Let's talk about your home

[Bree Giffen]

Since we don't have a homes and land forum yet I'd like to ask what all your living arrangements are in SL. I thought it might be helpful to compare notes and maybe gain insight on new ways to live in SL.

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

What do you do in your house?

Do you recommend homeowning?

Does it make you stay in SL?

There you go! Share as little or as much as you want. If you are curious about some other aspect of homeowning just ask! And.. No this ain't a survey.

[Tex Monday]

Well...in my case, I was a wanderer for many years (have been on since 2009). I just recently got a home from a friend of mine because my sub asked for one..:matte-motes-big-grin: Before that, I lived on various sims under other friends. They either had extra land and offered me a place or I joined their family.

My home is a skybox and I rent it from my friend for a VERY reasonable price in exchange for myself or members of my family working at a club located on the ground. It is not a prerequisite for me to work to have the home, though.

I live with a number of girls (my subs and maids). If you really want more information than that, either check my profile or send me an IM inworld. None of the girls pay any kind of rent for staying there..but they are subs, so they have other responsibilities in lieu of rent. :matte-motes-big-grin:

I don't think you HAVE to own a home in SL, in fact if my girl hadn't wanted one and my friend hadn't offered it, I still wouldn't have it. It doesn't make me stay in SL, but my family has increased tremendously because of it and it gives me a place to be with them.

I hope that gives you more insight or helps you figure out what you want to know.

 

[Senobia Xenga]

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Bree Giffen wrote:

 

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

 

Not anymore. I rez/piddle around the land where my store is and have a platform up above for a junkpile or whatever.

 

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

 

I've been here 3yrs and have done the house/hand thing ad nauseum. I got my first one within a week or so of joining SL.

 

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

 

My choices have always been ground, own, either and no roomates.

 

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

 

937 on a 4096 is what I have now - have had smaller and larger. About half the prims are vacant right now, other 1/2 is store stuff.

 

What do you do in your house?

 

Nothing - which is why I realized having one for me was pointless.

 

Do you recommend homeowning?

 

Owning something - whatever it is, somewhere that's yours to go, yes.

 

Does it make you stay in SL?

 

Yes. If I didn't have my store, I'd have left SL a long time ago out of boredom.

 

There you go! Share as little or as much as you want. If you are curious about some other aspect of homeowning just ask! And.. No this ain't a survey.

---

 

[Claireschen Hesten]

in SL i have a for now permanent place i like to have somewhere i can hide out away from the masses for my first 6 months  i was homeless untill i was introduced to free land then i rented on a private estate then about a year after joining SL i started renting the slice of welcome centre bordering land that i still rent today my rented slice of mainland serves a dual purpose a store at ground level a skybox i the sky the skybox i use probably take up more prims than all of my furniture i mostly use it for unpacking and trying on clothes if you need somewhere to be private i'd recommend a home otherwise it's not essential if i'd stayed homeless all the time i'd probably have quit SL years ago

[Pussycat Catnap]

Roughly 3 or so months into my return to SL in 2009, I became a premium account and bought myself a plot of roadside land.

Until my current land, I've always lived in a skybox with a garden at ground. But this last time around, a little over half a year now, I had a goal of building a cliff house. I moved into the lot and set up three homes: cliff, sky, and up on top of the hill.

- As soon as the cliff building was done, I emptied out the skybox (its tiny and now only has some teleporters, the root prim of my security orb system, I think an old Xstreet box, and my Intan dane balls (with remotes around my land otherwise).

The house on the hill is also more or less vacant... But it looks nice from the outside so I keep it there.

 

I have no idea on the prim allotments. I would guess its mostly the decorations and less the building. I'd guess I'm using more prims on trees outside my home than the building itself. I made my own building, with an eye towards prim efficiency without design loss. But ever since my first plot of land, I've advised folks keep to less than 1/4th of prims on the building.

I do "stuff" at my home. Open boxes, take snapshots, go AFK playing the stream or the videos on my music video channel (cull.tv is great). Decorate... silly as it may be, its a lot of fun to just do pointless decorating.

Its a Barbie's dollhouse I guess. All the normal things for that is what I do.

I have no 'sex furniture'. Took a while, but I managed to find PG versions of every household item. Even the doors and windows are PG (sometimes people make 'XXX furniture' out of the strangest things).

