Additional fees for buying on Mainland?

[Anjel4]

I'm still very new & learning so I have many questions, but I'll start here... I'm very interested in owning land so I can build my own home, the 117 prims that comes with the prem membershipn for a Linden Home is no where near enough for me, but I can't spend $1,000+ USD for land either... so when you become a premium member & win an auction for land, is that amount just a one time fee? Are there additional monthly fees?

[Qie Niangao]

There are additional monthly fees, called "tier", typically higher than the original purchase price. This page lets you set your tier level and shows the cost for additional sq.m. of land.

To buy Mainland, you are not limited to land at auction. Only a tiny amount is at auction, compared to all the Mainland that's for sale by other residents.

The reason that Mainland can command some up-front "purchase" cost whereas Estate land is usually just "first week's rent in advance" is that the monthly Mainland tier is generally somewhat lower than the rent for a comparable amount of land on an Estate, and that's because full Estate sims have higher monthly fees paid to LL.

(You can also rent Mainland from other residents, and that can be cheaper than owning it yourself, but I'm thinking you're wanting to buy.)

[Anjel4]

Ok, yes, I do understand a lil better now, I was able to find the page to set your tier level.  What's the best way to go about finding Mainland that's for sale by other residents? Yes, I definatley want to buy :} Thanks for your help

 

*Nevermind, just figured out where to look, thank you!!

[Chic Aeon]

A real life friend (also in SL) calls me the land guru simply because I have found so many great places over time. So here is what "I" do. Note you have to enjoy the process as it isn't quick.

I look at the map. It's almost that simple. I start wherever I am on the mainland. and start panning the area. I have always favored waterfront or water view (not the same thing) so I generally look around the coasts. It doesn't take long for you to figure out what size the little yellow dots represent. So if you are looking for a 2028 lot say, find one of those and then you will have an idea.

Land teir (on that chart) goes up in an odd fashion. The "best" value in a smaller piece is a 1526 which are rare. That will cost you $8 if you use your "free 512 teir" for that piece. In other words you PAY for a 1024 when you are actually using a 1526.  But you should decide what size will work for you.

 

Keep in mind that if you by low land impact mesh rather than prims, your land impact points will go WAY further .

There is no real advantage of setting (and paying for) your tier before you find something to buy. You will likely lose money.

Rental dates start from the date of first time you buy land (unless that has changed). I called up billing once and asked and got a wrong answer (oh my). So no reason to wait for the first of the month etc. I am not sure if the date you took your Linden Home is your "starting date" of if you have to actually BUY for that to be your starting date. Perhaps someone that has given up their home for mainland can answer that. Again, no bother asking billing *wink*.

When you find what seem to be a good lot, make sure that the rest of the sim isn't for sale (a subdivision) as that often can get tacky. Look for a STABLE place -- as stable as SL can be. Also check to make sure their aren't any big clubs in the sim or large animal farms as they slow down the sim. If you can find a sim that is mostly "in maintenance" you have it made. I have a shop in one of those (two years now) and it is VERY peaceful LOL.

So have fun looking. Many times you can click on the dollar sign on the map to see the prices. A good price is $1 per square meter (first land prices of long ago). You can still get land for less than that if you look, not waterfront of course .  

I wrote an article on mainland a couple of weeks ago if you are interested. It is here: http://chicatphilsplace.blogspot.com/2014/04/whats-happening-with-sl-mainland.html

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

Let me add to this based on what I see from those neighbors on sims that come and go.

Don't over buy.

You know the 512 that comes with premium isn't enough... so don't go out and suddenly buy a 16,000m lot.

I see this all the time - a new resident comes in and spends several hundred real life dollars buying up a huge chunk of a sim with all these grand plans they talk to me about as if they knew much more than I and others who've been here know...

Invariably in a few months, sometimes even weeks or days... its all for sale. And shortly after that its abandoned.

 

Buy about 10% LESS than you absolutely need. Which is about 70% less than you think you need...

In other words... go buy yourself a 1024 lot somewhere. Build on it. Then start shaving your build and shopping for ways to cut the amount of prims you're using - if you learn how to build more with less now, even if you later buy 27 full sims... it will pay off in being better at filling them.

(and yes, even if you buy 28 whole sims that still holds true...)

Don't move up from that 1024 until you have exhasted every possible trick to squeeze more out of it. And then move up slowly.

I currently hold about 20,000m of land - spread across 5 sims that are nowhere near each other. But that's after 5 years of owning land - and its more than I need (and about 4500m of water land worth of it I'm currently working to shed).

- Over time once you learn to get the most out of having less than you need - you'll also be able to guage how much more over what you need you can reach for without becoming yet another one of those noobs abandoning half their land every time the tier bill comes due...