First Time Home Buyer: A Few Newbie Questions

[flokofcgulls]

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to find my way around and get established, my next major goal is to begin working towards the purchase of my own home.

My first question is, should I go ahead and be prepared to purchase a pre-built home from another player? I prefer the idea of buying a deed and staking a claim on my own, but I realize that most, if not all, of the available land has already been claimed.

If I have to purchase a house from another player, I'm sure the land included will increase the price substantially, especially when the quality of its location is brought into consideration. Which leads to my second question...

What kind of prices do the various types and sizes of houses usually go for? I found the vendor deed prices on the wiki, but I'd be willing to guess they cost more in the "real world". I've also looked around the forums for this info, but the ones I've found were always individual sales in special locations, and sometimes were available for items other than just gold.

I know there's a lot of factors that could affect these prices, just looking for some general estimates so I can plan ahead.

[Pirul]

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to find my way around and get established, my next major goal is to begin working towards the purchase of my own home.

My first question is, should I go ahead and be prepared to purchase a pre-built home from another player? I prefer the idea of buying a deed and staking a claim on my own, but I realize that most, if not all, of the available land has already been claimed.

Depends on what type of houose you'd like, and where'd you like it. If you're buying a small house, there are plenty of spots out there to place yourself, and pretty good ones at that. If you're buying something larger, there might be spots to place, but I'd just save myself the grief and buy from another player.

If I have to purchase a house from another player, I'm sure the land included will increase the price substantially, especially when the quality of its location is brought into consideration. Which leads to my second question...

Depends on your definition of "substantially". My rough estimate is that buying small/medium houses, in non-primo locations from another player carries a premium of anywhere between 15 and 25%. Meaning, a small house can be bought for deed + 5k -> deed + 10k, while a brick/patio can be bought for deed + 20k -> deed + small. Even Towers can go anynwhere from deed + small -> deed + 100k.

What kind of prices do the various types and sizes of houses usually go for? I found the vendor deed prices on the wiki, but I'd be willing to guess they cost more in the "real world". I've also looked around the forums for this info, but the ones I've found were always individual sales in special locations, and sometimes were available for items other than just gold.

I know there's a lot of factors that could affect these prices, just looking for some general estimates so I can plan ahead.

The actual deed costs exactly what it says it does in the wiki. Each house is an individual transaction, at a "unique" location, so...you can take them as guidelines, tho. Also, keep in mind some people like to ask for more than other people are willing to pay. Thus be wary of old threads that have no bidding.

Of course that is only my opinion, and might be completely off base.

[flokofcgulls]

Hi Pirul! I've found your posts super helpful these past few weeks, this one was no exception!

Depends on what type of houose you'd like, and where'd you like it. If you're buying a small house, there are plenty of spots out there to place yourself, and pretty good ones at that. If you're buying something larger, there might be spots to place, but I'd just save myself the grief and buy from another player.

I've given this some thought, and I feel it would most likely be in my best interest to get a small first, so I would have a place to work on resist magic, and get some additional storage. In addition, it would give me some time to practice my good house security practices before moving on to something bigger.

I've also read that, when the time comes to engage in a transaction with another player of that magnitude, that it is recommended to utilize one of the trusted brokers on the server.

Depends on your definition of "substantially". My rough estimate is that buying small/medium houses, in non-primo locations from another player carries a premium of anywhere between 15 and 25%. Meaning, a small house can be bought for deed + 5k -> deed + 10k, while a brick/patio can be bought for deed + 20k -> deed + small. Even Towers can go anynwhere from deed + small -> deed + 100k.

This was quite a surprise, I had expected much more of a markup (my imagination was wandering around the 500k-750k mark for a small). Especially for the towers, I would have expected much more than that. Great to know!

The actual deed costs exactly what it says it does in the wiki. Each house is an individual transaction, at a "unique" location, so...you can take them as guidelines, tho. Also, keep in mind some people like to ask for more than other people are willing to pay. Thus be wary of old threads that have no bidding.

Of course that is only my opinion, and might be completely off base.

I think I may have worded this poorly originally. My thoughts were that the deed itself had the vendor price as the wiki stated, but then there would be an unknown markup cost when land and location were taken into consideration. Although you answered this as well, so now I have a much better idea what to expect.

Thanks for the reply, greatly appreciated!

[Pirul]

Anytime!

And yes, for any type of large transaction where you can get scammed, better play it safe and use a broker.