 

Homeowning is great - its kept me in SL at slow times.

But it also made me a -LOT- less social. Once I had a home, SL became 'me time'. Before I had one, I spent my SL in "clubs" chatting folks up or getting chatted up or... using pink/blue lawn ornaments in improper ways...

Once I had my own land, retreating into being an introvert started to happen. I love having it, but I sometimes wish I could get myself out of it more - even though I don't care much for those lawn ornaments anymore.

 

 

 

[Kenbro Utu]

Had a home the first few months in SL, built it myself.  Once I opened my first store, my home became a work platform in the sky above the store.  Been that way since.  

[Heart Brimmer]

---

Bree Giffen wrote:

Since we don't have a homes and land forum yet I'd like to ask what all your living arrangements are in SL. I thought it might be helpful to compare notes and maybe gain insight on new ways to live in SL.

 

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

For a time when I first came inworld, I was a wanderer. 

 

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

No, took me about six months before I even knew you could have a home in SL.

 

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

I alternate on the skybox or ground. Most of the time I have a skybox, but a few times when I have owned an island, I would have my house on the ground. Always has been estates. And I have never had a roommate. 

 

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

My prim allotment is more for decorations then for the house. I have a few houses that have a lot of prims, but the ones that I truly enjoy are skyboxes with scenes I can change when my mood changes. 

 

What do you do in your house?

Anything I want. LOL. I decorate, sometimes change things around, entertain friends, listen to music. I don't own a tv in SL. 

 

Do you recommend homeowning?

I think it depends on the person, for me I love owning my own home and having the freedom to do the things I love to do there. 

 

Does it make you stay in SL?

I don't think so, I would probably come into SL even if I didn't own a home, but having a place to call my own, makes me a little happier. 

 

 

---

 

[Vicky Elton]

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

 Home for me.  Infact i used to and plan on running a rental bussines again.  Hate to wonder and have no where for the quit times. 

 

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

Yes. Being that I loveto shop needed a place to dress style work in my style.

 

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

 On the ground. but no apartments.  I need some space so hones have to be spaced apart.   I had about 30 homes i related out at one time.  Almost a full sim on main land.   Friends would move in and out and that was nice to have some to talk to Ad just chill out with. But like in RL you have to get along. 

 

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

 After a lot of trial and error figured out how Ito make lpei mom homes that were nice. Probally reason i usually had no vacancy rate.   Most prims on Funtime and decor. 

 

What do you do in your house?

 Most of the time it was listing to music or talking.   But being in a home lets you do what ever you want when ever you want. 

Or just spending time thinking of new things to build. 

 

Do you recommend homeowning?

 Yes it helps to keep for being bored.  and gives you somewhere to go while who's wait for the clubs to open. If you just wonder yoneed up at store too often and that canbe dangerous on the Linden's 

 

Does it make you stay in SL?

yes being the  person i am  it gave me purpose to help people enjoy the game.  Many fun days were spent on the same sim.  Only RL mess that up. 

 

[Porky Gorky]

I've built hundreds of houses and buildings for commercial gain but have never felt the need to own and set up my own house. I guess my home is a cluttered disorganised half sim building site that contains lots of buildings at various stages of completion. I like my disorganised workspace allot and when I moved to a new plot a few years ago I hated starting off with a blank workspace. 

[Tari Landar]

I have a permanent home in sl. I was a wanderer at one time but for the most part I have had some type of home since 2008.

I did not get a home right as soon as I started. I originally came to SL years ago, didn't like it and came back a few different times over the years. I came back permanently in 2008 and waited a few weeks before buying a home.

My home is on the ground level and my store is up above it in the sky on a platform. Technically speaking though, I don't have a house, per se, lol. Hubby and I have what amounts to a gorgeous park with gazebo, small lake, cave and waterfall, some big trees, and a deck type thing over part of the lake. No actual house structure because we don't need one. We used to have a couple though, lol. We rent the plot on an island. My only roomate is my hubby, and my animals when they're out.

Since we don't have any actual building I'd say the prim allotment is about 60% ground level and 40% store up in the sky. I could be wrong, it's honestly been a long time since I even checked.

