I've been playing UO, off and on, since 2000, and never before have I had a home above the size of a villa. I've always been in wonder of those who were well-off enough to afford such prestigious homes as a large tower, keep, or even the elusive castle. It always seems like the most sought-after real estate is gobbled up quickly by the most veteran players, then refreshed ad infinitum and completely off limits to new players. Of course, this is entirely a matter of perception. The reality of which homes are "active" and which are not is a statistic not publicly known. I have a villa just NW of the Britain graveyard -- the closest I could get to the Brit mines without the constriction of a small house. It's served me well, but status quo for the size of house I have ever been able to achieve in UO on any shard (except of course running my own server)! I'd love to upgrade to a large tower, but finding a spot to place one... well, that's quite difficult indeed. On a server where each player is entitled to 15 homes (5 homes per account, up to 3 accounts, insofar as that is enforced), guilds devoted to controlling IDOCs, and automated tools for IDOC control, real estate is as hard to come by as that of OSI. All to say... I'm in the market for a large tower. As my first foray into large homes, location is not critical. I'll pay 500k for your spare large tower. Also, if you know a spot where a large tower can be placed, I'll pay a 75k finder's fee if that info leads to me placing a tower of my own. There's no urgency on this, just wanted to see what's out there, and if any of you fine folks had upgraded recently, or happen to have a vacant tower in a sub-prime location that's worth more to you as gold pixels.
Hi Magnus! Housing space here rates high. If anyone finds a spot for a large tower... that person WILL PLACE a large tower, and sell it for a much, much bigger proffit than 75k, believe me. There are many players here who are really good real estate brokers (like @Ragnar Lothbrok , whom I have seen selling more spots than anyone, lately). Perhaps if you contact one of these players with a reasonable offer, you could get your home. And what is a reasonable price? A large tower here rates for no less than aproximately 700k. But if you offer to buy one for that amount... the owner will probably prefer to auction it. I have been in this server for two and a half months, and I bought mine for 1 m at the end of the first month, I think. Auction started at 650k, and the buy out price was 1m... which I offered inmediatly (the owner had previously announced he would offer a large tower... so I spent the hole day checking the forum on my cell phone, to be the first.. and only bidder). If you are short on cash, mark runes on all event-chests you can find, open them, loot everything, sell everything. That's what I did back then. A large tower WILL pop up for sell. Check this forum to find previous sellers... ask them to let you know in advance, should they have a new tower to sell. This was my home-shopping thread: http://uorforum.com/threads/wts-large-tower-in-the-forest.40461/#post-380880 Search for more of those!
Thanks @AlexHell Slayer -- I've been watching and bidding on the tower auctions popping up lately, but I imagine that's only a small subset of the total market. Writing up a whole real estate listing is an art, and some of y'all have a true talent for it. I always enjoy reading the listings, whether or not I end up bidding. I can easily see how a large home in a prime location, or a large home in maybe a sub-prime location but which the seller has taken the time to write up a fine auction and highlight its strong points, can command double the deed price or more. It's worth the seller's investment in time, creative energy, and just overall helping the buyer to bond with the home early. What I'm looking for is a home that is maybe hard to sell, in a location with lots of poisonous nasty spawn, has murderous insane neighbors, or some other combination of horrible qualities difficult to overlook. I don't mind rough around the edges, so if someone out there has a tower they're looking to move out of and don't feel like writing up a listing for it, I'll offer deed price + a reasonable premium. You make a good point, though, that deed + 75k probably just isn't compelling enough. If nothing else, a good realtor would gobble that up and flip it for a decent profit. I'll keep saving up and bump the budget, like you did, until I finally find the right place. Also, good advice on reaching out to folks like @Ragnar Lothbrok and other established real estate brokers here to help find a place. That's a path I hadn't yet considered. For now, it looks like I've got some more saving up to do!
Most towers are lucky to pull 900k (most of the time) and it's been stagnant like such for about a year.. I used to place one a week or so just running around for a couple hours and testing the waters. I'm happy to help you locate a spot this weekend if nothing comes your way.
Damn, nice! Biggest I've placed is a large with patio and these are relatively easy to find - goes to show there's a huge gulf between the availability of this size and large towers. It all takes patience, which a lot of people don't have - that's why they will pay a bit more for a sale.
LMAO @Serious I wish man! That would help me move up to a Fort before i even finish moving into my keep!! But alas, i don't expect to see many towers located in such a niche spot with multiple motivated buyers. Should anything come up with a SB close to deed cost, i will for sure tag @Magus Emplar in my post. My advice to anyone looking for a tower, would be to knock out those leprechauns every chance you get and hit as many caves as you can. They provide pretty lucrative income with little effort, and that is without considering the value of any potential rare drops. Anyone with 700k-800k in their pocket will stand good odds of buying most non bridged towers that hits the auction block. Otherwise your best bet is a private sale from someone who can afford to sell to you for less than they would make auctioning it themselves. I wish you luck man.
