Is there any vacant houses or apartments that a newby second life player can stay for FREE?

[Saranghada]

It is because I dont have lindens and I don't know where to stay

[Nika Talaj]

*hugs*  Welcome to the forums!  Actually, this particular subforum is for "Linden Homes", which are one of the benefits of being a Premium (paid) SL resident.  Somebody used to have a Linden Home for 'homeless' residents, though ... I don't know whether there still is.

But if you are a new-ish SL resident, you might find folks in the Caledon Oxbridge region helpful (which is basically a free school, with a lot of offerings for new residents) .  Often there are helpers hanging out in the squares there, and it is strictly moderated, so griefer-free.  NCI (in Kuula) is also a school.  They used to have little apartments where you could rez a few things and stay, no idea if they still do.  And the London regions, which are always in the events on your login screen, cater to new residents.  Note that both NCI and London can be REALLY busy and noisy, just depends on when you're there.  If you're at all interested in being a tiny or dinkie avatar, you could try Raglan Shire, which is one of the most low-key HELPFUL communities around.

When I was new, I made my home in a sandbox, so that I could open boxes and try to learn how to build.  I got myself a free skybox (here's a nice-looking one https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Lil-Mania-Simple-Apartment-Skybox/6534075 ),  and linked a pose stand to it.  Then whenever I wanted to go "home" to try on clothes, unpack boxes, listen to music, whatever, I would:

• Go to any sandbox.  Here's a bunch of them:  https://secondlife.com/destinations/howto/sandbox
• Rez my skybox and stand on the pose stand
• Edit the skybox and change its z-coordinate to 2700 or something else high
• Do what I wanted

The only thing you don't have when you do this is persistence - that is, you can't rez something and have it still be there two days later.

@Lindal Kidd , anything to add?

Edited November 4, 2022 by Nika Talaj

[Lindal Kidd]

Thanks for the tag, @Nika Talaj!  Welcome to Second Life, @Saranghada!

There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that land, and a permanent "place to stay", are one of the few things in Second Life that almost always requires money. You can pay for a Premium membership, and get a Linden Home as one of the benefits. If you are Premium, you can also buy raw land on the Mainland and put a house on it. If you're not a Premium member, you can still rent land or a house from another resident. All of these options cost money.

There are a very few free places to stay. Most of these have serious drawbacks: they're full, or they went out of business the week before you got there, or the neighbors are undesirable.

But, the GOOD news is, you don't have to have a permanent place to stay, at least not right away. When you log off, your avatar vanishes from Second Life, she's not stuck in a cardboard box in an alley somewhere. Nika's solution of going to a public sandbox (an area where you can build things) and throwing up a small temporary house is fine for a few hours. By joining one or more of the newcomer friendly groups (I'd add New Resident Island to Nika's suggestions of Caledon Oxbridge and NCI) you can get access to help and advice, and many of them allow you to set your Home Position there. (This is NOT a house. It's a specific place that you can set as your login location, or use as a spot you can always go to with a single command.)

I strongly encourage you to NOT bother with a house or apartment or any sort of permanent residence just at first. Explore Second Life for a few weeks. If you decide you like it and will be staying for a while, there will be plenty of time to look around, see some of your choices, and pick something.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Lindal Kidd

[Cali Souther]

Builder's Brewery also has free changing rooms,  you just have to join the group.

 

[Leora Greenwood]

7 minutes ago, Cali Souther said:

Builder's Brewery also has free changing rooms,  you just have to join the group.

I love those dressing rooms and still use them sometimes.  Also the great dressing rooms at New Citizens http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fishermans Cove/60/190/25  Even after I had a house, I still loved to use those!

[Rolig Loon]

47 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

the GOOD news is, you don't have to have a permanent place to stay, at least not right away.

I spent my first two years without a permanent home.  I changed outfits in a nice quite spot at the bottom of the sea and I wandered a lot.  It's kind of liberating to have no housing expenses and no rental commitment or tier payment.  As Lindal says, nobody needs a home in SL.  It's fun and handy to have one, but you have an inventory to store all your stuff in, and your av doesn't need to sleep under a bridge.  