I spend time with my hubby. We enjoy watching movies rl while our avs are logged in dancing on the intan, cuddling, whatever.I know, many people think it's odd to do this, lol. I also build a lot. I have a big platform above the store I tend to build on when creating. I do all kinds of things at my home.

I recommend owning a home if you want to have a space all your own. It's not a necessity in sl by far, imo, but I know some people really like having their own space. For me it's a necessity for my small store if I want it to stay open, lol. I like having a place for my hubby and me to enjoy as well.

I don't think all on it's own it keeps me in sl. It certainly helps, but everything I do in sl keeps me in sl.

 

[Ry0ta Exonar]

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?  - I have a temporary permanent place.

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait? - I got a home just an year or so ago.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates? - alone on a sky platform on a parcel I rent on Mainland

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? -  20% on the house, 30% on the furniture, 20% on the food, 4% on my prim doggy

What do you do in your house?  - changing clothes, taking a bath, eating prim dishes, doggy-sitting, listening to internet radio, photo shooting, making my stuff, preparing the vendors

Do you recommend homeowning? - Why not

Does it make you stay in SL? - not so much, but I can feel relaxed when I'm at home.

[Hugsy Penguin]

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

Permanent, although the style changes as I get bored with it and feel like making changes.

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

I think I bought my first plot of land maybe a couple of weeks after I started.  I remember prefab shopping very early on.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

Ground.  Own.  Mainland.  No roomates.

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

I have more going on at my land that just the house so I just try to keep the house prims to a minimum.  I don't really allocate a specific percentage.

What do you do in your house?

It's the obvious place to go when "TPing home".  Change clothes.  Unpack boxes.  Play with games and gadgets that I bought.  Some scripting.  Some building.  A place to be in-world when switched to a different window IRL.  Things of that nature.

Do you recommend homeowning?

If it's something that someone expresses an interest in and it's something they can afford, then, yes, I would encourage them to go ahead and get a home.

Does it make you stay in SL?

I don't think not being able to have a home in SL would make me leave.

[Homeless1488312981]

I guess you could say I am a stray cat.

:catlol:

[Bree Giffen]

I have a permanent home in SL. Well, as permanent as a home in SL can be.

When I started SL I didn't care for a home. It was completely foreign to me. I think it took about two years before I got my first place.

Currently I have a skybox on the mainland. I typically rent an empty parcel and then build on it. No roommates.

My prims are about 10% skybox and 90% furniture.

It seems like I do what everyone else does. I change in my house which can be a long drawn out process at times. I also unpack boxes and I try on a lot of demos. I don't really build in my place. Not enough free prims usually. I have been putting together a lot of furniture though.

I think homeowning is great! But, it really does cut down your exploring!

I might be able to stay in SL without a home. It would feel strange since I"ve had one for while now.

[Efurou]

I have a home in sl - an old spooky house.

I have just recently opened my house for anyone to use. I put the LM in my profile and people who want to stay there and use it are free to do so. I also make a house group people can join so they can place their own prims while they stay or play there. I only ask that they pick up their stuff when they leave.

I really do not have that much time to spend in sl - so I thought why not let other people use it when I am not around anyway.

It is also  nice to have visitors. I have met some very interesting poeple like that.

[FairuzaB]

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?  I have a home for now but I often move around a lot just for a change of scenery.

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?  I waited a bit.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?  I like ground and I like to rent.

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? 937 prims is what I have and they are almost all used up!

What do you do in your house? I spend a lot of time there, unloading boxes, organizing my inventory, finding the perfect outfit. Visiting freinds.

Do you recommend homeowning?  It's your SL, do whatever makes you happy!

Does it make you stay in SL?  Not really. 

[Tracy Redangel]

My husband and I have a 1/4 sim we've been renting from the same land owners for a couple of years now. We've had as much as 80% of the land taken up by a monster house with furniture, but now it's only about 20%. The rest is taken up by our kitties, game tables, vehicles, and whatever projects we're working on. We are planning on building our own home, which I think will be a daunting, but very rewarding project in the near future. Sometimes we watch movies in SL, but our favorite thing to do at home is play on our game tables or looking after our Kitty Cats.

[Tex Monday]

Bravo!! That is something you don't see very often..someone having a home but letting anyone who needs a place stay there.

