The Best Bargain for Land Prices

Photograph Credits: The Torch SL Guide.com (now called as: The Torch Entertainment Guide)

It’s the holiday season. Halloween just passed and Christmas is due after the Thanksgiving. In this merry time, we are all looking for good deals not only in real life but also in SL. From clothing stores to accessories to gadgets and avatar components, many stores are offering good deals. The land barons are not far behind as well.

Victoria Chung is offering a 1024 sqm of 230 prims for just L$203/week. One such offer, I was quick to bag. (P.S. Thanks to Lanai for this assignment or I wouldn’t have looked around for such bargains) There are others who are offering L$1 for 1 prim. Even though, I own a piece of land, my habit of looking for bargain deals have been there since noob days. I am sure there are people like me who are still up for bargains. Anyways, I started asking a few of my friends what was their take on this issue.

Photography Credits: Google

• To make it simple, I asked the following questions:
• What is the reason you need a land for? For a shop, home or other reasons?
•  Do you prefer an inland parcel or a sea facing one?
• Are you renting from anyone at the moment?
• May I know the name of your Estate Owner?
• Do you usually look for cheap land rentals in http://search.secondlife.com?
• If you are given Bonus prims, do such deals attract you?
• What do you think the prices should be for a Full sim?

The replies are as follows:

Photography Credits: Iyath

Iyath: I would to have land for home and an entertainment area. A sea-facing is preferable because am planning for an entertainment, I would be routing the sea. Yes, my partner and I are renting from Jessica Chung. I took 2048 sqm and got close to 600 prims which i find quite sufficient. I search land based on service providers. I look for reliability rather than cheap. I will rather look at a parcel which is there for some time, though it’s expensive than going to a newbie who started it lately and selling it for less price. I would go GAGA when i get extra prims. I have no idea about the price of Full region. My dreams are not that big. For the land I use; considering I use it for commercial purpose and traffic i would get i will love to pay 650L$ per week.

Photography Credits: Kammie2

Kammie2: I would have a home facing the sea. I am renting for D'Alliez. I was referred and had the location I was looking for. No, I don’t look for cheap deals. I would consider a deal with Bonus prims, 1/4^th sim away from people.  According to me, the right price for a full sim would be 3K per week.

Photography Credits: Leala Spire

Leala Spire: I would have land for a home facing the sea. I'm an estate manager for a friend so rent free. SheaJane Carami but she has been out of SL for a year. I'm taking care of land for her. Yes, I look for cheap land deals in search. I like looking for good deals on homesteads or full regions. Bonus prim deals are interesting yes but not something that would weigh in a decision to buy. I look for price and prim count. I would love to see the prices come down a bit. Right now they are running 19K to 17K a week. I would move to have my own if the prices drop down to 14K or 15K a week.

Photography Credits: Lysa Clarence

Lysa Clarence: I want empty place, mature and look around nice. I mean not big walls no big building. If it is for shop I like that land with streets. Well i don’t rely on known names. I used to rent alot and when i say a lot means from many estates, other than mainland, I don’t like at all. I used to rent the most cheaply where I have to stay the most time usually from Chung family. But in all the places I stayed, this place where I`m staying now, I like the most. I like the name of the land and the place; it is on a corner with a bonus prim package with a reasonable price. I have rented for Hum4ever Magic of Chahit Estates; a South East corner parcel, Indian Paradise. People search cheap lands for many prims, although, I like a good price with good prims.

Photography Credits: Trinity Yazimoto

Trinity Yazimoto: If I had no land, I would have one for my store and my home. I don’t like beaches and sea in RL, so i don’t like in SL, my preference would be somewhere in mounts, but i don’t mind. My land has a view on the sea on one side. It opens the view; so i don’t hate it, well, let's say i don’t mind inland or sea facing, it’s equal for me. I have almost a 1/4 sim on a private estate from New found land estates. I don’t look for cheap deals. I have never thought to it. I am COO of an event that is quarterly. So, we look for a land each for 4 months. And I didn’t ever think to look there, I will next time. (Laughs) I look for at least 3500 prims, higher is better but then the price is a limit too. I never understood what is a Bonus prim. I have a bonus factor of 1.07 here where i am but I don’t know what it means. So well, to answer your question, as I never understood what it was, it never made a difference. The price of Full sim could be, well really less than what it is. I would say $200 USD max, which is a dream.

Irrespective of the size of the land, the prims offered, the price; there is a universal opinion that the Land prices are a bit higher. But considering the space is occupies on servers and giving the freedom to an individual, the price and prim count is still worth it.  People decide on the basis of their requirement. I also believe that the next step is the deal that is best at any point of time. The reason I rent a land is for workshop and office. Sandboxes don’t help me build with a auto-return factor. If you ask, is it worth it to rent a workshop, yes because it is my place to plunge into creativity. I usually prefer the inland to live because I like to see what my neighbors did to their place too; in short, it makes me feel that I belong to a community. I am renting from Victoria Chung, 2 estates on 2 different regions. I am always on the lookout for parcels/homes/skyboxes with cheap deals for both unfurnished and furnished. It is a habit that I have since my noob days; just like I keep an eye for the deals on outfits, gadgets, décor etc. I do not like Bonus prims, it is not a factor when I buy a land. If the factor is not right, it might cause lag for the Full Sim, including your neighbors. So, it is a no. As for the price of the Full sim, in my opinion I am willing to accept it, as I am aware of the maintenance cost for the server preserving my creations my dream even when I am sleeping.

*Note: The article was originally written for SL Enquirer.