Becoming a Landlady

I was looking through my landmarks the other day and clicked on one of my all time favorites. When I landed at what used to be Blues by the Lake, I was saddened to see that it was no longer there...gone...kaput! The land had been abandoned and was completely devoid of anything. I stood there for the longest time, so tempted to purchase the land, since it overlooks a lake, which has been recently redeveloped into a beautiful fishing spot. But I caught myself just in time and didn't push the 'buy' button. Instead, I decided to go look around and see what other types of parcels are available on the Linden Mainland.

No more Blues by the Lake!  :(

Before I continue, I should explain that one of my favorite things to do in Second Life is to take properties and fix them up. I love to place houses and I love to landscape and place other decorative elements around. Some people have told me that I am good at doing this. All I know is that I enjoy it so much and I can easily lose track of time when I am happily fixing up a property.

I have never owned land on the Mainland before. I have only owned property in private estates where the tier is paid to the estate owner, rather than the Lindens. I had always considered that Mainland property was not as desirable, since you cannot control what kind of neighbors you might have and how they might develop or landscape their land.

I flew around, looking at parcels for sale (of which there are an abudance!!). Eventually, I came across a nice little area with sailable Linden water and some parcels for sale. One particular parcel seemed so perfect and located right on the shoreline. I checked the price...it seemed reasonable. I clicked on the menu to purchase the property and just held it there for a REALLY long time before I finally took the plunge and pressed the 'buy' button and immediately thought, oh no, what have I done!

I am now the owner of a parcel on the Linden Mainland!

Now, WHY do I need a parcel on the Mainland when I have beautiful property in the New England estate? That's an excellent question. And I've been asking myself the same question, actually. I thought...well, this can be a little place for me to escape. Then I realized that SL is ALREADY an escape. Do I need an escape from my escape?

Since the deed was done, I went ahead and placed a really cute little beach cottage on the property and began landscaping. I soon discovered that you cannot terraform Linden land extensively...they have built-in constraints so you cannot vary the land too much from how the Lindens created it. But you can do some tweaking...and tweaking I did. I placed trees and flowers around, some rocks with water spray and other decorative things. I stood back and admired what I had created and thought, ok...now what?

Then I had a brilliant idea! I would rent it out and become a landlady! So...I pulled out a rental box that I had created last year and never used. I already even had a group created...Schimmer Properties. I had a logo. I was set! I placed a classified ad for my Sea Haven Cottage and waited for people to beat down the door wanting to rent my little cottaage. I set a people counter out...and went back the next day to see how many had come looking. I was surprised...the count was...ZERO!  I signed and figured, oh well. I should have known better.

But less than 24 hours after I set it for rent, I did receive notice that it had, indeed, been rented. I met my new tenant and made sure she was all set up. I acted like I was experienced in the land rental business. I'm not sure I had her fooled though.

She has decorated the cottage in such a cute way! I think she will be the perfect tenant...especially for a new landlady like me. I sure hope she decides to stay for while.

Sea Haven Cottage...my first rental!

To my tenant...if you are reading this...please stay!