Here's my issue; having to work in SL (not having a premium membership or wanting to buy Lindens) to pay rent is WAY too much like RL. And as I said earlier, if my friend wasn't nice enough to charge me VERY little rent I wouldn't have my house at all.

Something to think about when asking this question.

[Rufferta]

---

Ry0ta Exonar wrote:

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

  - I have a permanent place.

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

- I got a home almost as soon as I signed in.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

- I rent a small parcel in Caledon Stormhold. I also have other small parcels on the Mainland I am using to practice building.

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? - 

With the Julia Hathor house, landscaping,, three cats, furniture and art collection I am using 333 of a prim allowance of 468 on the 1024 parcel. Don't know the percentages.

What do you do in your house?

  - Play with the cats, move the furniture and art around, change clothes, sit and meditate while looking at the water.

Do you recommend homeowning?

- Yes.

Does it make you stay in SL? -

Not necessarily, but I think if I were to down-tier I would save at least a small 512 parcel with a low-prim house just so I would have a home. Perhaps women are more "home" oriented than men?

---

 

[Efurou]

---

Tex Monday wrote:

Here's my issue; having to work in SL (not having a premium membership or wanting to buy Lindens) to pay rent is WAY too much like RL. And as I said earlier, if my friend wasn't nice enough to charge me VERY little rent I wouldn't have my house at all.

---

That is one of the reasons why  I decided to open my house for others. I always have some kind of home in sl - and mostly I do not use all the rooms and all the prims. I often only spend an hour a day inworld - often even less. So why not let other people who cannot afford a home use my home in all the time it would be empty anyway....

It is actually fun to see who drops by or who makes themselves at home. I have not had a bad experience yet. And if someone did decide to rezz a bunch of crap there - with a few mouse clicks it would all be returned. No harm done.

[Tex Monday]

That is one of the reasons why  I decided to open my house for others. I always have some kind of home in sl - and mostly I do not use all the rooms and all the prims. I often only spend an hour a day inworld - often even less. So why not let other people who cannot afford a home use my home in all the time it would be empty anyway....

It is actually fun to see who drops by or who makes themselves at home. I have not had a bad experience yet. And if someone did decide to rezz a bunch of crap there - with a few mouse clicks it would all be returned. No harm done.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

And I commend you for that. I think that's great. There are so many people out there who don't want people coming by their home..putting up security orbs and making it private land, that it's nice to see someone open their house to others.

 

[Melita Magic]

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Bree Giffen wrote:

 

1. Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

 

2. Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

 

3. Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

 

4. What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

 

5. What do you do in your house?

 

6. Do you recommend homeowning?

 

7. Does it make you stay in SL?

 

---

1. I own, or 'lease,' land if you will (from Linden Lab.)

2. No, I waited. At first I set home to a hub, then a person with an island who had some sort of Italian medieval rp going on, made me a duchess and I had a free house there. Until the rule changes, and he decided to make the land age verified only. I refused to do the Aristotle age verification thing. This isn't a serious enough endeavor (along the line of applying for an SEC license or civil career) that it needs to have that level of ID from me. Pass. I tried to talk him into going payment verify also but he didn't want to do that.  I understood and moved on. Turned out to be a good thing. It expanded my SL by making me fend for myself more.

3. No roomies. At my own house my visitor counter tells me I have regular unpaid tenants Lol, but there is also a group land house that at one point I took new members to. They can set home there as long as they play nice with others. (By that I mean basically, don't be a jerk or a creep.) I had an offer like that on G land for a while too but only had one person bite and they never followed up, so I sold that parcel. For my own home, I use a sky platform, minimal prims, to change in. The  house on ground level is more for looks, so it isn't empty land or an eyesore. I try to be a good neighbor i.e. I never build up to and including the border of a property, never use every single prim, never use particles and flashing or huge glowing things. I rarely use a ban line or an orb. I guess that's why I get squatters. Lol. Long as they don't cause havoc and stay out of my way, I ignore it.

I don't rent, I lease from LL if you will, or 'own' my own land. I never want to be kicked off or log in to find my things returned (ha - ironic. That can happen anyway of course...)

