Real life estate agent makes a move in SL

Niiiiice!

Gee, a brand new First Land program, corporately owned. It accomplishes exactly the same things that people suggested LL do to stop the First Land program from being abused.

What was the time difference between when LL ended the First Land program and when Coldwell bought these sims? And how did they obtain this extensive database of landholders and alts anyway?

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but this sounds a little suspicious to me.

OH . . . MY . . . GOD.

The future is here. And sooner than we thought.

I TOLD ya, didn't I tell ya guys that these corporations wouldn't stick to islands?

I think of all the people I've met, buying my houses in order to do this very same thing that CB is doing, with their little person pocketbooks, and I say . . . the game is over, folks.

Like I said on another forums, We just really can't compete.

coco

I am really doubtful that they are willing to provide the same level of customer service that many of us provide. I don't think they are willing to commit the necessary human resources if they don't expect to profit. But under cloak of alt, I shall see...

Wow this is weird. I stumbled into the Coldwell suburbia by accident yesterday and wandered around the rigidly designed housing tracts... it was actually somewhat refreshing from the 'anything goes' style of almost every mainland region. The area is on the southern mainland in the new land added to it recently. The lands were bought in February.

This is going to be very interesting - it will certainly affect the mainland rentals, like Prokofy's. How much it will affect, I don't know.

60 day deposit won't protect much, however.

When someone's SL romance goes south and they decide they need to disappear, I'd say in most cases even 500 USD won't nail them down.

That parcel, that avatar and everything that goes with it is gonna vanish overnight.

Also, if these lots are in any kind of proximity to each other, the Business is going to find themselves in another interesting situation: de-facto community landlords via deposit return.

There will be as much drama in these sims as any other, and you bet it will affect property values. Especially when one neighbour gets angry, and constructs a 300m high tower of rotting meat to show his displeasure, tipped by a porn shop and a casino.

Gonna be interesting in any case!

A bathroom with 4 toilets.

*phone weasel!*

Who are you calling a phone weasel?!?!

This is indeed interesting and as a relative newbie..barely over 30 - 40 days and homeless as of yet; I can't wait to pop over to thier office on Monday and see what's available.

I've been looking for land but haven't found any I like at a price I'm willing to pay.

I actually think this may work out quite well for them, both for them in RL and SL. I for one, would much rather deal with a known entitiy, than an unknown, when dealing with something as costly as land. As in real life, it's most likely to be your largest asset, and you'd rather trust your dealings to someone you know.

True, many of you on this board know each other and trust one another but..the percentage of people in SL that frequent the boards would be quite slim I'd wager, and I'd also wager, many more of them would prefer to buy from a name they know in RL, than one they don't in SL,

This will be interesting.

Didn't LL say they wanted out of the land business? Maybe this is test to distribute land to dealers only down the road...RL or SL based.

LL has said it wants to eventually just focus on providing the platform; doesn't want to handle policing or land.

Hmmm...

They did. Great Mitch Kapor interview from Davos on that. The only way for LL to expand its platform's network would be to open source the server side. And that would have significant consequences for the land market. I love SL, things change so quickly...

The only constant is change.

I must admit that in my own opinion the only way you can control mainland is to rent it rather than sell it (as a land trader or private sale). On an Island Estate however the sim owner can (and does) exercise a degree of control.

That excludes a change in the TOS and/or an ongoing ability by A N Other person to have access to Estate control options not now available on the mainland. And even if that DID happen why would A N Other person do it unless Linden Labs gives them a cut of the tier fees.

I think Desmond may be right insomuch it’s all about advertising and branding UNLESS there is other information we are not currently privy to.

Just a personal opinion

Regards

John

If this is to be their replacement for the discontinued First Land program, I do wish LL would make an official announcement to that effect.

I'd also like to know if existing Premium members who had been unable to buy First Land prior to that program's demise will be eligible to buy under this program. My Partner made a Premium alt, but was never able to buy First Land with it. In my opinion this would still be a waste of money, but she prepaid for a year, so should at least be able to buy and resell the parcel that she was promised, even if she does have to allow it to remain fallow and unused for two months.

I need to check this out. Is Century 21 next? What else does LL have in store for us?

Phone weasels!

How dare you use that term with me. Report! Report! Bad Post!

I'm serious though. The article mentioned an Italian firm (if i remember correctly) doing this on private islands. Will affordable mainland for new land buyers start coming from corporate sponsors only? More importantly, is LL sharing information with them about us? How did they get a list of all known land holders?(If I read that correctly as well in another post).

You read that correctly - The "rep" stated to me that they have a "substantial database" of land owners and alts. I asked her where they obtained this data, and she replied to the effect "I don't know, I just work here." I don't see how they could possibly know who is controlling alts, and if they are even alts, unless they have been provided this information by Linden Lab. I'm not jumping to any conclusions until Monday when this thing starts breathing.

The rumor is that Coleman is going to be bringing in 520 camping sites.

And Kraft is going to provide the marshmellows? o.O

Ceera, take 5 Quatloos out of petty cash, great reference. Perhaps I will satrt calling the Lindens The Providers instead of The Creators. As for Coldwell, I am not a fan of theirs in RL, so I don't foresee any dealings with them in SL.

This is yet another RL business charging into SL prematurely. SL and RL are completely different worlds and have different rules. IRL you have law enforcement, on here you don't. I have seen a few businesses go under attack from the multitudes of griefers, and bad grid stability in SL. They should stay in the real world where it's easier on them. But yea.. If they have been here long enough to deal with the problems then by all means, come on in!...

Is it really going to be worth it for them, even from an advertising standpoint? Most SLer's are media conscious enough that they are already on advertising overload. And as far as spending in world goes, at least in my case, I make it a point to avoid the RL companies, prefering to patronize resident businesses.

It already WAS worth it. They got the article in CNN and probably a bunch of other places too. That's the main thing they care about.

Now there will be some more new residents and new companies checking out SecondLife courtesy of ColdWell and CNN.

Good point. Take 5 Quatloos out of Petty cash.

CNN..ahb yes another one of those enteties I tend to avoid in RL.