“If you’re gonna live twice, why not live your Second Life in Luxury?”
And what better place to live that luxury than Luxory Estates and Willowdale Estates
The dictionary defines Luxury as: the state of great comfort and extravagant living. This aptly captures the look and feel of life at “Luxory and Willowdale Estates” properties.
Two of SecondLife’s best and brightest minds, Imagin Illyar of Willowdale Estates, and Vanity Bonetto of Luxory Estates have teamed up to provide the quintessential land purchasing experience, unmatched anywhere on the entire grid.
Immediately after landing at the sales pavilion, I was greeted by Andrea DeLauren, one of their courteous and highly professional staff. This was no “sales bot”, but was an honest to goodness sales associate who knows the business and the details about their properties inside and out. In fact, I was to learn that Luxory and Willowdale have a crew of eight such sales associates, providing an available agent 24/7.
I learned that Willowdale offers high-end professionally landscaped homesteads as well as full prim parcel land, and their newest product – the full homesteads. Being a novice to the world of land purchasing, I asked Andrea, just what IS a “homestead”, and how does it differ from other properties? She told me that In SL there are two different types of sims.... "Homesteads" and "Full Prim". Homesteads are sims with 5k prims capacity and Full Prim sims have 20k or 30K prims in total. In homestead sims you find bigger plots, usually more private... but with less prims... In Full Prim sims you get more neighbors, smaller parcels but much more prims for the price.
Despite being one of the busiest women in SecondLife, I was able to catch up with Imagin Illyar and ask her a few questions about the Luxory and Willowdale Estates partnership.
Josh Bellic: So tell me, Imagin, what was it that turned you onto the idea of managing properties in SecondLife?
Imagin Illyar: I bought my first sim 3 months after first joining Second Life back in 2008. I knew as soon as I realized there was such a thing as an estate that I wanted to run one. I enjoyed virtual landscaping from the very beginning. Making beautiful spaces is my passion and after 11 years of it I still feel as though I can't get enough.
JB: Do you, personally, own a home in Luxory Estates or Willowdale Estates and what is the difference between the two groups?
II: Luxory and Willowdale started out as separate estates but we merged them in December 2017. I had known Vanity Bonetto, the owner, for many years and by joining our estates Willowdale has been able to grow and expand far beyond what I was able to do on my own. 56 sims have been added to Willowdale since merging with Luxory. It was a smart move, and yes, I make my home at Willowdale :)
JB: What is it that makes Luxory Estates - Willowdale Estates. different from all the rest?
II: The first thing people will notice is the landscaping. Our tenants can also switch landscaping styles upon request. I have developed a system that allows me to do a switch in 10 minutes so you don't have to actually move to get a fresh new look for your homestead. Our sims are far above and beyond what is typical in SL, but it's the dedicated 24/7 customer service that really makes us stand out. I know anyone can say that but our occupancy rate is usually around 95% and it's because we treat our tenants very well.
JB: Tell me about the partnership between Luxory Estates and Willowdale Estates? Has there been a real synergy when you decided to come together?
II: I ran Willowdale myself for 11 years and partnered with Vanity Bonetto of Luxory Estate in December of 2017. Since then 56 new sims have been added for a current total of 86 - and we are planning even more significant growth for the next year. Vanity and I are a great team - I do the creative work and she runs the business end. Her highly-trained sales staff are the best in the business. We have both benefited greatly from the partnership. Vanity Bonetto and I are a perfect team. I'm a creative type and she's the most talented business person I've ever met. As I mentioned, we knew each other for many years before actually joining the estates. In retrospect we should have done it from the beginning. We've both benefited greatly from the merger.
JB: Do you have plans for expansion? Maybe create common use areas, like a community pool or clubhouses for use by fellow property owners?
II: Absolutely! Full homesteads are a new product for Willowdale and the reception has been overwhelming. It has become difficult to keep them in stock! I very much enjoy creating new layouts for them and I hope that this growth momentum will continue for many years. We have 4 different styles available so far and I hope to add the 5th any day now. The homestead styles I create are very unique from anything you will find elsewhere on the grid.
I've created many different common areas for tenants in the past they didn't work out. I find that people in SL think they want common areas on estates but once provided they just don't get used. There are a great many places that offer entertaining things for people to do in Second Life, what I provide is a peaceful and private place to come home to when you're done with that. I've decided to just focus on doing what I do best and it's been working very well.
So, there you have it Folks. Something for everyone. Land ownership just doesn't get any better than this!
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