KB2/Buying land

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NOTE: This article is about buying parcels of land. For information on estates and private regions, link to Buying private regions


How to buy land

After you have found the land you want, it's time to buy it. Buying land in Second Life is easy:

  1. Right-click the parcel you want to purchase.
  2. Choose About Land.
  3. Click the Buy Land button.
  4. Review the purchase information.
  5. Click OK.

Of course, it's best to know what you're getting into, so take note of the following tips:

KBnote.png Note: Parcel-level maturity settings govern where they appear in Search window results. Region-level maturity settings govern actual maturity-based access to land.
  • Hit Ctrl-Alt-Shift-P on your keyboard to see parcel boundary lines. Make sure you know what you're purchasing.
  • Take note of the About Land listings for the land's area in square meters.
  • From the About Land window's General tab, check to see if objects are included in the sale.
  • Read the Primitives Parcel Supports entry in the About Land window's Objects tab. This indicates how many primitives you can place on this land.
KBcaution.png Important: The Simulator Object Usage entry is NOT a measure of the object usage you will receive if you don't own the land yet!
  • If you have the Advanced menu active, try hiding objects by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Shift-1 on your keyboard to make sure there isn't a hidden "hole" within the property that you're not actually purchasing with the rest of the land.
  • Make sure you're happy with the overall shape of the land. Most land in Second Life can only be raised 4m above or below its original position, and the previous owner may have reached that limit already (i.e., the land you wish to raise may have already been raised 4m).

Tier

Tier is a key concept to understand when it comes to Second Life land ownership. There's common confusion about what "tier" means and what it's all about, so hopefully this page will help you straighten it out.

KBcaution.png Important: These are the simplified basics. There are exceptions, be sure to see below.

In general usage, "tier" can mean a "rank".

In Second Life:

  • "Tier" refers to the maximum amount of land you can own on the Second Life mainland, measured in square meters (m2).
  • "Available tier" or variations like "free tier" (free in this instance means "it can be used", not "free of charge") refer to the remaining, potential land you can own, not counting land you already own.
    • For example, "My tier is 1024m2. I own a 256m2 parcel, so I have 768m2 of free tier. If I buy a 384m2 parcel, that leaves me with 384m2 of tier that's available."
  • A Premium account includes of 512m2 tier, which can be used for a free Linden Home, which is a rather pretty house on a 512m2 parcel.
  • Tier is not the land itself. It's your potential container to own land. Think of it like this: each land parcel is a toy block like Lego (larger parcels are bigger blocks), and tier is a box. Buying land "fills the box with blocks".
    • For example, if you have "4,608m2 of available tier" — the Premium account's included 512m2 + 4,096m2 additional tier level — then you can own any combination of land parcels up to a total of 4,608m2. So owning a 1,024m2 parcel + a 2,048m2 parcel + a 1,536m2 parcel = 4,608m2 which completely fills your tier.
  • If you need more land, you need to upgrade. By upgrading to a higher tier, you also increase your land use fees, but you also get a "bigger box for blocks".
    • Increasing your tier level is sometimes called "tiering up".
  • Tier is not the same as land use fees; the service and cost are connected but different. Each tier level is tied to Land Use Fees, which is where you change your tier level.
    • Tier is not a currency like Linden Dollars. This is especially important for new landowners to understand, as some experienced Residents use it inaccurately (they know what they mean by it, but you might not).
    • For example, "I pay for tier" or "I pay tier fees", NOT "I pay tier".
  • When purchasing a land parcel, you're notified if buying it will increase your tier.
  • Tiers don't have formal ranking names aside from the amount of land you can hold. But to have a mainland tier, you need to have a Premium account.

Does a Premium account always have 512m2 of tier?

To be accurate, a Premium account has an included minimum 512m2 tier. Let's call it "512m2 base tier". As long as you have a Premium account, it's there with you, and one of the perks of being Premium.

You can always increase your tier on the Land Use Fees page, which adds to the 512m2 base tier. For example, if you upgrade to the "8,192m2" tier level, that's actually:

512m2 base tier + 8,192m2 additional tier = 8,704m2.

