If you want a new house, or think you might want one in the future...

Two great sales going on right now. If you're looking for a new house, or even if you're a Linden Home Owner contemplating taking the next step into land owning, you really should check out these deals.

First, ALL prefabs at Modest House are discounted right now. Some are 5% off, some are 25% off, and some 75% off. Some of the the models are being retired after the sale.

For those who aren't familiar with Modest House, the name is rather descriptive of the style. Typically, the houses are fairly low prim (most around 50-120 prims) and will fit on smaller lots (1024 and some possibly on 512). There are also some skyboxes. The style tends toward Shabby Chic, and the textures used tend to be very nice.

These are very recent releases; a look over at the Modest House blog reveals that most were released in the last 9 months.

The second prefab sale of note is over at the new location for MotoBene! at the brand new Hide and Seek Sim. There's a 50% off sale on all prefabs in celebration of the grand opening. This applies to houses like the Harwich Colonial and the Harwich Mini Colonial, as well as to skyboxes and other structures. I'd show you some pictures, but unfortunately I can't get to the pictures at the Moto Bene! blog right now (which hasn't been updated with the new SLURL yet). If you take a look at the archives at the blog (and Flickr isn't blocked where you're at right now!), you'll find pictures of several of the structures on sale now. MotoBene! prefabs also tend to be designed in a shabby chic style.

In addition, there is a sim-wide hunt going on to celebrate the Hide and Seek sim grand opening (look for ants!). Other stores on the sim include Boom, AtomicBambi, Awesome Blossom, Coeur, Musim, and Olive Juice. Just from what I've seen so far, I can tell you that the hunt prizes look really good!  Come on out, brave the lag!

Do people really pay $10,000L for a house or skybox?

While I was searching for homes and skyboxes in the last few weeks, I quickly discovered that there was a huge range in listed prices...and that higher prices did not necessarily indicate higher quality. Yet, there are many vendors listing houses and skyboxes on XStreetSL/Second Life Marketplace for $1000L, $5000L, $10,000L and more! I'm not sure why that's the case, since even a newbie could easily find low-pried homes on the site.

As with any other category, there is a lot of junk in the residental structures section, There are some real finds as well. Here's a listing of some of my favorites, from $22L to $500L. Since I was looking for a house with about 100 prims or less, and a skybox in the 15-20 prim range, I have primarily focused on those specs. If a designer has a shop in-world, I've tried to add the SLURL so you can hopefully see rezzed samples of the homes. If a designer has a lot of different houses on the XStreetSL site, I've provided a link to the search results for those houses.

• DIGS: (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
• Skybox 25 prims, 15x20 w/ loft, $75L
• Skybox 12 prims, 20x20 w/loft, $50L
• Skybox 28 prims, 17x10 w/loft, $50L
• lei Freiman
• Simple Skybox with Changable Window Views 23prims, 20x20 w/loft, $125L
• {NP}
• Simple Studio Loft Skybox 12 prims, 20x20, $99L
• Sebastian Standish
• Upscale Skybox 20x15, 25 prims, $22L
• BELINA Corvale
• All glass skybox with loft 17prims, $75L
• capriccio (SLURL)
• Simple Skybox 10x10, 7 prims, $70L
• Finch Endrizzi
• Urban Skybox w/Changing Window loft, 24 x 24. 30 prims, $75L
• Single Story Urban Skybox w/Changing Window , 24 x24, 13 prims, $50L
• Pamela Galli - 3 prim one-room skyboxes, $299L
• Red Brick Arch Windows
• Drick and White Windows
• OD
• Serenity White Skybox 2 story, 75 prims, 32x32, $250L (I'd use this for a primary home)
• ce (XSTREETSL)
• Summer House 47 prims, 1 room, $80L
  Not all of the ce skyboxes are low prim, but these two are:
• Diona Skybox 22 prims, $80L
• Simplicity Brown/Green Skybox 24 prims, $70L
• Molto Bene! (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
  Many more than I can mention in one post, but here are some highlights:
• Simple Skybox 10x10, 16 prims, $50L
• Mini Harwich Colonial House 105-128 prims, 17x20, $750L
• The Boathouse 92-108 prims, 30x15, $500L
• Sweet and Simple Skybox 10x10, 6 prims, $100L
  There are two or three other low prim skyboxes in the vendor search.
• Starwind (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
  Price ranges from $50L (for some retiring items) to $400L
• The Cheri Skybox is only 26 prims w/loft (cylinder shape), $200L
  Other houses are mostly too high in prims for a secondary skybox, but very pretty for a primary home
• The Dusty Skybox 96 prims, 2 stories, 20x20, is only $50L
• Summer House, 118 prims, 2 stories, 30x15, $400L
• Daydream House/Skybox, 52 prims, 1 room, 20x15, $99L promo
• Thayen Eberdene (XSTEETSL)
• Variety of very low prim skyboxes(3 prims single story, 7 prims with loft) with bright colored walls or dramatic grey/black styling, $75-$100L
• Bang Bang Liars (SLURL)
• Modern Beach House 20x20, 57prims, 2 story, $399L - tried this one already and it's nice
• Bird's Next Skybox 26 prims, 10x15, $299L
• Modest House (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
  $400L to $500L homes, most are two stories or w/ loft, most are moderate prim size for primary homes
• White Chalk Farmhouse 77 prims, $500L
• The Scilenzio House 94 prims, $500L - tried this one already and it's very nice and roomy!
• The Sleepyhead House 74 prims, $500L
• Mad Echo
• Ember Skybox 20x20, 24 prims, $100L