Landlord Tier Hikes

[Sir Pancake]

I rent a full region from a large landlord. I've been with them since Feb. They are using the sudden "upswing of the SL economy" (their words) to gouge rent prices. They are increasing tier on a weekly basis now. My tier box has been updated with an extra 1,000L/wk tacked onto it 3 times so far. The last increase was a week ago. They give absolutely no notice and make no announcements regarding this taking place. This is pure greed and I expect this will continue. What if LL raised prices on them with no notice, with the same excuse? I can't wait for LL to make additional regions available. I will no longer rent from these people! I'm sure I'm not the only one upset by this and good luck to them in the future.

[Cindy Evanier]

3 minutes ago, Tastee Puddles said:

I rent a full region from a large landlord. I've been with them since Feb. They are using the sudden "upswing of the SL economy" (their words) to gouge rent prices. They are increasing tier on a weekly basis now. My tier box has been updated with an extra 1,000L/wk tacked onto it 3 times so far. The last increase was a week ago. They give absolutely no notice and make no announcements regarding this taking place. This is pure greed and I expect this will continue. What if LL raised prices on them with no notice, with the same excuse? I can't wait for LL to make additional regions available. I will no longer rent from these people! I'm sure I'm not the only one upset by this and good luck to them in the future.

Have you shopped around other landlords for a better deal?

[Sir Pancake]

Just now, Cindy Evanier said:

Have you shopped around other landlords for a better deal?

Yes, I have been looking at options. As soon as my remaining time gets closer to running out, I'll be seeking another alternative.

[LittleMe Jewell]

15 minutes ago, Tastee Puddles said:

I rent a full region from a large landlord. I've been with them since Feb. They are using the sudden "upswing of the SL economy" (their words) to gouge rent prices. They are increasing tier on a weekly basis now. My tier box has been updated with an extra 1,000L/wk tacked onto it 3 times so far. The last increase was a week ago. They give absolutely no notice and make no announcements regarding this taking place. This is pure greed and I expect this will continue. What if LL raised prices on them with no notice, with the same excuse? I can't wait for LL to make additional regions available. I will no longer rent from these people! I'm sure I'm not the only one upset by this and good luck to them in the future.

When SL economy took a downturn, all the landlords had to drastically drop prices.  I can't really say that I think they are bad for wanting to actually cash in on the good times after they've had to suck it up because of the bad times.

Side note - When LL raises prices, which has been done in the past, it is often with very little notice.

Edited May 27, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Sir Pancake]

15 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

When SL economy took a downturn, all the landlords had to drastically drop prices.  I can't really say that I think they are bad for wanting to actually cash in on the good times after they've had to suck it up because of the bad times.

Side note - When LL raises prices, which has been done in the past, it is often with very little notice.

I can understand that concept and empathize with their struggles during the lows. I don't think it's a bad thing to increase the prices, if the market allows for it. The issue I have, is with the way they are treating me as an existing customer. Applying such massive increases on a weekly basis is worrisome. It shows no value in me as a customer and destroys any rapport that I felt. LL may have raised prices at some point with no notice, but I doubt it was a weekly event. There is no balance in this approach. It's a pure money grab, plain and simple. At the end of the day, they are running a business. There should be some regard to keeping a loyal customer base and not souring relationships with customers who supported them during the lows. There could be a way to roll out an increase with existing customers that isn't a slap in the face every week. When does it end? We don't know... I would just have to check my tier box every week.

[LittleMe Jewell]

14 minutes ago, Tastee Puddles said:

  The issue I have, is with the way they are treating me as an existing customer. Applying such massive increases on a weekly basis is worrisome. It shows no value in me as a customer and destroys any rapport that I felt.

This is true.  A landlord that I would deem as 'good, worthy, etc...' would probably give a few weeks' notice to any sort of increase, and wouldn't do another increase for at least a month and again with plenty of notice.

