 square feet of land. But I don't understand anything about the process. How do I find land to buy? How do I decide which land is best? How much should I expect to pay? In effect, I need a real estate agent...somebody who understands basic stuff and can explain it to me with a minimum of jargon.

Anybody know the best such info sources? Thanks.

There's this new thing called "Search" located in the blue bar between the words "New Posts" and "Quick Links" near the top of the forums so people can do this wacky thing where they "search" the forums. It's awesome.
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There's also a section on the website called... dig this... "Support" which contains a "Knowledge Base" (apparently... it's some sort of "base" of "knowledge" and it can also be "Searched."
http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/

You might try "searching" using the word "land."

Why search, when you can just ask somebody? As for your snide reply, why on earth did you waste time writing it? if you don't want to help, you needn't.

I'm not angry, just mystified. Why would somebody with no intention of answering the question bother to answer it? Seems illogical. Ah well...

Because the first step to getting help from other residents is to take a moment and conduct a search on your OWN using the SEARCH tools.

The Knowledge Base actually has a link right on the front of it with a whole section devoted to the topic of Land:
http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/category.php?id=21

Admittedly, this will involve you taking a moment to "read" various portions of that section.

Rude answers aside, he's right. You could check out search, and poke around. There's different options available to you, such as searching for "First Land" which is great for a new player, as it's usually quite cheap!

Also, you aren't limited to just a 512, you can buy much more than that, but 512 will always be free for you. I'd use his suggestions, and just dismiss his attitude, as I know when new players start they don't always realize what everything on the screen is for. The best method of finding land is to search for mainland parcels in the search>land sales section, and try to find the cheapest you can find, it is going for cheap now too!

There is a RL nationwide Real Estate Brokerage company named Caldwell Banker that has established a SL real estate operation. Do a search for their location and go there. Search under either the "All" or "classified" tabs in your search box to find them. They are in SL mainly to promote their RL business so they re likely to give you honest answers and be willing to spend the time.

BTW: I think that the reason the above poster (Elex) said what he said was that the questions that you have asked would take pages and pages to explain. I think he missed that you were looking for info sources rather than the info itself

I suppose that might be funny to some. But not all that helpful to what seems to be a sincere post with a real question.

Hiawatha, your premium account entitles you to a 512 square meter plot of land on what is known as "mainland" without having to pay any tier. Mainland is Linden Labs owned land...........mostly known as Continents. You can do a search in game for land. Narrow your search to mainland and define the size as 512 square meters. Look for land that is for sale.......be careful for rental land because it is often mixed in with land for sale. As for the price........that will vary but you should probably expect to pay between 8000 and 12000 lindens depending on where the land is located (waterfront, in the middle of "commercial land", etc.). When choosing land pay attention to what is already built around it...that will give you an idea of what type of neighbors you will have. The problem with buying mainland is that there are no "zoning laws" (called covenants of private sims) so there is a fair chance that sometime in the future the neighborhood could change drastically......though for the over a year that I've owned mainland land my neighborhood is pretty much the same (which is really quit quiet and pleasant). When you think you've found what you like IM the seller......talk to him/her and ask any other questions you might have. Be honest and tell them you are a first time buyer.....most people are honest and will be more than helpful.

If you want to go the "real estate" agent route........be careful. There quit a few very honest and upfront "agents" in SL. A few post here and may jump in to help on this thread. I know Sara Nerd from a club she used to own in SL............and I can tell you that she is as honest as they come. However, there are the sharks out there too.

Good luck.

Doesn't excuse his attitude. Someone comes with a question, in the resident answers section, and it irritates him? He could have just ignored it, and moved on.

It's important to use Search. There are hundreds and hundreds of threads on the topic of land, buying land, how to look for land, what qualifies as a good or bad parcel, etc. etc., yet these threads are lost down the memory hole due to an unwillingness to take a moment to use the search tools.

Speaking as a former research librarian the OP was asking a "Will you do my homework for me?" question.

Sure it's important to use search, but when someone asks "How do I use search" you don't have to go *SIGH* and huff about it. If you didn't want to do the homework for them, then turn around and walk away. Some people just need a little help getting them pointed in the right direction. Not everyone is as amazingly intelligent as you seem to be.

And it's up to you to scold the OP for it, teacher? I don't see the title over you name stating that you are in charge.........just ignore anything you don't want to "do the homework for".

Some people forget when they were new.........or maybe they are the rare genius among us who never need help.

Is there some new maximum number of threads limit We havent been made aware of?

Okay... then I'm not going to be the person that breaks the news to the OP that they'll need to use the Search > Land Sales function built into the client software so they can find a parcel of land to buy.

Good lord! Here's a good reason for searching as opposed to waiting for answers, as the first land program has been gone for months now.

well its not that you dont have a point the OP should search -

Its just that its not like people reading this thread are really put out answering.

And although the names change every thread in these Forums is recycled topics. Since were not allowed to discuss non-SL stuff, there only so many things people can talk about.

Of course it was a "will you do my homework for me" question. They're the best kind.

