Anshe chung or Linden Land

Hi guys, I've been thinkin about buying a pretty parcel of land around 4096 meters sq, so I can rent out a couple of places.
I did some homework and went to look at whats out there and quickly met up with Anshe chung for sale signs.
Having only got first land so far I wanted to learn as much as possible before taking the plunge.

Can anyone help me with the following questions?

What are the main drawbacks to buying from Governor Linden vs Anshe Chung?

re: Anshe chungs land :-

Can the terrain be edited by me?
Do I get paid stipends?
Can I stick a skybox above the land?
Can I further divide up the parcel say into two lots to rent?
How come she's got all these waterfront beach properties? Has she bought islands and divided them up?
Do I have the same ownership rights as with Governor Linden?

Any help or advice would be appreciated thanks.

When you are buying land, the only risks you have are a) crap neighbours, and b) losing it if you don't pay your monthly fees.

When renting from any other individual, you have basically no rights, and could lose everything at any time for any or no reason. It's not secure however much they like to pretend it is.

The only safe way is for you to get land is for the land to be yours, shown in the ownership box, with no covenant restrictions.

Anshe buys and sells, as well as rents, land so it's difficult to know what the actual plot you are referring to is.

Personally I would only ever buy land for outright ownership, but that's me.

Lewis

Anshe Chung sells land on both mainland and in her own private sims. If there is no covenant listed in the About Land dialog, it is mainland and your tier is paid to Linden Lab (more expensive for a 4096m2 plot). Otherwise, it is in one of Anshe's private sims which make up the continent known as Dreamland, and the tier is paid to ACS via Paypal.



Linden Land has a higher market value. For example, Anshe currently sells 4096 parcels on the mainland for approx. L$30,000+ whereas on Dreamland she asks L$20,000 for land of the same size.

Tier is also cheaper on Dreamland. It is $20USD per month on a 4096 parcel, compared to $25USD on the mainland.

Her sims are also zoned to preserve a certain look and feel, and to prevent abuse and ugliness common to mainland sims. Eg. Ban lines aren't allowed when you're not on the parcel, businesses are not allowed to setup in residential sims (no worries about lots of scripts and campers lagging out the sim you're in) and buildings have height restrictions amongst many other things. (You are best visiting anshechung.com, choosing a plot and looking at the zoning rules for a better idea.)



More often than not, yes. Check the estate controls before you buy or ask an AC angel prior to purchase.



You only get a stipend if you have a premium account from Linden Lab. You don't need a premium account to own land in a private sim.



Only above 250m from the ground. This is a zoning restriction.



You can now divide parcels in AC sims but I'm not sure about renting out AC parcels.



She owns many private sims. As for waterfront parcels on the mainland, there are many and they're bought and sold on a weekly basis so it is no surprise that the land traders always have stock of them.



AC parcels are now registered in your name (they no longer have to be deeded to a group), but the ownership rights on Dreamland are different in that Anshe Chung owns the simulator, not Linden Lab. So that is who your tier goes to. It is oft-stated that a private sim owner could reclaim your land and not reimburse you so you don't really own the land. Recent events in Sartyr however show that Linden Lab is also capable of doing this, so as long as the sim owner is trustworthy, it shouldn't be a problem.

I would offer cautious endorsement for Anshe Chung as I have been a client or hers in the past and was satisfied with the service offered. You can further check out Anshe's business at www.anshechung.com There on the site are full details of her business and what she offers.

That endorsement also extends to Desmond Shang of Caledon and possibly a few other larger landlords.

However I suggest you visit all the sims first and do some homework so that you are comfortable in what you are buying. Talk to a few tenents and get another opinion before you purchase

Regards

John

PS I am not an alt for either Anshe or Desmond. Lewis will back me up on that one -

Thanks guys for your replies. Just to clarify.



so in other words she sells her own land for less because there are covenants on it, and the land is literally leased from her, not owned. Is that right?




As a premium account holder I don't get stipends from Anshe Chung, only from Linden lab. And I will receive no stipends for the land I buy from Anshe, she gets those.




