Living in the lap of Luxory - Lacy Muircastle reporting ...

Luxory Estate is where the SLE have hung our hat for the past six months or so, but I've known Vanity in my personal capacity for at least six years.

I thought I'd share some insight with you about the beating heart of the community - Vanity Bonetto.

When she is not running the estate, this German lady is a Forex Trader in RL.  This means she trades currencies.   She said “I enjoy working from home and it perfectly matches my needs. This way I can watch things happening in Second Life while I get my RL work done on a second computer. Why leave home if you can manage things from your bedside?”

Suffering from a serious bout of flu, Vanity wandered in to Second Life way back in 2007.  She had to stay in bed for two weeks and was really bored. Someone told her about Second Life and she decided to check it out.   She recalled “On my very first day inworld I tried teleporting ... I double-clicked at a random spot on the map and crashed right into a new club owned by this crazy American guy. His name was Gaven Miles. He can still be found in search but he left Second Life years ago because his RL job left no room for other activities. Anyway, Gaven hired me on my first day inworld to manage his club.”

He was the reason she stayed in Second Life and after few weeks she purchased her first piece of land.  A cute open water island is how she described it.  She learned a lot about land from her first landlord and her own interest was piqued.  She decided that she should run her own little business in SL to pay her bills.

She started with four small rental homes on a tiny 4096 sqm parcel.   From those humble beginnings it has grown into a 16,000,000 sqm estate with hundreds of regions.  She said “I still remember purchasing my first sim, Vanity Beach in 2007, and from that moment on things went nuts. I doubled the size of the community every few weeks, people loved the way we decorated and managed our estate.  Demand was greater than supply at the time and it was a challenge to host all who were interested in joining us.”

Vanity was jobless in RL in 2007, and soon noticed that it could very well be possible to make a living from running the estate.   She said “While at first I only spent like 2 - 3 hours a day here, it soon consumed most of my free time.”  

Today Luxory spans over 200 regions, with close on 1500 residents who call Luxory their home, and the estate is still growing.  Recently they added 43 regions which they bought from another estate because they were sitting with a sold-out store.   Business continues to boom and they are considering acquiring further regions in March. 

I asked Vanity what made Luxory different from the other estates out there.  She said “I believe what our residents like the most about Luxory is our carefully decorated land and the fact that we have a support team on call 24/7.   We still check all our regions on a weekly basis and we uphold the rules in our covenant to guarantee beautiful and protected land for all our customers at all times. Our team is ready to assist you at all times - all my girls (yes, we are a girls-only-crew :) are well trained and we enjoy helping our residents to make their Second Life dreams come true.”

Luxory offers residential and commercial regions as well as separate areas for animal breeders. The commercial districts have hosted many of the top brands in Second Life for a number of years. If you run a business in Second Life and you’re looking for a safe location for your store, somewhere you can be assured that it will still be there when you wake up in the morning, Luxory is it.

What Vanity enjoys most about owning and running a residential estate in Second Life is being able to meet and help so many different people from all over the world.   She said “I love it when they are happy with their land and it also makes me a little proud. Especially when I read all the nice comments they leave in my mail. It means a lot to me. I also really enjoy working with my team - here at Luxory, we are one big family. There is no competition between our sales agents, they get paid an hourly wage and don't have to fight to make a sale to get paid a commission. Instead, they can concentrate on every single customer and really help them finding the perfect land matching their needs.”

At Luxory you are offered a variety of regions to choose from.  Luxory land has a unique look.  It comes fully decorated and terraformed, key-ready so-to-speak.  Many other estates sell flat, empty, square pieces of land and you have to do all the work, which if you’re not that good at terraforming and decorating can be pretty difficult and time consuming.  However, if you prefer to use your own landscaping and decorating skills on your land here you are free to return all their items and give it a go for yourself.  The team are ready to assist you for free if help is needed.

In the near future they plan on expanding as and when they see a good opportunity.  They at are constantly watching out for interesting regions to buy.   Vanity said “Like I just mentioned, a few weeks ago we were able to add 43 former "Fruit Island" regions to our estate and we are in negotiations with another estate at the moment.  Luxory is and will always be a safe haven for all who want to enjoy a well-managed estate without any worries about the future. We are here to stay! We are in very good standing with Linden Lab and our economic situation is more than stable thanks to many long-term-residents who have been with us for many years.”