4. I have no idea. I don't pay much attention. I try to stay well under prim on any parcel.

5. I rarely even go into my house. If it's the group house, I might go in to change a video stream, check things are okay, or rez a holiday decoration outdoors. If it's my house, much the same; I check it once in a while to make sure no one has managed to rez a porn palace or something on my land. Despite build being off and object return being on, I'm amazed sometimes at what strangers manage.

6. Do I recommend owning a home? Yes, definitely.

7. Does it make me stay in SL? No, I could do without a home, I really just need a place to change that's far from the madding crowd. What I really prefer to spend time doing is landscaping.

 

[Quinn Morani]

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer? Right now I am technically a squatter. I haven't spend enough time inworld the last few months to justify the Lindens I was shelling out in rent, so I gave up my land. A good friend took pity on me and allowed me to put up a small skybox at her place. 

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait? At first I set home to some public area, but quickly found a very cheap skybox (about L$50/week for 20 or 30 prims) just to have a private place to change clothes. I kept trading up because I discovered that I loved decorating, but for now I'm back to a skybox.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates? Skybox now, although I loved my ground locations. I had a couple of different beach places, then a green plot that I adored. Never had any roommates, but now that I've set home on my friends land, it's fun to log in and see her online in the same sim.

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc. Good question. I never calculated this, but I think I have tended to prim-heavy houses.

What do you do in your house? Change clothes. Decorate it when the mood strikes. Chat in IM with friends who are elsewhere in SL. There have been times where I have logged in, had several individual and group IM chats, and logged out, all without ever moving from the spot where I initially logged in. Sometimes I remember my manners and invite the friends I am chatting with over so we can chat face to face.

Do you recommend homeowning? I loved it because I loved having a place I can call my own. Even though I don't build, everything about I have decorated my homes reflect me and my tastes. When I have rented furnished/decorated skyboxes from others, I never stayed long because they never felt like "my" space.

Does it make you stay in SL? It doesn't make me stay, but every time I moved and got to decorate all over again, it made me spend more time in SL. But it is my FRIENDS who make me stay, home or not.

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Bree Giffen wrote:

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

 

I wandered for my first few weeks in SL, changing clothes under a barge in a canal. I was swept off my feet by someone who had a house. I vividly recall the magic of watching her vanish in a cloud of blue light as she teleported between the floors. I then built my own lighthouse, in which I lived for some months before moving to a tropical paradise with her, on which I built almost everything, including palms that beaned visitors with coconuts. Now, in my second Second Life, I rent the lighthouse in Forgotten City, where I lure weary sailors to their death on the rocks outside my window.

Did you get a home as soon as you started or did you wait?

 

In my first life, I was content to wander for some time. Now I like to have a place I can call home, even if I spend very little time in it, or SL.

Skybox or ground? Own or rent? Mainland or island? Roommates?

 

I have a skybox above my lighthouse, where I incinerate friends when necessary. I've never owned property, though I did share that 1/4 tropical homestead with my partner, which did give me the pleasure of being able to eject a jackass or two over the years we lived there.

What is your prim allotment to the parts of your home? Like 50% on the house, 20% on furniture, etc.

 

The Forgotten City lighthouse is a preexisting structure, so my prim allowance of 230 can go entirely to furnishings, my skybox and the rain that constantly falls outside my front door.

What do you do in your house?

 

I stand on my ottoman, or in my skybox's fireplace, and chat with friends who are probably dancing or building.

Do you recommend homeowning?

 

I once recommended that someone "grow up". That wasn't taken well, so I've stopped offering recommendations of any kind. It hardly seems fair to give advice I don't heed.

Does it make you stay in SL?

 

I suspect it's the people that make me stay in SL. Though, if you all left, I might stick around to enjoy the Twilight Zone experience.

---

 

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Quinn Morani wrote:

Do you have a permanent place or are you a wanderer?

Right now I am technically a squatter.  A good friend took pity on me and allowed me to put up a small skybox at her place. 

 

Does it make you stay in SL?

It doesn't make me stay, but every time I moved and got to decorate all over again, it made me spend more time in SL. But it is my FRIENDS who make me stay, home or not.

---

 

Perhaps your friend did not have pity on you at all. The whole idea might have been nothing more than a clever ploy to take advantage of your decorating skills—on the rest of the property—while encouraging you to spend more time inworld. Happy Halloween, by the way.