I'm a reporter by trade. I plow through reams of paper or dozens of web pages when necessary, but that's the chump's way of doing research. The correct way is to find the man or woman who knows what you want to know, and ask a few questions. Have them do your homework for you--at least some of it. It's not a matter of laziness; it's all about getting the answer fast.

Ever do a Google search? Then you know that most of the results are useless. But which? It can take a long time to find out. To save time, I ask a few dumb questions. It rarely fails.

When done on the Internet, you start with lobbing a "jump ball." You fling up a few generic questions and wait to see who takes a stab at answering them. This gives you your pool of potential experts. Next, you ask these people some more specific questions. It's good to get answers from two or three and see if they're consistent.

Once you've done this, it's time to run Internet searches, using the answers you got to sharpen up the search terms and weed out the irrelevant drivel. You end up finding out what you need, in about one-tenth the time.

This method doesn't always work, but it comes through maybe two-thirds of the time.

Right, I spaced that. I knew that already too, lol. I dunno why I wrote that ^^;

Anyway, thanks to those who provided info. It's proving quite useful. I've found the Coldwell Banker area. I may write about it one of these days. It's kinda clever.

For now, I think I'd be better off renting. I want some office space, by the way--nothing residential. But are there ways of knowing where the best real estate is to be found? In a world in which people can teleport to any destination, does location really matter?

I understand that Mainland locations are best, but I don't even know how to tell when I'm on the mainland and when I'm on an island. Does one guess, or is there a quick way to check?

One last thing. What are these prims? Graphic elements I can put on my land? Why are there limits on how many I can have? Is it a server load issue or what?

Again...thanks.

Prims are the building blocks of SL. Primatives make up objects. You get 117 per 512 meters of land. Mainland is not always best...it is often laggy and defaced by rotating ads. Location matters to a certain degree...for example don't rent next to a casino because they cause lag.

There's a button located near the bottom of the client software window labeled "Map" and by clicking it you can get a general idea of where you're at in-world (as it will display a "map". If you're on a region surrounded by water (colored blue) you're typically on an island. That's the most basic answer.

If you filter your search by the tab that says "For Sale-Mainland" your search results will be only mainland. If you filter by "For Sale-estates" it will bring up privately owned Islands.

Mainland used to be limited to three continents (the large land masses on the big map) but I think there are 4 now.....not sure. The way I tell if I'm on mainland is to find what looks like common area and right click on the ground to see who owns that piece of land........if it says Governor Linden then you are on mainland. Most private sims are a little more organized than mainland........so if you see a mish-mash of builds you are probably on mainland.

Prims is short for primitives...........the building blocks for everything you see in SL. The limits are a server issue.....only so many prims can be supported on any given server. The limits are for the whole sim but mostly they are provided per parcel of land.....typical limits are 117 prims per 512 meter lot (234 for 1024, etc). Everything built on that parcel counts against your limit. Your house, furniture, plants, pictures you hang on the wall.....everything. You can run out of prims quickly.

If you are going the rental route be sure to ask your landlord how many prims you are allowed. Say you want a small office with some plants, chairs and a few pictures on the walls those will cost you prims against whatever limit your landlord allows on the rented plot. If he/she only gives you 50 prims you won't have much to work with..........even 117 prims is not much (though it could be done).

And, no it really doesn't matter where you are in SL........people can TP to you with ease. However, if you are located in a very heavily populated sim it may become full (40 avis max per sim..........another server issue) and no one will be able to get to you until someone else leaves the sim. Actually for an office type business in SL, a sim that is not popular is best.

Again good luck.

Hiawatha,
you can IM me in world anytime if you see i am online, i would be more than happy to spend a few minutes showing you the lay of the land and answer any questions you might still have about land.

As for that big corporate RL commercial company, bah!! there are alot of honest, hard working in world land agents you could use instead. sheesh!


((I would go to Anshe before I'd use an off world commercial company trying to grub some change here in SL, at least Anshe built up, from scratch, in world, in the early days of SL!!))

for renting, mainland locations are not best. they are usually laggier, uglier, and more ghetto-like than their island/estate counterparts.

When I was new I didn't even understand how to teleport or even look for land.
It was so confusing and distressing. Then there were other problems like lousy land that had so much lag I didn't or couldn't do thing. I lost of money, over paid.
The few times I did ask for help people either rude or they scammed me when I started out.
First time I sold land it was to one of the most well known agents of Ansche, I got loar lor od money because I didn't know what I was doing.
I will never do business with another person like that when I do its with great caution.
Renting land has lots of problems and very little real protection if you pick the wrong
land management.
Basically when you rent you're paying someone else way and your freedoms are often limited in what you can do.
If things go badly you're basically on your own.
Learning curve for SL is extremely high. I think the more experienced members forget how confusing and difficult it is to do basic things at first or they just plain hostile.
Right now if you know what you want the land is probably at its cheapest for 512m2 cheapest if you go search in game and know how to use land search on mainland for 512 you will find cheapest for 8.8.
It may not be best spots but it will give you cheap home.
If you need help look me up I do my best.