In our ever evolving and constantly changing virtual world, there is a tranquil estate waiting for you to call home, whether it's residential or commercial - Luxory Estate.

http://www.luxoryestates.com

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LUXORY%20NORTH/37/221/23/

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Spotlight on the Town of Clearwater - Lacy Muircastle reporting ....

Welcome to the town of Clearwater.  Clearwater is a quaint New England coastal community along I-95 in Maine, comprised of eleven idyllic villages; Meadow Gardens, Paisley Park, Regency Park, Silver Falls, Angel Cove, Aloha Spirit Bay, ARAB Twilight, Riverview Cove, Liberty Hill, Steel Horses and Lakeside Falls, the heart of the town.  Each village has a laid back feel and an old world, coastal New England charm with the pace of daily life a bit slower than the city.

Also located in Clearwater is the village of Palila, home of the main operational station for their Coast Guard. The Clearwater Coast Guard serves all of Clearwater, protecting and safeguarding all waterways and providing support where needed to the local emergency services.  The Coast Guard is also responsible for all federal boating and aviation regulations, enforcement and licensing.

They are currently hiring for most town municipal services, including police, fire and hospital staff.  They also have a town court, a department of motor vehicles, as well a department of public works.  Private business ownership opportunities are available.

Family leisure activities include sailing, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, children's play park, 7seas fishing; and of course grocery shopping in their very own [LIFE2] market.

The couple that bring you the Town of Clearwater are Jericho Napoli and Daniella Clearwater.

Jericho Napoli hails from a small town on the East Coast of the United States and is a successful self-made businessman.

Daniella Clearwater is also from a small town on the North East Coast of the United States and works in public safety and has a law degree.  She says she found SL while surfing Facebook during an extremely boring game between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals.

Their rationale for wanting to create and maintain a region of their own was their desire to provide a fun and relaxed environment in which like-minded people can roleplay without the out of character drama seen at most places.  That and to give their residents a place where they feel like they belong and matter.  Each day they make the decision to continue this endeavour because they love what they do and they genuinely enjoy bringing happiness to others.

The region has evolved and progressed from a mainly residential rental only estate of seven sims, to its own community and working town that currently spans eleven sims.  Within the past nine months, they have brought in the Anchorage Coast Guard, established a police department, a fire department and a hospital and have instituted regular monthly town meetings for all residents to attend, which gives them the opportunity to participate in and invest in the creation of their community.  They’re proud to say that we have grown into a close community, one in which we all know our neighbours and genuinely care for each other.  It truly has become a place to call home, rather than just a place where a house can be rented.

This is very much a roleplay community which manifests itself in roleplay that is largely emergency services based.  They provide an in-character group chat in which residents can call 911 and request assistance.  The chat also provides a platform for new story arcs or the continuation of current threads or even the opportunity to make an in-character phone call.  All role players, and residents for that matter, must obey the cardinal rule of ‘consent’ as nothing is forced and they wish to foster a healthy and fun atmosphere for everyone who wants to participate, to whatever degree that may be.

In addition to emergency services role play, there are many areas which are staged to cultivate role play of just “everyday living,” such as cafes, a bank, restaurants and the like.

Residents can make the Town of Clearwater their home without participating in the role play. So while Clearwater is a roleplay community, it’s also a residential community with caring and tight-knit neighbourhoods.   Most residents have made friends and formed bonds, bonds that have truly enhanced and helped turn the community into a family and a real home for those in search of just that. 

Currently the estate hosts weekly movie nights at the Riverview Cove Cinema.  Clearwater residents as well as all citizens of Second Life are also invited to a carnival, hosted by DARE Carnivals, to celebrate the community every few months.   They also host a community parties for holidays like Valentine’s Day and Halloween with region-wide trick or treating for the kids.

Clearwater is home to two congregations where weekly services are held, each with loyal and consistent attendance. 

Clearwater is a proud member of the Relay for Life team “The Fighting Sunflowers,” and will be hosting various fundraising events which will include a concert once the fundraising efforts are underway.