So does Anshe pay Linden lab to maintain the sim? So ultimately they have control over all her sims?
So she gets the stipends paid by LL for all her sims, not us?

It appears there are pro's and con's to buying from either, but at least with LL you get stipends.
However they don't seem to have much attractive land available. Why is this??


Also, is there a teleport restriction on Anshe's sims? I kinda picked that up somewhere.

Correct, technically you are leasing if you buy from Linden Lab too, but so is Anshe, so you are sub leasing from Anshe, but common parlance accepts you have bought from Linden Lab as they are the absolute and last link in the chain of ownership. The terminology has been confused recently by allowing private island landlords to sell land, but as ownership doesn't literally transfer to you as it does with mainland plots, it's not quite the same thing as the landlord is still accountable to Linden Lab for it, not you.

Anshe can charge you less than the going rate for your plot on the mainland because owning larger amounts of land such as she does grants her tier discount from linden labs. this is how all land barons profit from renting or leasing.



Stipends have nothing to do with land. They are paid by Linden Lab to premium subscribers, though you do have to be a premium subscriber to also buy land from Linden Lab.




Anshe pays tier to Linden Lab for all her sims. If she sells you a plot on one of her private islands she STILL pays the tier to Linden Lab which she recoups by charging you tier at a higher rate. Ultimately if Anshe defaults on her payments to Linden Lab they will reposses the sim, even if you have "bought" the land from Anshe.



See above. Stipend is not associated with land.



It seems you are still somewhat confused. You will get stipend from Linden Lab if pay $10 a month for a premium subscription. If you want to buy land on the mainland you must be a premium subscriber, which also entitles you to buy 512 sqm tier free on the mainland. You don't need to be a premium subscriber to buy land from Anshe, but if you wish to pay Linden lab $10 a month you still can be and will receive a stipend.

The reason the mainland tends to be less attractive is that linden Lab doesn't zone & theme it like Anshe and other private landlords.

The fundemental disadvatage to buying land on a private island (any sim owned by a landlord not part of the mainland) is that you are not only dependent on the future & honesty of Linden lab, but also the landlord.



Not that I am aware of. You should be able to set your home to your own plot and also tp anywhere else in an Anshe sim. Other landlords may set their islands up differently with a central telehub. You should enquire first.

Finally, be aware Anshe also trades in mainland plots. if you buy such a plot from her it is effectively Linden land you are buying and you will be accountable to Linden Lab for tier thereafter not Anshe. This is the difference between the mainland, and private island land.

I suspect the land is cheaper because there is less demand for it. That may change now that the revamped land controls allow buyers of land in private sims to carve it up and resell it via the Land Sales list (dependent on rights granted by the sim owner, but is certainly possible with my ACS parcel).

You also never own the sim that your land is in even if it's a mainland sim so do you ever own your land unless you get your own sim?



Stipends are not related to land. They're related to the account you have with Linden Lab. Why would anybody but LL pay you a stipend? If you want a weekly stipend, by all means get a premium account besides a parcel on a private sim. You just don't need the former to have the latter.

Okay guys, guns away! LOL

I thought stipends were associated with the amount of land you buy, my mistake.

Thanks for your replies.

Good luck Grumpy. CJ Carnot explained it best. I'm not the best communicator and got a bit repetitive trying to make the point about stipends.

Getting stipend has nothing to do with land. You can be homeless, a Firstlander, or be a land baron -- if you have a Premium account, you'll get the same stipend from Linden Lab.



Yes, in some cases.
You'll encounter two situations with Anshe (or most other land barons) :

A. She SELLS land on the mainland : there's no covenant in "About Land". In this case, you buy the land from her (say, 30000 L$), and you become the owner. You pay tier to Linden Lab, because, really, this is Linden territory

B. She LEASES land on an island she owns : you'll see a covenant in "About Land", covering the specifics of whether you can terraform, ban people, resell... and so on. In this case you won't pay tier to Linden Lab, but you won't really be the owner of the land, either. You will pay rent to the owner of the land (sometimes with an upfront fee, it depends). It's Anshe who pays Linden Lab for keeping the island.

