I'm a premium member. How do I buy 512 m^2 of land?

[aceda]

I became a premium member. I understand I am entitled to 512 m^2 of land free. How do I find and purchase it? I've looked at land sales, but when I go to the land that's 512 m^2 it says it's not for sale. And even if it were, I'm not sure how to apply my membership to buy it. The documentation is confusing and contradictory. Can anyone help, please?

[Rolig Loon]

Not quite right.

As a Premium member, you have a land fee waiver that covers the monthly fees on and 512 sq m parcel of land you own on the mainland.  You may choose either to live in a Linden Home, which comes on its own 512 sq m parcel, or you may go out and buy land anywhere you like on the mainland.  Whichever option you choose, the monthly fees are covered by that waiver. If you chose to buy land, you need to pay the purchase price.  That's not covered by the fee waiver.  Also, note that the waiver does not cover land that you rent, or land in private estates (that is, not on the mainland).

You find land by exploring places that look interesting, or you look in the Land Forums here, or you use Search to look for land.  I recommend doing some reading, starting here >>> http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Buying-land/ta-p/700043  . Then, I recommend taking Lindal Kidd's free class in land ownership and management, offered every Friday evening at 5 SLT at Caledon Oxbridge University, in world.

[Lindal Kidd]

Rolig explains your Premium land benefit very well.  In addition...

You also have the option to get a free Linden Home.  You can apply for one here:  https://land.secondlife.com/en-US/lindenhomes/land-selection.php  Linden Homes are on 512 m2 land parcels.  If you choose this option, you do NOT get the 512 m2 tier bonus on mainland you purchase.  You can, however, abandon your Linden Home at any time, and then you will once again have the tier bonus.

Assuming you don't want a Linden Home, but a vacant parcel of Mainland, the next thing to decide is how much land you want.  If you purchase more than 512 m2, you will pay a monthly land fee, but you may decide that it's worth it to have the additional space and prims.  The land fee table is here: https://secondlife.com/my/account/landfees.php?lang=en-US  Remember that you have the first 512 m2 free...so, if you bought a 1024 m2 parcel, you would not pay $8.00 per month as the table suggests, but $5.00 per month.  You could also go the other way, and buy 1024+512 = 1536 m2, and pay $8.00 per month.

Land fees are assessed on the maximum amount of mainland you own during any billing cycle.  If you own a 2048 m2 parcel on the mainland and are paying $15 per month, and then buy another 2048 m2 parcel, your land fee for that month will be $25...even if you then immediately turn around and sell your original parcel.

Finding land for sale is not difficult.  There are two in-world tools, the main Map and Search.  If you check the "Land for Sale" box on the Map legend, parcels for sale will show up in yellow.  You can also use Search, and choose the Land and Rentals tab.  Then click "view all land and rentals".  Next, use the filter box on the left to choose Mainland, For Sale, and your desired maximum size or price.

There is also a Land forum here on this website, and a Real Estate category in the Marketplace where you'll find many ads for land.  There are also land auctions, which work like auctions on eBay.  Those can be found here: http://usd.auctions.secondlife.com/

[Ohjiro Watanabe]

The way I like to look for land is to fly around places that look interesting to me.

First I look at the map, zoom out so that I can see the continents, maybe I want a coastal plot or one on a river or a snow capped peak. I find a likely target. Also select property lines from the same menu.

Then there are a couple of settings. First go to World/Show More in the menu and select Land Owners. This will make land for sale show up in Orange.

Then go to Preferences/Graphics and turn off Advanced Lighting Model. When ALM is turned on you can't see the land owner colours.

Now use the map to teleport to the spot you have picked and fly around looking for orange plots. When you find some land on it and right click on the ground. Select About Land from the menu that pops up. On the general tab it will show the size of the plot and the cost and give you an option to buy.

Sometimes you will find large areas of orange which are often split into smaller plots, you can see where they are split from the property lines.

 

 

 

 

[Abigail Longmeadow]

You don't have to buy mainland. You could always apply for a free Linden house through the web site.

If you do want mainland, there are two different ways to buy mainland parcels.

1. Through the auction web site. The land will say "Not for sale" if you teleport to it, however if you win the auction your avatar name will automatically become the owner, and the price in Lindens will be taken from your account. Be sure you have enough lindens in your account.

2. Directly from the resident land owner. In your viewer, Control M to turn on the big map, then click the Land Sale check box and look for parcels that turn yellow. Those are for sale by owner. Teleport to it, then bring up the About Land window. It will tell you who owns it, how much money they want for it. If you click the Buy Land button you will become the owner, and that many lindens will be taken out of your account.