Buying a sim to place rentals

[ParisLovey]

Hello, I am wondering if someone here can get me started in the right direction? I am wanting to buy a sim for the purpose of renting it out. Maybe put some residences on it? 

Can anyone here give me any ideas on how to start?

I really appreciate any information!

Thanks!

Paris

[Chic Aeon]

I suggest that in general you get the lay of the land (not being silly) in SL first BEFORE jumping into land ownership. There are TONS of rentals out there and many of them empty so filling up rentals isn't easy and it takes skills to place houses, landscape, terraform and the like.

Since your apparent inworld profile has you at a year and half (if that's you) then hopefully you have some of those skills already, but I have a friend who is eleven years here and still can't change clothes without a lot of help LOL so you just never know.

A good first plan  -- in my mind -- would be to check out what is currently available; carefully -- by going to many to most of the rental listing in search. This could easily take a whole day (I used to do it for fun when I wasn't so busy) but it very enlightening. Once you have an idea what is out there and how well it is renting, then you could make a plan how to make YOUR sim different and more attractive to those looking. 

A sim isn't cheap, it is a real life investment and I have come across a lot of folks that bought and never used simply because they didn't have the skills needed and tried to hire someone which didn't work :D. 

Sure others will have more ideas for you. Good luck.

 

[ParisLovey]

Thank you Chic!

I do know a little about building so I am not too worried about that. I think I will take your advice and go view some more land for sale. I surely don't want to buy some land and not make a profit with the rentals. Maybe I will just do flipping instead. Who knows? I hope to find a good way to make some kind of income without working a pole

I heard real estate was a profitable business so I will research more. Maybe even get a partner.

I appreciate your input! Have a wonderful day

[Klytyna]

17 hours ago, ParisLovey said:

I heard real estate was a profitable business

It certainly is for the woman who owns 16.7 % of the 16,000 private sims...

But...

Buying a sim, $600 down, and $295 a month, plus your $6 a month for Premium, needed to buy the sim.

IF you can get full occupancy on the rentals, you might make a profit of $10 a month on the full sim, so it will only take you FIVE YEARS to break even on the setup fee...

17 hours ago, ParisLovey said:

I hope to find a good way to make some kind of income without working a pole

Didn't you know... "Failed Land Baron" is one of the most common "last job before this" for SL Pole Dancers...
 

[Parhelion Palou]

4 hours ago, Klytyna said:

It certainly is for the woman who owns 16.7 % of the 16,000 private sims...

But...

Buying a sim, $600 down, and $295 a month, plus your $6 a month for Premium, needed to buy the sim.

IF you can get full occupancy on the rentals, you might make a profit of $10 a month on the full sim, so it will only take you FIVE YEARS to break even on the setup fee...

Didn't you know... "Failed Land Baron" is one of the most common "last job before this" for SL Pole Dancers...
 

Premium is only needed to buy a mainland region, in which case the monthly payment is $195.
I agree that it's a tough business to get into. There aren't any easy (legal) ways to make real world money in SL.

[Callum Meriman]

On 11/14/2017 at 12:59 AM, ParisLovey said:

Hello, I am wondering if someone here can get me started in the right direction? I am wanting to buy a sim for the purpose of renting it out. Maybe put some residences on it? 

Can anyone here give me any ideas on how to start?

I really appreciate any information!

Thanks!

Paris

It is a difficult market Paris, and there is a big outlay. You will be paying the lab or someone leaving SL an initial outlay of around US$600 for the sim, and you will then be paying US$295 a month, every month, without fail. There can be grandfathered sims to buy secondhand, sometimes, but the initial outlay is US$1200 or so, but the advantage is $195 a month paid to the lab.

A lot of rentals, if they don't have a special market, will be very lucky to be 75% full. And that's with a lot of work advertising, dealing with tenant problems, chasing tier and so on. And in addition, the going rate is about 0.8-1.5 lindens a sqm a week for a non-special sim. 

So, the maths on this means you are not going to break even quickly. You will have to pay the shortfall from your pocket. On top of the US$600 or so start up fees which you won't ever make back.

 

Next fly in the ointment. If you don't pay the lab on time they lock your account and will delete the sim. Your renters will lose their homes. So you need to have a good backup source of funds to cover all those people who don't pay their rent to you.

 

Of course it *is* possible to reach 100% tenancy, my rental sims have been that way for a year, but you will be working hard, and you will need to offer something very unique.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Callum Meriman

[ChinRey]

On 14.11.2017 at 7:17 PM, ParisLovey said:

I surely don't want to buy some land and not make a profit with the rentals.

Assuming you are talking about generic rentals on a new private non-grandfathered full sim,the best case scenario looks something like this:

• First year: expenses: USD 4140, income USD 50. Net loss: USD 4090.
• Second year: expenses: USD 3540, income: USD 520. Net loss USD 3020.
• Second year: expenses: USD 3540, income USD 1040. Net loss USD 2000.
• ...
• Tenth year: expenses USD 3540, income USD 3600. Net income USD 60.
• From then on, expect the expenses and income to be fairly stable - provided you work really hard to maintain your sim.

The numbers will be slightly different for other kinds of sims the trend is the same anyway, And keep in minf that I have only taken into account purchase price and tier in the expenses, Expect at least a hundred dollars a year marketing your sim and keeping it up to date.

It's different if you can come up with an original concept that appeals to a lot of people with a lot of money of course. But it will have to be something that is truly original, not just yet another washed-out-sepia tinted, lagged down, shabby chic/grunge crossover, nostalgia mood sim, and you'd still have to work hard to market it.

[MableSims]

Hi ParisLovey,

Before you even consider getting a full sims may be you want to try to buy a parcel in mainland area to rent out. 

There you can  learn the marketing of your rental without having to rack up thousands of dollars.

 

 

[BilliJo Aldrin]

7 hours ago, MableSims said:

Hi ParisLovey,

Before you even consider getting a full sims may be you want to try to buy a parcel in mainland area to rent out. 

There you can  learn the marketing of your rental without having to rack up thousands of dollars.

 

 

yep, he can buy a 4096 at a tier cost of 25 bucks a month, then rent it out for 1000 L a week (reasonable mainland price) and gross about 16 bucks a month. That will be a much cheaper learning experience.

Then step up

8192 for 40 bucks and gross 32 bucks 

16,384 for 75 bucks and gross 64 bucks

32,768 for 125 bucks and make omg a profit of 3 dollars.... gross 128 bucks

and finally a full sim

65,536 for 195 and gross  256 bucks

I realize tier is monthly and rent is weekly so the earnings will be slightly higher.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by BilliJo Aldrin
fixed a typo