[steeljane42]

There are some landlords who lock tier to what it was when you buy it, it can be good or bad, depending on when you got it. And some who have floating "market price" or so they call it. One of the latter is well known for prices hiking for all kinds of reasons, even when they make no sense. For example back in 2016 when LL added prims for everyone, so full regions went from 15 to 20k and homesteads from 3.75 to 5k, they increased prices because of "extra work to manage more prims".

They are also known to have below the market prices (way below one, enough to make it look like it's too good to be true) for full regions and homesteads, then when somebody buys into that, they increase the price in a few weeks. Right about time when most people are done with some building and might want to avoid to move again, even if it's at the expense of paying some extra. Very shady company to say the least. Not posting their name to not break forum rules for name calling, but it starts with an "R".

[Sir Pancake]

1 hour ago, steeljane42 said:

Not posting their name to not break forum rules for name calling, but it starts with an "R".

Yep! It's BS

[LittleMe Jewell]

Unfortunately, all you can really do is pay for small periods at a time and then leave if the increases are absurd, etc... 

If enough people leave, said landlord might rethink their increase.  However, knowing SL, the majority of folks probably just pay the increases.

[steeljane42]

1 hour ago, Tastee Puddles said:

Yep! It's BS

It totally is. I did learn about them a long while ago and never heard anything good about at all, only similar stories to yours. A couple of stores I know had to emergency move for that very reason as well, because even after being their customers for a number of years, they still got hit by the price increase out of nowhere. They did justify it as "market changes" back then, even if there was no market changes at all, if anything it was when LL started to reduce tier for full regions and homesteads. And, like in your case, not just one, but multiple increases over the short period of time without any warning whatsoever.

If you're going to rent a full region again (although now most landlords have raised their prices for new rents, even ones who honor old prices, so might be not the best time), make sure to ask your new landlord if price is locked to what it was when you start the rent. If they can't or don't want to answer, then assume it's same deal as with "those".

For example Chungs never increase tier like that. I know it from my own experience renting from them for a number years in the past, and you can go to their land hub regions (where tier boxes are) and see yourself that people who got their regions/homesteads for a good price during price drops that happened in the past still paying exactly that price. Their prices are usually a bit above the market, though, but at least you won't have any unpleasant surprises.

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Unfortunately, all you can really do is pay for small periods at a time and then leave if the increases are absurd, etc... 

If enough people leave, said landlord might rethink their increase.  However, knowing SL, the majority of folks probably just pay the increases.

That's true about not paying too much forward, unless you expect to take a break from SL for some reason and still want to keep your land. And sadly it's not very true about their increases and how they'll rethink it, since that's pretty much their business model for a number of years.

Lure in someone through a good offer (sometimes way too good offer, for instance when average price of homestead was 7k/w, they offered theirs as low as 4.5k/w)>wait a bit>start raising prices until it hits the average market value or even exceeds it>profit. And if someone moves out, just repeat the whole process. Before I got my own region I used to actively monitor the land market and saw them juggling their regions non stop like that. So it's pretty safe to say that majority of people are very not fine when they expect to pay 5k a week and it becomes 7-8k without any warning.

Edit:

We can spread the word in-world, and I do that for a long while telling people (if they are asking for some advice where to rent) to not deal with them. But it's only limited circle of people that we know and those who actually ask, lots of new or less experienced residents just look at the land list in search and choose whatever is cheaper.

Edited May 27, 2020 by steeljane42

[Daniel Regenbogen]

Raising the rents while at the same time the value of the L$ went up dramatically over the last few weeks in my eyes is a big no-no. Today to cover the fees for a non-grandfathered full region you have to sell like L$3000 less than two months ago. So they take more money while having to pay less. Vote with your feet and rent somewhere else.

[Sorciaa]

Might be a general trend. I have been looking on and off at homesteads and when I looked last yearish, one popular land lord had them for 6,999L/week.  Looking today. they are 8,999L/Week. Thats quite a hike.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 5/27/2020 at 4:19 PM, steeljane42 said:

There are some landlords who lock tier to what it was when you buy it, it can be good or bad, depending on when you got it. And some who have floating "market price" or so they call it. One of the latter is well known for prices hiking for all kinds of reasons, even when they make no sense. For example back in 2016 when LL added prims for everyone, so full regions went from 15 to 20k and homesteads from 3.75 to 5k, they increased prices because of "extra work to manage more prims".

