What is the best way to get a home?

[Rolig Loon]

No matter what kind of home you have, you need to own or rent land to put it on.  A Linden home come with its own 512 sq m parcel.  If you buy or build your own home, you need to get a piece of land first.   See >>> http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Buying-land/ta-p/700043 and the embedded links.  If you decide to buy a home from a builder, you'll find LOADS of good ones to choose fun, and you'll have fun shopping.

[Rolig Loon]

No matter what kind of home you have, you need to own or rent land to put it on.  A Linden home come with its own 512 sq m parcel.  If you buy or build your own home, you need to get a piece of land first.   See >>> http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Buying-land/ta-p/700043 and the embedded links.  If you decide to buy a home from a builder, you'll find LOADS of good ones to choose fun, and you'll have fun shopping.

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello Aaries and welcome to SL Forums. Let's start from the fact that if you want your own home, you need a land to rezz it. That means (assuming that you rent or buy a land in a Private Estate) a weekly or montly tier. The tier depends of the number of prims you are allowed to use. More prims, usually bigger parcels = bigger tier. About the houses now, there are unlimited offers of furnished or un-furnished (empty) houses. You can find them at Marketplace and for most of them is possible to go to see them already rezzed or to rezz them. For the beginning, my feeling is that is no bad idea to buy a full furnished house. This way you will have a ready house to live. After, anytime you wish, you can replace the furniture / decoration with new one at your time.

The second option is to upgrade to Premium Member. If so, you get a parcel on Mailand 512sq m2 with a Linden Home (it is empty) and 117 prims to use as you wish. There is no any additional cost. If you need something bigger or more prims, you have to buy another parcel on Mainland with a montly fee (in US$).

The third option (usually is the cheapest) is to rent a ready furnished house or skybox in world. Imagine that you will get a ready house, but you will not have the right to add or remove stuff there and generally to decorate it as you wish.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

No one can answer this question for you. This may be a long answer but to make the choice that is best for you, you need to asses what your needs are. Some things to think about:

In General:

Consider such things as how much time you spend in SL, what you want to do at your house (from throwing lavish parties to just use it to change clothes), how much privacy you want, and if obtaining, decorating and landscaping is something you would find entertaining or a chore, Then consider what your budget is.  How much can you afford to spend monthly and how much you can afford to spend to furnish and landscape it.  Are you going to pay this with RL money or do you have a job or other source of income in world to cover these things.

Many people start out in a Linden home, but quickly become unsatisfied with it, while others who just want a place to change clothes and hang with a friend or two occasionally find them satisfactory.  Here are some other things to consider about each:

Linden homes:

This may be a good choice for you if your unsure how much you want to invest in SL, you don't need anything lavish just basic, or you can't afford to spend much.  You get a limited choice of architectural styles.  The land is already set up and you can not change the terraform or landscaping.  It is empty and gives you 117 prims to furnish it with.  This isn't much.  To maximize your decorating you will have to buy low prim furniture and even then the resulting decor may be too sparse for your taste.  It is also on a sim with a lot of other homes near yours, so you won't have much privacy. 

Other Homes:

The sky is the limit.  You will have a wide choice of architectural styles and price range. You can buy or rent. Some come completely furnished, others are empty so you can decorated it yourself.  You are not limited to 117 prims, only the number of prims that the land it will sit on supports.  So if you can afford it, you can buy a plot that that gives you enough to suit your needs and have fun decorating.  You can get as detailed as you'd like when decorating as long as you can afford the land to support the prims you need.  You can buy or rent land that is already terraformed and landscaped or do this yourself.  You can choose your climate and the location (waterfront to high mountains).  The terraform and landscape can be done in such a way as to block out neighbors views to give you the level of privacy you seek.  You can also put your home (a skybox or house on a platform) up in the air for more privacy and just landscape the lot below.

Go see the types of Linden homes and other homes and land available and find out their cost.  Once you see something you like, do a bit of window shopping to find furnishings you like and can afford.  You will soon be able to make a choice that is right for you.