Say for some reason, you wanted to downgrade the additional tier to 0m2. That means:

512m2 base tier + 0m2 additional tier = 512m2.

So yes, as a Premium member, you can't have less than 512m2 tier.

Since a Premium account includes a 512m2 of tier, does it also come with free land?

With the introduction of Linden Homes as a benefit for all Premium account holders, yes, if you choose a Linden Home. Previously, the answer was no: you had to buy the land separately, which you can still do if you want, but why not give a Linden Home a try? It's free, after all.

Exceptions

This list is partial.

How to find land to buy

There are a couple different ways to find land to acquire in Second Life.

  • Click the Search button at the bottom of the Second Life window, then click the Land Sales tab: It shows land other Residents have for sale. You can click the All Types and PG & Mature dropdown menus to look for specific types of land (such as mainland, private regions, or land up for auction), and narrow down your results by price and size too.
  • Looking for land on the mainland near you? Open the map (click the Map button at the bottom of the Second Life window) and select the Land for Sale checkbox. Land that's for sale will be highlighted on the map.
  • Second Life's Auctions also list land parcels for sale, which sell to the highest bidder. Auction parcels can sell for Linden Dollars (L$) as well as US dollars (USD$).

Land sales in private regions

The mechanics of buying and selling land in a Private Region is very similar to the process used on the Mainland. However, there are a few key differences that buyers and sellers should take into account when considering making a land transaction in a Private Region.

Similarities

Differences

  • Parcels in Private Regions are governed by Covenants. A Covenant is similar to a contract defined by the owner of the Private Region; you must agree to it before buying the land. It may outline such details as local theme, rental fees, architectural regulations, and rules of behavior in the Private Region.
  • If you buy land in a Private Region, it does not count against your Land Use Tier. However, the owner of the Private Region may charge you a similar fee for continuing use of the land.
  • The Private Region owner may evict you from your parcel in a Private Region at any time. Private Region owners have absolute power over their Estates, and are within their rights to reclaim land as they see fit. Make sure to read your Region's Covenant closely for terms of use before you buy your parcel.
  • Private Region owners have use of the Region/Estate window>which includes such Region access options as:
    • Access restricted to Residents based on payment status
    • Region maturity can be set to PG, Mature,or Adult
KBtip2.png Tip: If a Region owner changes the maturity setting for their Region, it may have an affect on who can access your parcel and view search listings made from it. Read the Region Covenant and communicate with the Region owner (or Estate Manager where applicable) to avoid any disruptions to your parcel settings or access.

Confirming land use tier

You can always log into your Second Life account summary to manage your land use fees and land.

Land use tiers and pricing can be found at your account's Land Fees page

Protected land

What's the deal with Protected Land?

Protected Land is Linden owned, for use by all Residents. It may or may not contain roads, but it does provide a right of way through any given Region. It is usually lightly developed, which aids overall Region performance by not using prim or script resources. Protected Land can not be altered or sold to Residents.

Can I build on Protected Land?

We cannot grant specific permission for building on Protected Land, which includes builds that "overhang" onto Protected Land. If you decide to attempt to build on Protected Land, or in the skies over it, do so at your own risk. If another Resident reports your build, or it hampers the use of Second Life, it may be returned without notice.

What about the sky above Protected Land? Can I build there?

The sky above Protected Land is still Protected Land; if you build something there, your creation may not last very long.

Trees or objects on Protected Land is encroaching on my parcel. What can I do?

Please submit the issue in detail in a support ticket. Please include the specific location, Region name and X,Y location, so that we can investigate your claim.

How is Empty land different?

"Empty" land is usually a full region that still needs to be set up as Protected Land. If you are concerned about the status of a plot named, "Empty", please submit detailed information in a support ticket for investigation.