They are also known to have below the market prices (way below one, enough to make it look like it's too good to be true) for full regions and homesteads, then when somebody buys into that, they increase the price in a few weeks. Right about time when most people are done with some building and might want to avoid to move again, even if it's at the expense of paying some extra. Very shady company to say the least. Not posting their name to not break forum rules for name calling, but it starts with an "R".

Not "Ravenglass" FYI because I haven't raised my prices, except if I also raised prim allocations in a few places. If anything, due to COVID, I've lowered my prices in some places. The Lindens doubled the cashout fee, which really bites into profits, but I didn't raise my prices then -- I just became more activist in getting people to pay, added a "grace period" mode for the rental box and made it clear they would be returned if not paid after that period expired. I can't run a charity if LL doesn't.

I can't believe there is a practice of raising in *thousand Linden increments*. That is just plain crazy. No one does that. I've never heard of it. It isn't justified. So leave ASAP. PS I allow refunds on any of my rentals at any time, for a small fee of about 20% of one week's rent. Many island owners lock you in for a least a month. Mainland tends not to do that, but look around. No one should pay those prices or increases in this market with a zillion choices.

 

[Garnet Psaltery]

I had just one rental cost increase in the last year, and that was to round the figures up to save the use of a calculator.    I also have a 1-week minimum, as I believe most private island owners do.  Shopping around is the best strategy.

[Sir Pancake]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:35 PM, Prokofy Neva said:

Not "Ravenglass" FYI because I haven't raised my prices, except if I also raised prim allocations in a few places. If anything, due to COVID, I've lowered my prices in some places. The Lindens doubled the cashout fee, which really bites into profits, but I didn't raise my prices then -- I just became more activist in getting people to pay, added a "grace period" mode for the rental box and made it clear they would be returned if not paid after that period expired. I can't run a charity if LL doesn't.

I can't believe there is a practice of raising in *thousand Linden increments*. That is just plain crazy. No one does that. I've never heard of it. It isn't justified. So leave ASAP. PS I allow refunds on any of my rentals at any time, for a small fee of about 20% of one week's rent. Many island owners lock you in for a least a month. Mainland tends not to do that, but look around. No one should pay those prices or increases in this market with a zillion choices.

 

Nope, not Ravenglass. It seems like the R in question is having a mass exodus. I have been keeping an eye on their full sim listings and competitors. They went from 1 or 2 to currently having about 20 full regions available. Other landlords with fair practices have little to none available. Goes to show what the greedy 1000L per week increase did for their business.

I have about two weeks left on the tier box and I'll be moving on after that.

Edited June 8, 2020 by Tastee Puddles

[Rabid Cheetah]

It's exploitation, plain and simple.  They know you'd rather pay the extra money than go through the hassle of trying to rebuild an entire region from scratch should you choose to move.  And even if you DO move, it just provides data to them as to what the top price is that they can charge before customers leave.  At least it's only a bunch of pixels, not like real-world landlords who raise rents so high that folks wind up homeless.  But still, it's your personal masterpiece, a whole region full of stuff you've worked on.  That sucks.

Edited June 9, 2020 by Rabid Cheetah

[Whirly Fizzle]

On 5/28/2020 at 12:27 AM, steeljane42 said:

For example Chungs never increase tier like that. I know it from my own experience renting from them for a number years in the past, and you can go to their land hub regions (where tier boxes are) and see yourself that people who got their regions/homesteads for a good price during price drops that happened in the past still paying exactly that price. Their prices are usually a bit above the market, though, but at least you won't have any unpleasant surprises.

I've rented a Homestead region from Victoria Chung for years.
Never had a problem or any tier increase in all that time.
I totally recommend them if you're looking for land.

[Adamburp Adamczyk]

On 6/9/2020 at 2:22 PM, Whirly Fizzle said:

I've rented a Homestead region from Victoria Chung for years.
Never had a problem or any tier increase in all that time.
I totally recommend them if you're looking for land.

