BJoyful

Wow! WoW! WOW! Nia, you are full of wonderful surprises! Absolutely wonderful to see your beautiful (furry or human or whatever else you evolve into) skills in creating a great surprise for Senra users! You are truly an inspiration to me and many others, even those of us who may be a bit shy to let you know ♥♥ 😉 ♥♥

I've noticed sales of a few 512s we have in Zindra have really slowed since last week of August. I think they normally pick up for a week or so around Hallowe'en and then around American Thanksgiving and then steady good again starting in early January remaining steady until late summer. Zindra 512's were/are usually a quick turnaround with a week to 3 weeks to sell them in active sales times. 512s seem to sell pretty quick and easy on Zindra because there's almost no Abandoned Land there. I've not really sold much on the rest of Mainland with any sort of regularity. The only Mainland we have for sale at the moment is in Tecta between Park Way Linden Road and Protected water. I've purposely left my build there and not included 2 small rez zones with the land. Its been sitting there for ages, but I dearly love that build so I'm not sorry its not sold yet. Other parcels I've sold on Mainland have been to people I know, neighbours, (so those have been for L$0 or a very low price and have usually done it when attempting to reduce tier before the next due date) and a few odd parcels we just toyed with buying, decorating and selling. I have a few questions for you (or for anyone selling or in the Real Estate in SL business to respond to if you wish): 1. Do you 'stage' your parcels with landscaping, buildings or furniture while they are for sale? 2. Do you use a Land Group to buy and sell land? 3. Are you over or under the 'magic' 1 full Region of tier in total? 4. Do you set your parcels for Sale or Rent to get income from both possibilities? 5. How often and where do you advertise? I ask these because I'm RL retired from a Real Estate-related career since 2010 and I'm curious about the RL/SL differences there might be.

Finding out about or meeting people like your friend is one of the nicest reasons I love SL ♥ I know of many micro and macro sized Land Barons in SL and I appreciate them all, however I don't admire them all, especially the anything-for-a-possible-L$ variety 😉 I would whole-heartedly support any good business plan proposed to me in any form as long as I can envision it being beneficial to SL because I believe SL has an important place in the current RL world and its future. I feel LL is doing a very good job in keeping SL online and evolving. Nothing and no one is perfect and that gives us all something to do and work toward but never achieve... the joy is in the process, in this moment. What has happened or may happen is largely irrelevant to this moment.

LOL I currently pay tier for 1.25 Regions of Mainland (1/2 Region is a G Rated Destination I donate tier to support) and I have paid for up to 3.75 Regions of Mainland at most for a while, so I guess I'm a micro-Baron classed Land Owner. I've never made a profit using SL because that has never been my intention, but I could have if I really put my mind to it. I'm retired (since age 46) but did have a nicely profitable RL Real Estate-related career which currently allows me to enjoy a lovely leisurely RL and SL ♥

Pro rata based on actual time owned land per square metre (in 16 m2 increments) can still be discounted on a scale (more m2 owned = less cost per m2)

LL has changed their policy to a fee-based income rather than land fee income stream a couple of years ago. They will continue to charge fees for land use as they do have to pay AWS to host the land, but they won't need to incorporate the cost of all the current Abandoned Land because someone else will be paying for those costs. If 200 or 2000 Regions covered in massive skydomes rezzed in a stack from 4096m down to the ground on Mainland just disappear and sell or Abandon Land I will cheer uproariously!! ♥ Let any and all who don't want anything to change but never cease to complain dump all of their Mainland in favour of... what else?? (not really... I'm just imagining what if) and I will be in support morally and possibly financially, of any enterprising idea I like... just because I can and I have that right ♥ There can certainly be guidelines created to prevent misuse, but I know of many places for sale (even a couple of 512's we own on Zindra) which are completely decorated and furnished, set for Sale and used/tested/misused by actual land shoppers or for a 'quickie' and that doesn't bother me at all. Sure there will be some who manage to hack anything to get something for cheaper or for nothing... but at least some portion of that land will be paid for by a Landowner rather than solely by LL (and accordingly charged to us land Owners as a cost of operating contiguous Abandoned Land). Change is inevitable and necessary for everything to evolve... or it will cease to exist. Nothing will ever change unless someone changes it no matter how much complaining is voiced. This "Reduced Tier Land For Sale" proposal could be accomplished by a private (non LL) Land Group, but I certainly couldn't do it by myself. It would also be a longer term investment before any significant profit would be realized... but an LL supported (even if just by LL's donation of some tier to said Group) Land Group would provide a much quicker return of investment and profit for all investors, plus another possible reduction of Land Use Fees for all... so we'll see what happens... or doesn't happen and we can all simply Keep Calm and Carry On ♥♥