How objects on land are calculated

Overview

Each Region is exactly 65536 square meters, and supports 15,000 primitive objects. Divided evenly, this means that each Region can support approximately 0.229 objects per square meter. In practical terms, this means a standard 512 square meter parcel can support up to 117 objects, a 1024 square meter parcel can support up to 228 objects, and so forth.

More than one parcel in a Region

All parcels belonging to the same owner (or group) in the same Region share their object capacity- this is represented as Simulator primitive usage in the About Land window. In this way, it is possible for the Primitives on parcel number to be higher than the Primitives parcel supports number.

To view the About Land window, stand on a parcel and select World > About Land. For information about objects on the land, select the Objects tab in the About Land window.

Vehicles and parcel limits

Objects that are Selected / sat upon do not count against the Primitives on parcel count. This allows vehicles to pass freely through parcels that might not otherwise be able to support them. Remember that a Region can only support 15,000 objects, regardless of parcel settings- if a Region is full, you cannot drive a vehicle into it.

Object Bonus Factor

In Private Regions, the owner may set a Region Object Bonus Factor to increase the number of objects supported by each parcel. This setting multiplies the number of objects each parcel can support by the Bonus Factor. It is important to note that this does not increase the maximum number of objects supported by the Region, which means that not all parcels in the Region will be able to reach their listed maximum capacity.

Can I buy mainland parcels directly from Linden Lab?

Linden Lab does not usually set land for direct sale on the mainland. However, there are two special cases in which you can obtain mainland parcels from us:

Auctions

We regularly auction off mainland parcels via our website. Auction land sales function differently than regular land sales; for extensive information on Second Life land auctions, check out the Second Life Land Auctions page.

Other Special Cases

In some special cases, we may sell abandoned mainland parcels to individual Residents. Please see the Abandoned Land FAQ for more information. That's it! Remember that you can buy land from your fellow Residents, and if you want a whole Region to yourself, you can buy a Private Region from our Land Store.

Renting land

Land rental is a thriving business in Second Life; if you own a large amount of land or a Private Estate, it can be profitable for you to lease some of your land to other Residents. Private Estate owners also have several additional tools available to them to help facilitate land rental.

Basic Rental

Rentals in Second Life consist of a tenant/landlord structure. Tenants pay a landlord a regular fee for the use of a defined quantity of the landlord's resources. Those resources may vary from situation to situation; some landlords rent predetermined parcels of land, while other may charge for a finite number of objects allowed in a Region.

There are many ways to collect rental fees from tenants; some landlords prefer informal direct payments and real paper record-keeping, while others use Resident-created, automated rental machines. You should settle on a collection method you are most comfortable with, and inform your tenants upfront about your payment policy.

KBtip2.png Tip: To learn more about the different rental collection options available, try asking the opinions of some existing landlords. They have the benefit of experience, and may be able to help you choose a solution that works best for you.

You will also need to determine what level of control you would like your tenants to have over your rented land. One common method involves the creation of a "rental group". The rental group forms a common bond between your land and your tenants; as long as the parcel is set to the rental group, and you tenants use their rental group tags, they will be able to place objects on your parcel without fear of autoreturn. For more information on how group land and group objects work, see the Groups category in this Knowledge Base.

To evict a deadbeat tenant from group-owned land, you can eject them from the land rental group and return their objects from the land parcel.

Private Region Rental

Estate owners have a number of tools at their disposal to make land rental easier. In addition to greater control over the general environment in their Regions, Estate owners may divide their Private Regions into parcels for sale. When a Resident buys a parcel in a Private Region, he gains control over that parcel as though he owns it. This added feature eliminates the need for rental groups or complicated rights-granting rituals sometimes associated with rental properties.

To evict a deadbeat tenant from land in your Private Region, you can choose the Reclaim Land... button from the About Land window:

Kbsd kb reclaim land.jpg

KBnote.png Note: Parcels bought by Residents in Private Regions are still technically owned and paid for by the Estate owner. As the owner of a Private Region, you will still need to determine a way to collect rental fees from your tenants. For more information on Private Region land sales, see "How do land sales in Private Regions work?"
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