The Town of Clearwater is also very proud to bring the Broncos, a UFL SL Football League team, to the town in the coming months.  With the Broncos comes regular games, pep rallies, off season concerts and paintball games.

*What are the various rental options offered on your region, both from a residential and a commercial point of view?

The Town of Clearwater strives to provide a price point for everyone and accommodate various tastes with regards to the rental options.  They strive to be as inclusive as possible and never want the rentals to become prohibitive by any means.  The current residential rate sits at the competitive market rate of L$2.1 per prim and they cater for the singleton just as much as to a family of five.   They offer prim rentals from 200 prims up to full homestead rentals (subject to availability), with the option to decrease or increase your prims depending on your needs and prim availability.  They have a comprehensive selection of homes and townhouses, from big name creators, such as Dominion; ROOST; Redgrave Homes and Barnes Anubis. They constantly watch the market for new builds to keep their inventory fresh and in vogue. 

Depending on the sim, they also allow the use of one’s own home provided it keeps with the New England coastal theme.  Potential residents also have the opportunity to commission a custom-built home from Hearth Strings, an up and coming residential and commercial builder, with an in world store in Lakeside Falls.  Clearwater’s downtown area boasts several demonstrations of the incredible talent of co-owner Mikie Rihadra-Gaelyth in the municipal buildings and hospital. 

Commercial rentals as well as boat slip rentals can be found in the downtown areas of Lakeside Falls and Riverview Cove.  Commercial and boat slip rates are also competitive at L$2.5 per prim.  If a business is roleplay-based or is solely for roleplay purposes, they offer a discounted rate of L$2.1 per prim.

It’s Jericho and Daniella’s intention to continue on their current course, and to grow and cultivate the community into the very best it can be and to have a lot of fun while doing it.  They look forward to the possibilities the future holds for them.

Pop in and visit them.  They will welcome you home to Clearwater!

Please contact Mayor Jericho Napoli (NIGHTDR) or Daniella Clearwater (daniellamariec) for more information or visit the website at www.townofclearwater.com.

Links:

SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lakeside%20Falls/123/72/22

Urls: http://www.townofclearwater.com

https://www.flickr.com/photos/townofclearwater/

https://www.facebook.com/townofclearwater/

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Seychelles Isles Coast Guard providing peace of mind - Lacy Muircastle reporting ....

The exclusive Seychelles Isles Estate offers its residents peace of mind among other things.

Seychelles Isles being a sailing, boating and flying community located on the Linden Ocean with access to the Blake Sea require the services of The Coast Guard. The SICG exists to defend and preserve the Seychelles Isles. They protect the personal safety and security of the residents; the marine transportation system and infrastructure; the natural and economic resources; and the territorial integrity of the estate – from both internal and external threats, virtual or otherwise. They protect these interests in Seychelles Isles ports, inland waterways, along the coasts, and on open waters.

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Spotlight On Sue Peregrine, Owner & Operator of d'Alliez Estates - Jessii2009 Warrhol Reporting

I was introduced to Sue Peregrine, Owner & Operator of d'Alliez Estates, by a good friend of mine, johannes1977 Resident or John as we all call him. Sue has generously provided a sim for usage throughout the 2014 Relay For Life Season, for all teams of relay to use for fundraisers and events. I learned that Sue was an avid relayer and a member of the storied Relay Rockers relay team. I was able to catch up with Sue for an interview:

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Second Life’s Bikers are ready to ride out. Tea Couturier reporting….

When you think of Regent Estates you think of a place where you can go and purchase a bit of paradise to call home. Regent Estates is one of the oldest and most dependable estates in Second Life. Regent Estates keeps on growing and it has been in business since 2006.

However, there is more to Regents Estates than you may think. Regents Estates have a large biking community and sim, which enables motor bike owners to drive freely on the open roads of the sim in peace and to also meet up with other members and hang out with them. The owners of this enterprise are husband and wife team, Melody Regent and Motor Loon. I popped down to the sim and visited Melody and Motor to find out how the idea and passion for bikes turned it into what it is today, a thriving Second Life business and family.

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