[Leora Greenwood]

15 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

"I changed outfits in a nice quite spot at the bottom of the sea .... and your av doesn't need to sleep under a bridge."

What a watery image that is, LOL.  I just had a flash of memory that the first thing I bought in SL was a pair of pajamas and I really thought I was supposed to change into them before I logged out at night.  That lasted maybe one day...

[Bree Giffen]

One thing I did before was build a skybox in a sandbox with a long autoreturn. I was actually just pre-building a skybox to be set up in a rental parcel later but after a few days I realized that it was almost the same experience as living in a skybox home. The only difference was I had to take the whole thing into my inventory and then pull it back out again the next day. I discovered that pulling a coalesced skybox in and out of my inventory was not a big deal. It might be something to try from time to time when you feel the need to live in a home. However, you may realize that a home in SL is something you like and end up spending a few dollars for it. 

[Istelathis]

I know of one place that gives out free hotel rooms, but they are all occupied right now.  An alternative, is to play Linden Realms, or a variety of games that earn you linden in SL.  You can make 50 linden in a few hours, which is enough for a lot of weekly rentals in SL.

The hotel can be found here:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eotia/187/101/22

I stayed there for a few days, before moving on elsewhere with the earnings I made from playing Lindo.  

[Lindal Kidd]

2 hours ago, Leora Greenwood said:

...the first thing I bought in SL was a pair of pajamas and I really thought I was supposed to change into them before I logged out at night.  That lasted maybe one day...

I got a PG bed with a sleeping pose in it. I put my avatar to bed and logged off. Sadly, when I logged back in, she was already awake. She never told me what she'd been up to or with whom she'd been up to it.

I didn't tuck her in any more after that.

[PheebyKatz]

8 hours ago, Leora Greenwood said:

What a watery image that is, LOL.  I just had a flash of memory that the first thing I bought in SL was a pair of pajamas and I really thought I was supposed to change into them before I logged out at night.  That lasted maybe one day...

I still change into jammies when I go to bed to log off, at least when I bother with having a house and a bed and all. Most of the time I just perch on whatever I'm building and log back in there when I "wake up".

And yeah, you don't need to own a home in SL. The whole grid can be your home, or you might make friends somewhere and they say hey, you can set this place to home. I've never owned land in SL, though I've actually had owner privileges set as part of living with friends/SL family members on land they owned (which was extra cool because I could landscape if I wanted). Some people like to just wander and explore, and some like to own land and not allow anyone else on it, and some people make nice places and want to share them with others who can appreciate it.

The sim I currently live on is the one I work on and help with, and nobody asks me for rent or anything. So far I've been lucky, and have dodged paying rent in SL for oh, about seven years now. I was paying 25L$ a week for a place that wouldn't even let me rezz enough items to sit or sleep on, and my stuff kept getting chucked back into my Lost & Found every four hours, boy was that annoying. I like to think that I'm virtual proof that anyone can have a fun and meaningful Second Life, no matter how humble their beginnings.

Long post short, it's cool, you can live for free in SL. Heck, you don't even have to eat, pay a light bill, or even do laundry, how cool is that?

Edited November 5, 2022 by PheebyKatz

[Hecate Copperfield]

Hi @Saranghada

I've been homeless in SL and in RL and, to be honest, I din't like either situation. Of course, the RL experience was worse but fortunately short-term. I made a determination some time ago to save up for the annual Premium (best value as it has no VAT in the UK) that let me have a lovely stilt home on water supplied free as part of my Premium membership. All the advice above from other members is also good advice. Best of luck in SL and please just ask for assistance. It's a steep learning curve but well worth it.

Hecate

[Lindal Kidd]

7 hours ago, Hecate Copperfield said:

I've been homeless in SL and in RL and, to be honest, I din't like either situation.

I can sympathize. I've always felt better in SL when I had a place of my own. But I still recommend that new residents explore the world for a while before making that commitment.

