Purchasing vs. renting?

[gianguy82]

I'm new to SL and I've been trying to understand how purchasing land works. I know there is the option to rent, and to many that may be preferred, but I'm just trying to fully understand how buying land works. On one hand, it seems that the only way to "own" land is to either purchase an estate directly from LL or purchase premium which gives you an allocated parcel of land. On the other, I see many posts here on the forum of players selling, not renting, parcels on the mainland. I'm confused because I assumed that the only way to own parcels on the mainland was by renting them. I've also heard that even if you purchase land there are still monthly fees. I've been trying to understand how this system works but the amount of information is overwhelming. Can somebody explain how a non-premium user could go about gaining full ownership of a parcel of land (if it's even possible)?

[Rowan Amore]

25 minutes ago, gianguy82 said:

I'm new to SL and I've been trying to understand how purchasing land works. I know there is the option to rent, and to many that may be preferred, but I'm just trying to fully understand how buying land works. On one hand, it seems that the only way to "own" land is to either purchase an estate directly from LL or purchase premium which gives you an allocated parcel of land. On the other, I see many posts here on the forum of players selling, not renting, parcels on the mainland. I'm confused because I assumed that the only way to own parcels on the mainland was by renting them. I've also heard that even if you purchase land there are still monthly fees. I've been trying to understand how this system works but the amount of information is overwhelming. Can somebody explain how a non-premium user could go about gaining full ownership of a parcel of land (if it's even possible)?

Non premium users can only purchase full regions directly from LL.  You must be premium to purchase mainland parcel.  Mainland parcels can be purchased from another resident or directly from LL through an auction or support ticket. 

Non premium users can also rent land either on mainland from another resident or on a.private estate from another resident.

Many articles on land in SL...

https://community.secondlife.com/search/?type=cms_records3&tags=land&nodes=30&search_and_or=or

[gianguy82]

57 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Non premium users can only purchase full regions directly from LL.  You must be premium to purchase mainland parcel.  Mainland parcels can be purchased from another resident or directly from LL through an auction or support ticket. 

Non premium users can also rent land either on mainland from another resident or on a.private estate from another resident.

Many articles on land in SL...

https://community.secondlife.com/search/?type=cms_records3&tags=land&nodes=30&search_and_or=or

I see. So in short, other players CAN sell mainland parcels, but you can only purchase them if you're a premium user. Thank you for clarifying, makes a lot more sense now.

[Rowan Amore]

6 minutes ago, gianguy82 said:

I see. So in short, other players CAN sell mainland parcels, but you can only purchase them if you're a premium user. Thank you for clarifying, makes a lot more sense now.

There's an entire section dedicated to buying mainland

https://community.secondlife.com/forums/forum/286-mainland/

ETA... Premium and premium plus allow 1024/2048 free tier without incurring any additional fees AFTER you've made the initial purchase either from LL or another resident.  There is also the Linden home option which is free.  No purchase other than premium membership required 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Rowan Amore

[MoiraKathleen]

1 hour ago, gianguy82 said:

I've also heard that even if you purchase land there are still monthly fees.

If you are a premium member and either

• get a linden home (which can be either on a 1024 sqm parcel, or for a few themes, on a 512 sqm parcel) OR
• purchase a mainland parcel that is not larger than 1024 sqm

you will not have any additional monthly charges for land. 

With Linden Homes, you have a house included which does not count against your land impact of the parcel, but there is a land covenant that you need to agree to.

With mainland parcels there is a one-time purchase cost (and possibly a monthly tier charge - see chart below), but you are free to do pretty much what you want with the land as long as you stay within your allowed land impact and the overall SL TOS and mainland policy (there isn't a covenant, or a provided house like with the Linden Homes).

If you own more than 1024 sqm (between mainland and/or Linden Home) you would be billed a monthly tier amount based on the total amount of land you owned during the month over the initial 1024 sqm.  If you look on your web dashboard on the left column "Land Manager" -> "Land Use Fees" you can see what the monthly charge would be for various tiers of mainland sqm's owned.