@Zalificent Corvinus You are too right in some respects, but glorious Mainland doesn't have (and never will) have a covenant to enforce any sort of building guidelines except for the ToS. We can think of those builds 'of questionable taste' as some form of 'Art'... grit your teeth, wear blinkers or keep hoping that one day they will fail to pay tier and the Governor will return their stuff so someone else can build their own version of art on that land. Since Bellisseria came online, I personally have seen Mainland receiving a pretty appealing makeover slowly (but surely) it is reflecting the complete current freedom we champion so heartily in our dreams of complete equality for everyone. The natural 'improvement' of Mainland has already begun, since Bellisseria provided a stunning example of extensive contiguous beauty and infrastructure some of the people who are ready to move up from the Bellisserian 'starter home' (according to its original purpose) are making those Mainland improvements. Some who choose to move from Bellisseria but still want the community and infrastructure of large contiguous land (or at least a proximity to it) have bought Mainland and made it really lovely, which has naturally improved its value and urged some of those sadly outdated builds to be sold and updated and we have all benefitted already by the small reduction of Land Use Fees for all. SL Mainland is the closest most will ever come to feeling complete freedom and fair market value of Mainland and that can't be a bad thing in the long run ♥ I'd be happy (and a bit scared) if LL asked you to be a Mole and look after making guidelines for any possible LL supported Land for Sale idea 😉 because even as Mainland for Sale would look amazing, you might be a bit too strict about the standards ordinary Residents would have to live up to in order to be considered 'acceptable' and qualify for a reduced rate of tier in any 'LL supported' Land for Sale. What I proposed wasn't necessarily a 'decorating Abandoned Land' project, but more a keep Land Prices Fair for everyone by LL charging for it pro rata. That will ultimately lead to some land flipping as some ambitious SLRealtors will buy and decorate-to-sell-land-for-profit... but that won't be a bad thing either because if land doesn't sell they re-decorate or reduce price to sell faster and someone else can take up the challenge. In future, empty rolling hills will be something you will only see if you pay the tier for it (hehe, optimistically) 😉 If LL will offer some form of Land Fee discount tier rate for land which is for Sale, that will enable more Abandoned Land to be paid for by land owners in some form or another as we will have, at all times, and on a whim, have the ability and option to decide... I think I'll buy some Land and see if I can make something nice... or sell-able and as soon as it does (or doesn't) we can carry right on doing what we do... paying for exactly the amount of m2 we want/need to, for exactly the amount of time we want/need to. ♥

If you're interested I will contribute 1024 m2 of tier to a Land Group for you to do a 'test build' to try and sell. I do love a challenge and idk any 'popular' default terrain land selling Residents... but if this proposal/idea works... you could be the first one! 😉

One Resident can make a difference on Mainland. Have you ever passed a beautiful parcel and WOW'd? If such inspires you to build something, then that first Resident has already paid it forward! If both those builds inspire a WOW... and so on ♥♥ in a while we will all be $$Lindillionaires$$!!

Another relevant positive observation: Abandoned Land tier cost is actually bourne by everyone in SL who pays LL anything which contributes to their income. Its not 'free' of tier just because it has been abandoned... LL must keep it online because Mainland is contiguous and we can't have pilots or explorers running into void Regions! So... the more Abandoned Land which can be sold to a buyer... the less cost to LL for keeping it online... and concurrently the less land LL has to fund from its own income... the lower land costs will be. In case you didn't know or remember... We recently did get a reduction in land use fees! The more Abandoned Land we can improve and sell, the more Land tier fees can be reduced by LL !! I think you can extrapolate the results... win for LL... win for Land Owners (Both Buyers and Sellers) as the land prices will truly reflect the market value... the land-cutters-for-profit will go out of business as there will be less and less reason for people to Abandon Land because it will be at least as valuable as the L$1 per m2 which Governor Linden charges for run of the mill Abandoned Land currently.