[Leora Greenwood]

There have always been random saints in SL who offer accomodation to noobs just cuz they are great people.  Obviously it is not a money-making proposition and they tend to come and go.  Emerson Fray of Graylady Gardens is/was one such kind soul; I do not know what he still offers.  Bare Rose has a very spa-like dressing area on Black Cat that I used for ages, not private but so swank that I did not care.  Plus the organizations that work to help noobs, like New Citizens.

[Maitimo]

Virtual Ability has some apartments for newbies. They all look very much like the old Meadowbrook Linden Homes (in fact I am pretty sure they were built with the same textures). You need to join the VA group first (which is free) then you need to apply for an apartment. I think they actually cost L$1 per week or L$1 per month or something like that. The community is aimed at people who have RL disabilities - does not have to be a physical disability. 

[cunomar]

I never had nor wanted a home in SL .

To me in rl home is where you go to shut the world out and i never had such a place when i was a kid , when it was an option I'd sleep in a bus shelter in the village i considered home rather than return to my address .

In spite of this or perhaps because of it , i lost count of how many landmarks i have been given with instruction and encouragement to make it my home , "free to use , i'm never online" .

Makes me feel bad that i know while they are saying it that i will likely never return .

[Lily Swindlehurst]

At Helping Haven Gateway we have 4 FREE furnished homes that anyone can use, they are not assigned to one person. Do drop by and pick up the notecard, there are restrictions, from the Free Homes noticeboard on the main plaza.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Helping Haven Gateway/45/52/26

[Psyche Starling]

On 11/4/2022 at 7:42 PM, Lindal Kidd said:

I got a PG bed with a sleeping pose in it. I put my avatar to bed and logged off. Sadly, when I logged back in, she was already awake. She never told me what she'd been up to or with whom she'd been up to it.

I didn't tuck her in any more after that.

I used to do this too! It was like a little ritual when I logged off. I'm not sure why i felt the need.

[archangel969]

20 minutes ago, BookishMelinoe said:

I used to do this too! It was like a little ritual when I logged off. I'm not sure why i felt the need.

Count me in. I did it too. With pyama's on.

[diamond Marchant]

The very first "home-I-own" in SL was actually a boat that had an indoor cabin. Of course you need a few Lindens to get such a thing.  But you can anchor in a water rez zone (Blake Sea - Sirens Isle maybe?) and as long as you are sitting on the boat, it will stay there. When you logoff, the boat also poofs but when you come back, you will be in same place (if your viewer is set that way) and you can rerez the boat.

[archangel969]

Well, my land Dutch estate is open for everyone for free, so of course you are more then welcome!

It's not a big land, but it has a villa, a cottage, a houseboat, a mill with a cafe (and a bath- en bedroom upstairs for guests) and a little waterfront cottage. It is open for everyone so it is not assigned tot one person, also not for myself. I am there everyday but I mostly leave visitors alone so they can explore in all freedom. It always annoys me when I walk into a shop in RL and the staff immediately jumps on you while you have to acclimatise and look around first. But in any case, be very welcome if you wish.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Earp/190/179/45/

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by archangel969

[PheebyKatz]

1 hour ago, archangel969 said:

Well, my land Dutch estate is open for everyone for free, so of course you are more then welcome!

See, SL has cool people who do things like this.

I had a friend once who built an entire city, and it had apartment buildings and everything, and it was all free. The rent was 1L$ (just to make the rent box assign the apartment to the user) and he'd even give you the 1L$. He spent all of his time managing the land, trying to improve his city, and provide the nicest homes he could afford to offer, all for free. He struggled to maintain it all, but while it was around he paid for all of it himself, and never asked anything of anyone. I don't even remember seeing a donation pot anywhere.

I asked him why he would go so far and do so much without having aything to gain by it, and he just said, "Because everyone should have a place to live, and it should be free. This place is for freedom."

If I ever end up rich, I'm going to do the same thing he did.

Edited November 9, 2022 by PheebyKatz