C. You can also rent land on the mainland (basically, same as B, except it's not on a sim). I don't know if Anshe does that or not.

There are advantages to both. If you buy on the mainland, as long as you pay your tier, you're fine, it's yours. But someone can buy an area in the same sim as yours, and plop down 50 camping chairs just in front of your kitchen.

If you lease from a land baron, you get the benefits of zoning -- so, no casino. In some cases, it's cheaper. But you have to trust the owner of the island (Anshe, for example) that she will pay her tier to Linden Lab, won't be banned, or just leave with all her money and land with no compensation. That's where you have to do a bit of research, to make sure the owner is someone reliable. AFAIK, Anshe is.

I hope this helps

EDIT : Walker beat me to it, lol ! I *knew* I should have taken my mittens off

Thanks everyone, its much clearer now.

Its so confusing at first.

Grumps

Grumpy? Also bear in mind that while Anshe is certainly the largest and most visible land baron (private sim owner and player landlord) in Second Life, she is NOT your only option other than Linden Lab. There are many, many others who own private sims and who will rent land on them or sell land on them to others.

PLEASE, for your own sake, shop around. Not all landlords are equal. Not all of Anshe's own sims are equal, for that matter, even among those she wholly owns.

Talk to people who actually have rented or purchased land from Anshe or from other private sim owners. The opinions you will get range wildly, from "She/He is wonderful! I love living in their sims!" to "I wouldn't buy land from that X#$@&!!!! if they paid ME!".

If you search these forums, you will find a wealth of opinions on the topic. Search for "Land Baron" and for "Landlord".

I totally agree and some landlords or managers such as Ceera have the most beautiful tropical sims that are well landscaped and NOT full of a bunch of little pancake "islands"
The biggest advantage to renting/buying whatever you want to call it, is the fact that on private islands, you have someone watching out for your investment in land, you do not EVER have to worry about chaotic, ugly and laggy builds popping up around you and griefers do not last nearly as long on the islands. check out a few and talk to some of the tenants you see on the islands, you can get tenants names if you do an about on the land and look at the group members ( if its group owned) Let the tenants tell you what they feel about their landlord, My daughter has her own island and I know for a fact that her residents adore her, when she was in the hospital , i never saw so many cards and flowers sent from a single group of people. Im sure other island owners are seen in a similiar light.

I rent/lease, whatever you want to call it an island in one of the private sims and just love it. No casinos or big ugly box buildings to disrupt the views, I can sit on my deck and watch the sunrise in one direction and set in the other. While the mainland was being plagued by griefers I was sailing our waterways.

There is zoning that I'm sure some would find restrictive, no tall builds, skypods must be above 300m, no red ban lines. Areas are "themed" and it's requested that you keep your land (within reason) to the theme. Since I did alot of shopping for land and knew what I wanted befor I settled I am quite happy to oblige. My "landlord" is fantastic. For the amount of land I have it really is less expensive than a comparable place on the mainland

Take your time and shop around, decide what you want, read the covenants and ask questions.

If you're looking for residential-only land, for my money I'd say that the best and most beautiful land in Second Life is in the Otherland Archipelago.

http://www.otherland-group.com/

The purchase prices tend to be less expensive than A.C. land, with similar monthly tier. The people are wonderful and easy to deal with, and the region is growing rapidly, up to 50 sims now with more added every couple of weeks now, it seems.

You can edit your own terrain, with limitations -- the look and feel of the land should be preserved. As others have said, you don't get paid stipends unless you have a Premium SL membership, but you don't have to have a Premium account to buy land in Otherland (as with A.C.); you can have a Basic/free account, as you pay your tier directly to them via a PayPal subscription. Skyboxes are welcome above 300m altitude. As far as subdivision and rental, I'm doubtful -- you'd have to read their Covenant and fine print.

TP to the sim called OTHERLAND, then start looking around. The islands are to the south, main archipelago to the north.

I'm very happy there.

Sean

My take on it is thus: if you buy a condo, do you consider yourself the owner of the property or do you think of it as leasing it from the condo board?

Great info in this thread. Answered all my questions.

Thanks, all.

Buzzer