Most Mainland is +4/-4 m ( 8 m of difference all tolled) which is not too bad for most buildings. That's probably larger than RL would consider structurally safe, depending on the RL ground stability. If you can create mesh, you could custom build a mound shape with a 'dent' in it to compensate for a little extra terraform allowance. There are all kinds of cantilever builds which would work well on the steepest of SL slopes. Also by using the LL ground textures on the mesh mound it could blend flawlessly with existing terrain... I don't think this would be a good idea to use on land intended for sale unless it can be transferred to the buyer, if they want it... as that would be a form of misrepresentation of what the land actually looks like (which no one would want to be responsible for). 😉 I think you would be an excellent Resident to give this a try! You have a lot of experience landscaping and decorating and perhaps the challenge of using Mainland terrain could be fun for you, or for others. Maybe you could make a new Topic challenging others to show off builds built with (only?) Mainland default textures?

Here's some interesting RL builds on hillsides to consider. Perhaps something like these could work in SL?

But.... pictures are worth a thousand words! 😉

I'd buy that! Do you have a SLurl? As always, I admire your ability to think outside the box... boat !

Whoa! It is all beautiful! The hills are a challenge to your inner landscape architecture skills!! 😉 As in RL, hillsides and shores are the MOST desirable and beautiful places. I think any land for sale should be esthetically suited to the land as a whole, such as not a palm treed tropical build on the icy mountainside of Corsica, maybe some sort of rule about 'must use the original land textures' or something which can be done with some creative thinking... but that could ensure that every buyer understands what the land actually looks like before they purchase it. What do you think, @Lewis Nerd ?

Possibly a pertinent opinion: I also wish we could pay tier pro rata to Linden Lab. It could still be scalable as to cost going down vs greater amount of m2 AND to only be charged for tier for the actual days you own it not billing for a whole month for 1 second of going over your tier level. So many times... I've put off buying land until I can get my tier due date and sale of some parcel of land completed to coincide so I can buy a new parcel I want. It would be nice if there was some way to have a way to count land for Sale charged at a reduced rate (providing it meets certain criteria set out by LL) so that we aren't forced to Abandon nice places and leave the land empty, deserted and so much less appealing to possible buyers. Mainland could be so beautiful if the vast areas of Abandoned Land were decorated. Maybe @Patch Linden could read this and think of a solution/idea to address the Abandoned Land and no private auction policy/rules? (you know, in his 'spare time'! 😉

@BilliJo Aldrin and @Alwin Alcott I saw that you and someone else had already given the same answer as me AFTER I clicked Submit. So sorry and loads for respect! I really should read the entire thread before I start offering opinions! ♥♥

That's a good point but I LOVE my Belli Camper so much I could never bear to part with it. I love having a second home (or 5) to go to if I get caught in the Restart Tuesday Race 😉

If you, right now, pay USD $31 per month and own your 1/8 of Mainland and a 1024 in Bellisseria, If you create a land group and donate all your tier to it (also you will need an Alt, even a basic non-premium Alt - because you need 2 members to keep a Group) , you get 10% more square meters automatically, without needing to pay anything extra at all. 8192 + 10% Group Land Bonus = 9011.2 = 819.2 extra m2 of extra tier so you can buy up to 819.2 without paying any additional tier. You'll only need additional tier donation if you want more than the 10% Group Land Bonus. 😃

We went on a Welcome Club group tour to Neverland http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ashoka/156/79/24 today and found some terrific treasures on the Treasure Hunt there... This build is loaded with scenic views, hidden treasure and loads of fun for Lost Boys and tourists

Monday Tour with Andee Cooper was to Neverland http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ashoka/156/79/24 <---SLurl (gif above courtesy of Doc Rast) Truly a magical place built by Raven Frostwych ...full of adventure, a Treasure Hunt and soooooo many wonderful photogenic spots it shouldn't be missed Severin took some beautiful photos around WelcomeHUB... Thank you so much for sharing your great photos, Severin!

A busy Happy Saturday gathering

Second Life Mentor Christopher eyes Arlo Jr the baby fox suspiciously... and appears totally gobsmacked by lovely Tams Renaissance Faire attire... Happy Fridayyyyyy everyone!!! Beautiful Tams ready for the Renaissance Festival http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ren Fest 3/21/181/26 and Seven's casual Friday ensemble with flip flops! billy Madison hanging around the Signpost... thinking about stuff, looking for trouble... ! 😉 Beautiful Nia Whiskers Modified an older avatar into a stunning new look... absolutely a WOW look and always an inspiration 😻

SAVE MINI MOLE!!! Come and save Team 2 from the Pillory!!! Vote for Team 2!!! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ren Fest 3/21/181/25 Come visit Renaissance Festival !!