Same, I rent a homestead from Surreal Chung and I've never seen a tier increase in 7 years

[Prokofy Neva]

On 6/8/2020 at 2:21 PM, Tastee Puddles said:

Nope, not Ravenglass. It seems like the R in question is having a mass exodus. I have been keeping an eye on their full sim listings and competitors. They went from 1 or 2 to currently having about 20 full regions available. Other landlords with fair practices have little to none available. Goes to show what the greedy 1000L per week increase did for their business.

I have about two weeks left on the tier box and I'll be moving on after that.

Well it's too bad you don't have a refund button. But island agencies tend not to have refunds or they would have to deal with the same thin margins we do on Mainland.

I'm just not getting the reasoning of this fellow charging $1000 hikes and emptying out his stock obviously. Does he know something we don't know? He thinks he's going to get a surge of deep-pocketed renters? Maybe RL businesses? Seems crazy.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 6/1/2020 at 2:06 PM, Sorciaa said:

Might be a general trend. I have been looking on and off at homesteads and when I looked last yearish, one popular land lord had them for 6,999L/week.  Looking today. they are 8,999L/Week. Thats quite a hike.

This suggests to me that they either have some inside knowledge of some Linden policy about to come, or more likely, they read the recent notices that Linden isn't going to add to their stock and has a shortage of regions, and they think this is the smart thing to do.

Just looking at my piece of it, which is mainly Mainland, demand is definitely higher due to the pandemic, there are more big spenders due to people who still have jobs being able to spend time online, and there are even RL groups such as churches or non-profits who want to rent virtual space now. Linden Homes seems to be dropping off just because people chafe at the lag and the prim limits. 

This situation will not last as some cities are opening up again and getting people back to work, unemployment is running out for people, and there are further losses from mass disorders. The Linden is at an all-time high at 246 today. Again, this won't last. The Lindens may hold their stock down to lower levels in fact to drive up prices as they know it won't last, either.

[Chic Aeon]

To add to this thread -- I moved my shop in January. Since then the sim it is on has been about half full most of the time. I had no neighbors. Since June began I now have LOTS of neighbors (oh well) even though summer is typically a down time in SL. Actually my sales are down as usual as summer begins and I have noted lots of OFFERS from online retailers again -- ones that had no offers at all during the busy pandemic times. 

 

Since lots of folk are in Phase 2 (for better or worse ) of heading back to "normalcy" I think that the landlords that did NOT raise rates are doing well. 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Chic Aeon
spelling

[Lindal Kidd]

A few weeks ago, LL blogged that they had run out of servers to host regions, so they were no longer selling new private regions, at least for the time being.  This occurs at a time when SL is experiencing a revival, probably because a lot of people are spending more time at home.

So, this means that all of a sudden, land has turned around from being a buyer's market for years, to being a seller's market.

If I owned a lot of regions, I might start jacking up the rents.  Two things could happen, both of them good.  First, everyone else may be raising their rents too...so my tenants will just have to suck it up and pay the new higher prices.  Yay, more money for me!  Or, I might raise my rents too fast and make my tenants mad.  They move out to greener, and cheaper, pastures, and now I can sell my regions to buyers who are willing to pay a lot higher price for them, because LL isn't making any more.  Yay, more money for me!

This situation probably won't last very long.  LL has had plans to move the land servers to the cloud for a long time now.  Those plans are probably pretty close to getting implemented...which is why LL isn't going out and leasing a bunch of new physical servers.

[Parhelion Palou]

52 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

This situation probably won't last very long.  LL has had plans to move the land servers to the cloud for a long time now.  Those plans are probably pretty close to getting implemented...which is why LL isn't going out and leasing a bunch of new physical servers.

LL can't lease a bunch of new servers. They have nowhere to put them. They own one data center; it's outdated and at capacity. They're stuck until they can get the cloud move done.

I hope LL can get that done quickly, but they've been at it a lot longer than they predicted and the problem is complex. They predicted it'll be done this fall. So far their predictions on pretty much everything have been very optimistic. I wouldn't bet on September or October.