Land Ownership vs. Renting or Leasing

Owning land in Second Life is a joy. You can build all kinds of things on it and have parties and do hobbies and show all your friends.

What is land ownership? It’s when you take responsibility for the land. You control it. You handle the monthly payments. And you get to sell it. You acquire it through a purchase. Each month or week you pay tier on it.

What is a lease? A lease is where you take ownership of the land, but you don’t have to pay a purchase price. Instead, you only pay a monthly fee. You don’t have the ability to sell the land.

What is renting? Renting is when you don’t have control of the land. Instead, you have permission to put your objects on the land and live there. Someone else owns the land. Typically, you pay the land owner a weekly or monthly rental fee.

What is “tier?” Tier is one of the most confusing words in Second Life. It means the amount that a land owner pays on a monthly or weekly basis to retain ownership of the land.

Why do I pay tier when I bought the land? Doesn’t ownership mean that it’s totally yours? Within Second Life, everything costs money on a monthly basis because it’s on the internet. Like electricity, you may have purchased the electrical equipment to wire your house in real life. However, you still pay the electric company for your ongoing use of electricity. Second Life is the same way. You may own the land rights. You can resell the land. But no matter where you go in all of Second Life, you will always make a regular payment for the land you own. Otherwise, the lights get turned off.